Death overs specialist batsmen are the need of the T20 format, and that need also applies precisely in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The word “Finisher” was probably popularised by MS Dhoni in world cricket. Before that, very few people had an idea about this effective term of cricket.
In the past, wicketkeepers were usually handed over that position as they had to do dual work on the field. Also, batting in the top position after keeping wickets was a tough job to do. But nowadays, exceptional batters are only groomed for that role of batting in death overs and trained to finish off the innings successfully.
Here are the top 10 finishers who have scored the most runs in the death overs of the IPL.
Note: Death Overs are from Over 17 – Over 20 in T20 cricket.
Most Runs in Death Overs in IPL
| PLAYER | RUNS IN DEATH OVERS | INNINGS | STRIKE RATE | SIXES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS Dhoni | 2936 | 184 | 187.60 | 186 |
| Kieron Pollard | 1708 | 117 | 181.50 | 127 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 1565 | 117 | 186.97 | 91 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 1518 | 136 | 159.78 | 74 |
| AB de Villiers | 1421 | 75 | 232.56 | 112 |
| Hardik Pandya | 1207 | 84 | 184.55 | 85 |
| Rohit Sharma | 1176 | 75 | 196.65 | 79 |
| Andre Russell | 1134 | 68 | 205.43 | 100 |
| Virat Kohli | 1121 | 72 | 199.46 | 72 |
| David Miller | 1061 | 82 | 173.93 | 63 |
MS Dhoni is the only Batter to score more than 2000 runs in this phase. He is also the first batter to reach the milestone of 5000 runs in the IPL leading six-hitter in death overs in the tournament, and it will be difficult for anyone to beat Dhoni’s achievements at this phase of the game.
You can read here 47 records that MSD holds in cricket.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the only top-order batters on the list who have courageously batted till the death overs and made over 1000 runs.
Dinesh Karthik is the third wicket-keeper batsman with 1000+ runs on the list after MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers. His batting positions have also revolved around the middle or lower-middle order theme.
AB de Villiers’ strike rate of 232.56 at the death overs is the highest among the batters with more than 500 runs in this phase of play in the tournament.
