Some pundits will tell you that fours are as important as, if not more important than, sixes – even in twenty-over cricket, IPL or otherwise. They are easier to hit, and are the safer option, for one does not have to hit them in the air.
This means means that there are invariably more of them than sixes. Even Chris Gayle, with his monstrous tally of 292 sixes in the tournament, has 324 fours to match them.
However, despite his lead of 105 over anyone else when it comes to sixes, Gayle is well down the list of four-hitters. That list is headed by Gautam Gambhir, whose 491 fours are well ahead of Shikhar Dhawan‘s 460. Dhawan, thus, has the most sixes among those featuring in this edition, 12 ahead of Suresh Raina‘s tally of 448.
Players | 4s | I | BF | 4s/I | BF/4 | 6s | 4:6 ratio |
Gautam Gambhir | 491 | 152 | 3,404 | 3.23 | 7 | 59 | 8.3 |
Shikhar Dhawan | 460 | 142 | 3,285 | 3.24 | 7 | 85 | 5.4 |
Suresh Raina | 448 | 172 | 3,600 | 2.60 | 8 | 185 | 2.4 |
Virat Kohli | 434 | 155 | 3,784 | 2.80 | 9 | 178 | 2.4 |
Robin Uthappa | 401 | 158 | 3,099 | 2.54 | 8 | 145 | 2.8 |
David Warner | 401 | 114 | 2,824 | 3.52 | 7 | 160 | 2.5 |
Rohit Sharma | 379 | 168 | 3,429 | 2.26 | 9 | 184 | 2.1 |
Ajinkya Rahane | 359 | 119 | 2,848 | 3.02 | 8 | 65 | 5.5 |
Dinesh Karthik | 335 | 150 | 2,642 | 2.23 | 8 | 87 | 3.9 |
Virender Sehwag | 334 | 104 | 1,755 | 3.21 | 5 | 106 | 3.2 |
AB de Villiers | 326 | 129 | 2,619 | 2.53 | 8 | 186 | 1.8 |
Chris Gayle | 324 | 111 | 2,650 | 2.92 | 8 | 292 | 1.1 |
Parthiv Patel | 317 | 123 | 2,090 | 2.58 | 7 | 39 | 8.1 |
Shane Watson | 301 | 113 | 2,250 | 2.66 | 7 | 157 | 1.9 |
Only four men have hit more than 3 fours in an innings on an average. And only three of them – David Warner (the only one to have topped the 3.5-mark), Shikhar Dhawan and, somewhat surprisingly, Ajinkya Rahane – will feature in IPL 2019.
With 2.92 fours an innings, Gayle stands sixth on the list. This, combined with his incredible number of sixes, is reason why he stands head and shoulders above anyone in the history of the tournament.
But what of recent batsmen? Let us check the numbers for 2018.
Players | 2019 team | 4s | I | BF | 4s/I | BF/4 | 6s | 4:6 |
Rishabh Pant | Delhi | 68 | 14 | 394 | 4.86 | 6 | 37 | 1.8 |
KL Rahul | Punjab | 66 | 14 | 416 | 4.71 | 6 | 32 | 2.1 |
Kane Williamson | Hyderabad | 64 | 17 | 516 | 3.76 | 8 | 28 | 2.3 |
Suryakumar Yadav | Mumbai | 61 | 14 | 384 | 4.36 | 6 | 16 | 3.8 |
Shikhar Dhawan | Delhi | 59 | 16 | 363 | 3.69 | 6 | 14 | 4.2 |
Chris Lynn | Kolkata | 56 | 16 | 377 | 3.50 | 7 | 18 | 3.1 |
Ambati Rayudu | Chennai | 53 | 16 | 402 | 3.31 | 8 | 34 | 1.6 |
Jos Buttler | Rajasthan | 52 | 13 | 353 | 4.00 | 7 | 21 | 2.5 |
Virat Kohli | Bangalore | 52 | 14 | 381 | 3.71 | 7 | 18 | 2.9 |
Dinesh Karthik | Kolkata | 49 | 16 | 337 | 3.06 | 7 | 16 | 3.1 |
Suresh Raina | Chennai | 46 | 15 | 336 | 3.07 | 7 | 12 | 3.8 |
Shane Watson | Chennai | 44 | 15 | 359 | 2.93 | 8 | 35 | 1.3 |
Sunil Narine | Kolkata | 40 | 16 | 188 | 2.50 | 5 | 23 | 1.7 |
Pant’s numbers are phenomenal. He hit most fours last year in addition to most sixes, which puts him on a league different from others.
Pant’s 4.86 fours an innings are matched by only Rahul’s 4.71. Yadav (4.36) – somewhat surprisingly – occupies third spot, while Buttler has hit exactly 4 an innings.
When it comes to balls per six, however, no one matches Narine’s tally of 5 an innings. One must remember that Narine also hit 23 sixes in 2018. Combine this with Lynn (56 fours, 18 sixes), and you will know where KKR’s strength lies.