While many great batters have come up against some incredible bowlers throughout the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), there is one unbelievable stat.
The four explosive batters-Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh - have never managed to hit a six off the bowling of the legendary former Sri Lankan and MI pacer Lasith Malinga.
The Sri Lankan fast bowler who was known for his deadly yorkers and variety throughout his IPL career, has troubled the very best in the league. While Kohli, Gayle, Sehwag and Yuvraj are all fantastic, Malinga has always been able to keep them away from hitting a six against him in IPL encounters.
Virat Kohli vs Lasith Malinga
Virat Kohli, one of the best batters in the modern era, faced Malinga eight times in IPL and the batting maestro had scored 34 runs of his bowling. In that innings he had 11 dots, 18 singles and three fours only, but did not manage a single six against the pace bowler.
Chris Gayle vs Lasith Malinga
Chris Gayle the 'Universe Boss' is famous for his hitting prowess, however it is quite amazing to see that the Universe Boss could never hit Malinga for a six. Gayle had scored 57 runs of Malinga in nine IPL matches against him and had 8 fours and some singles, but not a single six. His strike rate against Malinga remained 79.16 in the IPL.
Virender Sehwag vs Lasith Malinga
Virender Sehwag, one of the best openers and attackers the game has ever seen. However, his approach did not help him get to a six against Lasith Malinga in IPL. Sehwag had faced Malinga seven times and scored 41 runs of him at a strike rate of 113.88 with seven fours, but once again, no sixes were being hit against the Sri Lankan bowler.
Yuvraj Singh vs Lasith Malinga
Yuvraj Singh is one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen. He is known for his powerful hitting ability but even he could never clear the boundary against Lasith Malinga. Yuvraj scored 40 runs in 7 IPL innings against Malinga and hit 7 fours and no six. While in the same matches Yuvraj has been dismissed thrice by Malinga.
The fact that Lasith Malinga has had such success against even the very best of batters in the IPL is testimony to his ability to be one of the toughest bowlers to face.
His yorkers, slower balls, and unique action make him very hard to pick, and these stats show his prowess clearly as even some of the most explosive batsmen in the history of the IPL cannot hit a single six off his bowling.