Hitting sixes matter in T20. Teams without big six-hitters tend to struggle, whether internationally or in franchise cricket. IPL is no different. History tells you that teams which have more sixes in the past editions, barring 2008, have reached the finals. This stat is a reason why the likes of Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell, Rinku Singh, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya are so important to the success of their teams. Some of these players have had their fitness struggles but the franchises never turned their back on them. These players are match-winners on their day as they can chase down any target on the back of their power game.
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Explaining how six-hitting skill is a game changer in T20Is using an India loss as an example
Strong power game helped West Indies win 2 T20 World Cup titles. Remember that semifinal clash in T20 World Cup in 2016 between West Indies and India. West Indies won it because of their power game. In fact, Windies won these World Cups because of their boundary-clearing abilities.
In this semifinal alone, Windies hit 11 sixes against India's 3. India made 192 for 2 in 20 overs with Virat Kohli hitting 11 fours and just 1 six in his innings of 89 off 47 balls. The knock came at a brisk strike rate of 189.36. Dhoni hit just one boundary after facing 9 balls. Rohit Sharma, during innings of 31-ball 43, hit 3 fours and sixes each. India returned with eight wickets in hand and with six-hitters Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja unused. That was a tactical error on part of India as they failed to put up something over 220 despite wickets in hand and after playing 120 balls.
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Windies batsmen got reprieves in that match but they made full use of it. That is T20 cricket's nature, by default. There's always more risk involved but the returns are also maximum. Windies finished the game in 19.4 overs. What helped them were 11 sixes. They also hit more boundaries (20) in comparison to India (17). In a nutshell, West Indies hit 144 runs out of rheir 196 in boundaries (sixes and fours) and India scored just 92. This difference is quite telling.
England adopted the same six-hitting principle in ODIs when they began their revival post the 2015 World cup debacle. The road was tough but they did not change their game and were eventually rewarded with the first fifty-over World Cup. The fact that they won the final on the number of boundary counts sort of tells the whole importance of boundaries.
Which teams have hit most sixes in every IPL season sine 2008 and how many of them went to the finals?
Now that we have explained the importance of six, here's proving how key a role this skill plays in IPL as well. The most sixes hit in first season of IPL by a team was just 95, by Kings XI Punjab. The second most was from Deccan Chargers. Both did not make it the final. However, since 2009, at least one team of the two teams with most sixes that season has made it the final.
In 2009, Chargers hit 99 sixes and won the competition. In 2010, CSK were won the competition with most sixes (97). In 2011, CSK won it again with second-most sixes in the season (91) while RCB hit 94 and were the finalists. In 2012, CSK made the finals again with 112 sixes. Mumbai Indians (MI) hit the most sixes in 2013 and won the competition while. Punjab Kings made their first final in 2014 on back of 127 sixes, the most that season.
In 2015 too, MI hit most sixes (120) and won the championship for the second time. Next year, RCB made the final with 142 sixes. and 2017, MI won the competition for the third time with 117 sixes, against most in that edition.
CSK in 2018 (145), 2021 (115) and 2023 (133), MI in 2019 (115) and 2020 (137) hit most sixes in these respective editions to win the tournament while Rajasthan Royals made the final on back of 137 sixes. in the tournament in 2022. The trend tells you clearly. The teams who can consistently hit sixes in this league increase their chance of qualifying for the final.