T20 cricket is all about entertaining the crowd as much as possible within a short time, and the prime source of entertainment in this format lies in two words - Big Sixes. The demand is the same from the spectators' point of view in every franchise league, and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is no different.
Although the BPL hasn't been a tournament which delivers the best displays of more instances of the ball going big into the stands, some of the batters stood out as the hitters with the most sixes in the tournament's history.
When we talk about sixes, one person's name becomes relevant automatically, and that is none other than Chris Gayle. The left-arm legendary opener is the only campaigner with more than 1000 sixes in T20 cricket and has hit 143 sixes in the BPL, the most in the tournament's history.
However, while Gayle stands out as the best, who's hit the second-highest number of sixes in the BPL? Has anyone else crossed 100 sixes? The answer is no, but we are likely to see some of the batters reaching the milestone in the BPL 2024.
The man who has hit the second-most sixes and the most sixes as a Bangladeshi player is the country's best-ever opening batter, Tamim Iqbal. In 88 innings, he has hit 93 sixes, making him average more than 1 six per innings, which is a rare feat for a Bangladeshi batter.
Imrul Kayes stands second after Tamim with 91 sixes, although he held the first place among the Bangladeshis for a long time.
Mushfiqur Rahim, the 2nd highest run-scorer in the BPL history with 2,161 runs, is at touching distance with 90 sixes to his name. His brother-in-law and the reliable middle-order batter, Mahmudullah, is in fourth place with 84 sixes.
The other two Bangladeshi batters with 75 sixes or more are Anamul Haque Bijoy (78 sixes) and Shakib Al Hasan (75 sixes).
Now, do all of them have a chance to reach 100 sixes by the end of this year's BPL? Let's find out.
Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan: The most sixes in a single edition of the BPL belongs to Tamim Iqbal (23). In fact, he hit 23 sixes for two consecutive times in the BPL (2018 and 2019). With just 7 more required to reach 100, the veteran batter will likely do it within the group-stage matches of the season.
On the other hand, Shakib hit 22 sixes in the BPL 2023, the third-most in a single BPL edition after Tamim's 23 (2018) and 23 (2019). Although asking for 25 more to reach 100 sixes this season is too much to ask for if the conditions don't support big hitting, it is surely not impossible if Shakib can unleash the version of him seen in the previous season.
Imrul Kayes and Mushfiqur Rahim: 9 sixes in a tournament is not usually a bit too much to ask for from the Comilla Victorians captain, but if he performs like he did last season, Tamim Iqbal might increase the lead further, having taken it from him.
However, Mushfiqur Rahim has hit 9 sixes in the last season while scoring 357 runs, and he just has to repeat the same and hit 1 more this time around.
Mahmudullah and Anamul Haque: Mahmudullah requires 16 sixes to reach a century of sixes, while Anamul needs 22. If the pitch conditions are not very batting-friendly, it might be impossible for Anamul to hit 22 out of the park. Still, if Mahmudullah can carry on his big-hitting ability of this year's World Cup (where he hit 14 sixes in 7 innings), he's likely to reach 100.
All in all, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim are the strongest candidates for becoming the first Bangladeshi batter with 100 sixes or more in the history of BPL, and we might see some other names reaching the milestone if the conditions support big hitting.
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