Hyderabad: In the world's biggest cricket league, the Indian Premier League (IPL), batters have dominated the bowlers with the format encouraging more and more aggressive approach of batsmanship. Also, batting-friendly pitches have caused a rise in the number high-scoring matches. In such a scenario, even the world's best bowlers succumb under pressure sometimes. Thus, it is a rare phenomenon to bowl a maiden over in T20 cricket and that too in the final over of the innings is extraordinary.
Bowlers are under tremendous pressure in the death overs and it is a tough task for them to restrict the opposition batters. Bowling a maiden over when batters are taking swing at every delivery is an art and doing so in the 20th over is almost impossible. However, there are four bowlers in the history of the IPL who have done so and the we take a look at such bowlers who achieved an extraordinary feat.
Irfan Pathan
The former India pacer was the first bowler to bowl 20th maiden over in the IPL. The left-arm pacer known for his ability to swing the ball both ways achieved the feat during a fixture against Mumbai Indians in 2008 while playing for Punjab Kings. Irfan picked 80 wickets from 103 matches in the cash-rich league.
Lasith Malinga
Star Sri-Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga was known for his slinky action and ability to nail the pin-point yorkers. He scripted several record while representing Mumbai Indians in the IPL and picked 170 wickets from 122 matches for them in the tournament. Malinga bowled a 20th maiden over in the match against Deccan Chargers in the 2009 seasons and also picked two wickets.
Jaydev Unadkat
The veteran India seamer bowled the 20th maiden over against Sunrisers Hyderabad while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 edition. Also, he took three wickets in that over. Unadkat has taken 106 wickets from 110 matches with an economy of 8.89.
Umran Malik
The right-arm seamer with explosive pace is included in the exclusive list. Malik achieved the feat while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Punjab Kings in the 2022 edition. Also, he picked three wickets in the over. Malik has picked 29 wickets from 26 matches and made waves in the 2022 season with his outstanding performance. However, his form faded in the recent times and the young lad has been away from the IPL as well as international action.
