Dot balls in the Indian Premier League (IPL) can be as valuable as wickets. In the death overs, a dot ball builds pressure on the opposition and can turn the game in a team’s favour. Even without taking wickets, some bowlers maintain a tight economy, restricting the run flow and providing a strategic advantage. As IPL 2025 approaches, let’s look at the bowlers who have delivered the most dot balls in the tournament’s history.
Most dot balls in IPL
Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar tops the list for most dot balls in IPL history, delivering 1729 dots while taking 181 wickets at an economy of 7.55. KKR’s Sunil Narine follows with 1631 dot balls and 180 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin has bowled 1606 dot balls and claimed 180 wickets across multiple franchises. Piyush Chawla, the second-highest wicket-taker (192), has 1358 dot balls with a 7.96 economy. Harbhajan Singh, who played for MI, CSK, and KKR, bowled 1312 dot balls and took 150 wickets at 7.07 economy. These bowlers have mastered control and pressure in the IPL.
| Player | Team | Dot Balls | Wickets | Matches | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Best Bowling | 4W | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | SRH | 1670 | 181 | 176 | 650 | 14 | 4929 | 5/19 | 2 | 27.23 | 7.56 |
| Sunil Narine | KKR | 1605 | 180 | 177 | 679 | 3 | 4571 | 5/19 | 7 | 25.39 | 6.73 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | RR | 1566 | 180 | 212 | 753 | 4 | 5370 | 4/34 | 1 | 29.83 | 7.12 |
| Piyush Chawla | MI | 1337 | 192 | 192 | 640 | 2 | 5108 | 4/17 | 2 | 26.6 | 7.96 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | MI | 1269 | 165 | 133 | 506 | 8 | 3714 | 5/10 | 2 | 22.51 | 7.3 |
| Harbhajan Singh | KKR | 1268 | 150 | 163 | 569 | 6 | 4030 | 5/18 | 1 | 26.87 | 7.08 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | CSK | 1234 | 160 | 240 | 636 | 2 | 4864 | 5/16 | 3 | 30.4 | 7.62 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | RR | 1229 | 205 | 160 | 585 | 4 | 4602 | 5/40 | 6 | 22.45 | 7.84 |
| Umesh Yadav | GT | 1203 | 144 | 148 | 508 | 5 | 4296 | 4/23 | 3 | 29.83 | 8.45 |
| Amit Mishra | LSG | 1191 | 174 | 162 | 561 | 6 | 4149 | 5/17 | 4 |
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