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I’ve already talked about the value of a dot ball, but which bowlers deliver those dots with greater regularity? Here are the players with the most dot balls in the Indian Premier League.
Who has Bowled the Most Dot Balls in IPL History?
The statistics show that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled the most dot balls in the history of the IPL. At the end of the 2022 season, the seamer had sent down 1406 dots in his IPL career.
He’s still actively playing in 2022 and that total will increase in the years that follow.
Most Dot Balls in IPL History
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 1406
We’ve just seen that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the most economical bowler in terms of dot balls. His IPL career began in 2009 when he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore, but he’s since played for Pune Warriors and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
As we’ll see when we work through this list, most of the chasing pack are still active, so Bhuvi will need to stay sharp if he wants to stay in the lead.
Sunil Narine – 1391
In second place is the West Indian spinner Sunil Narine who has been a regular bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders. He’s been with KKR since joining the IPL in 2012 and, up to the end of the 2022 season, Narine had delivered 1391 dot balls.
Across his entire T20 career, Sunil Narine has an economy rate of just under 6.00 and that’s exceptional in the modern day.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 1387
He may be struggling to settle with one IPL franchise, but R Ashwin remains as one of the most economical spin bowlers around. After starting with Chennai Super Kings in the 2008 debut season, he’s since played for Rising Pune Supergiant, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals.
He has so far sent down 1387 IPL dot balls and, while he’s coming to the end of his career at the age of 36, there’s still time to add some more.
Harbhajan Singh – 1268
We now come to the first retired cricketer on this list. Harbhajan Singh last played IPL cricket in the 2021 edition when he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad. Prior to that, he played for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
Bhaji left the game with 1268 IPL dot balls to his name.
Lasith Malinga – 1155
Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga was the leading wicket taker in the IPL for many years. He backed up that potency with good economy and was a difficult bowler to deal with.
Malinga spent his entire IPL career with the Mumbai Indians and he delivered 1155 dot balls between 2009 and 2019.
Amit Mishra – 1154
The leg spin of Amit Mishra proved effective for three IPL franchises between 2008 and 2021. He finished his career as the third highest wicket taker at the time and he was an economical bowler too.
While playing for Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mishra sent down 1154 dot balls.
Piyush Chawla – 1151
Just behind Amit Mishra with 1151 dot balls is another highly effective Indian leg spinner. In fact, there are a number of similarities between Mishra and Piyush Chawla.
Chawla also played IPL cricket between 2008 and 2021. Mishra and Chawla currently sit in fourth and fifth place respectively on the list of overall tournament leading wicket takers.
Jasprit Bumrah – 1120
Few cricket fans would be surprised if Jasprit Bumrah didn’t finish his career with a clutch of IPL records. He’s climbing up the list of leading wicket takers and he’ll probably finish with the most dot balls as well.
Bumrah has played for Mumbai Indians between 2013 and 2022 and he’s already delivered 1120 dot balls.
Umesh Yadav – 1105
Umesh Yadav is nearing the end of his career, but he has time left to add to his total of 1105 IPL dot balls from his debut in 2010 to the conclusion of the 2022 edition.
The seamer has played for three franchises and he’s been an economical bowler in the shortest format of the game.
Praveen Kumar – 1076
His lively medium pace, along with his ability to swing the ball both ways made Praveen Kumar an effective bowler at domestic level. He could claim useful wickets while keeping the runs down.
Praveen played for five IPL franchises up to the end of the 2017 season. He could never really settle with a side, but his tally of 1076 IPL dot balls was certainly an impressive one.
Conclusion
These are very useful statistics to consider for a number of reasons. Team selectors can look at figures such as these and decide which bowlers are the most economical. This will obviously help to ensure that these players get picked in the future.
Stats relating to dot balls are also useful for opposition sides. These are the dangermen and those most likely to keep the runs down. The batting sides then have to decide how to deal with those bowlers.
One last point is that many of these bowlers are still playing in the IPL, so this is a very fluid list which will be changing at the end of each future tournament.
