Picking the wicket of the opening batsmen is crucial in any format of the game. In a tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL), where the openers are destined to make full use of the powerplay overs, it becomes important for the opposition bowlers to restrict them from doing that.
It is noteworthy that the opening batsmen have the maximum time to settle before changing their gears to make big scores. The openers have scored more than 75% of the total centuries in the IPL.
Also, 14 out of 17 times, specialised openers have won the Orange Cap in the tournament’s history.
So, without doubt, dismissing the openers is the first and foremost task of the opposition side’s bowlers, especially those who bowl in powerplay overs.
This article will list the bowlers who have dismissed the opening batsmen the most times in the IPL.
Bowlers to Dismiss Most Opening Batsmen in IPL
| BOWLERS | DISMISSING OPENING BATSMEN | INNINGS BOWLED |
|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 76 | 189 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 68 | 169 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 61 | 130 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 59 | 132 |
| Trent Boult | 58 | 119 |
| Piyush Chawla | 58 | 138 |
| Sandeep Sharma | 56 | 133 |
| Sunil Narine | 53 | 154 |
| Amit Mishra | 52 | 113 |
| Zaheer Khan | 51 | 99 |
Key Insights
Interestingly, the spinners dominate the list with four of the top five spots acquired by Indian off-spinners, and overall, seven out of ten spots are occupied by spinners.
Similar to his Test career, Ravi Ashwin has made the left-handed openers his bunnies. The carrom-ball specialist has made himself useful by picking more than 50% of his wickets as top-order batters. Notably, he has dismissed left-handed openers like Chris Gayle (five), Parthiv Patel (four), and Quinton de Kock (four).
Surprisingly, his highest dismissals are against a right-handed top-order batter, Robin Uthappa. Ashwin dismissed Uthappa seven times in the 15 innings the duo played against each other.
Zaheer Khan is the only left-handed bowler on this list.
Yuzvendra Chahal, a surprising entry in this list, often bowls after the powerplay overs. He has been known as the partnership breaker and often picked opening batters who were well settled.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has dismissed the specialised opening batters Ajinkya Rahane (seven times) and Parthiv Patel (six times) in his IPL career. Bhuvi also leads the wicket-takers list in the powerplay overs in the IPL.
Sunil Narine and Amit Mishra increased their opener-wickets tally by picking Mumbai opening batsman Rohit Sharma’s wicket in eight and seven instances, respectively. Zaheer Khan likewise enjoyed bowling against Gautam Gambhir in the IPL, as the Delhi-based opener was knocked out six times against the Mumbai bowler in the tournament.
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