The Indian Premier League (IPL) has usually been considered a batsman-dominated game. It requires a brave heart to be a bowler in T20 cricket.
Batsmen win you matches, but bowlers win you tournaments. This line holds perfectly true for the IPL. Great bowlers have been the biggest reason behind the most successful breaks in the history of IPL.
Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, and Harbhajan Singh have been the biggest reasons for the success of Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Similarly, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin with the ball have played a big part in CSK’s success. Sunil Narine has carried the KKR bowling attack over the years.
Bowlers are responsible for taking wickets and bowling economical spells in an IPL match to create their impact.
This article will look at the top 10 bowlers who have bowled the most number of overs in the IPL.
Most Overs Bowled in IPL
| Player | Innings | No. of Overs Bowled |
|---|---|---|
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 217 | 785.0 |
| Sunil Narine | 186 | 720.1 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 187 | 693.4 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 224 | 673.0 |
| Piyush Chawla | 191 | 641.4 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 169 | 619.5 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 160 | 569.0 |
| Amit Mishra | 162 | 561.5 |
| Axar Patel | 159 | 550.3 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 142 | 544.1 |
Key Insights
Chennai-born spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has bowled the most number of overs (760+) in the history of IPL. Ashwin has represented Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Pune Supergiants, Kings XI Punjab, and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. He is a versatile T20 bowler who can bowl in the powerplay too. He has taken the most wickets in the powerplay among spinners.
Spinners dominate in this list. It is because of the fact that spinners usually have a longer career than pace bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, and Umesh Yadav are the only pacers to bowl more than 500 overs in the IPL.
Among pacers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has bowled the most overs (650+) in IPL. He has bowled the most number of dot balls (1700+) in the history of IPL.
Malinga has the best economy rate (7.14), best bowling average (19.79), and best bowling SR (16.6). Malinga is undoubtedly the greatest pacer in the history of IPL.
Among spinners, Sunil Narine has the best economy rate (6.75). At the same time, Rashid Khan has the best bowling average (22.63).
Piyush Chawla has the highest economy rate (7.96) among all bowlers on this list. Axar Patel has the worst bowling average (31+) among all bowlers present here.
Yuzvendra Chahal has the record of getting hit for the most sixes (225+) in the history of IPL.
