37 runs is the joint-highest record for the most runs in a single over in the IPL, which was equalled by Ravindra Jadeja against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 19th match of IPL 2021
Allow us to take you back to April 25, 2021. With CSK batting first, the team was at 154/4 at the end of 19 overs, with Ravindra Jadeja on 26 off 21 deliveries and MS Dhoni on two off three balls. The last over was to be bowled by Harshal Patel, who had been brilliant, particularly at the death, in the tournament till then.
It was expected that CSK would score around 165, which might end up being a below-par total on the batting-friendly pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. What transpired in the last over was hardly expected by anybody.
Harshal Patel landed the first ball right in the slot, and Jadeja smoked it over cow corner for a flat six. On the next ball, there was again a lack of execution from Harshal Patel, and the result was the same: a six over mid-wicket. By this time, the RCB fans had begun to lament over the dropped catch of Jadeja by Dan Christian.
The third ball ended up being a no-ball as the ball slipped out of Harshal Patel’s hand in an attempt to bowl a yorker. The ball ended up in the stands again. Jadeja hit another six off the free hit off a short-pitched ball. Before anybody could realise, Jadeja had scored his half-century.
The camera panned to Virat Kohli and you exactly know the type of expressions that were on show. The fourth legal ball of the over brought two runs with the sequence of sixes being broken. On the second last ball of the over, Harshal Patel completely lost the plot and bowled another ordinary delivery which was deposited by Ravindra Jadeja in the stands.
A visibly upset Harshal Patel looking at the ball going past the boundary
By the time the last ball arrived, Patel was like a cat on a hot tin roof, and a boundary was inevitable. It was a four this time as Jadeja ended up accumulating a record equalling 37 runs from the over.
The CSK innings finished at 191 for 4 with Ravindra Jadeja finally walking away with an unbeaten 62 off 28 deliveries. Harshal Patel, who had been RCB’s star in the match till then, ended up conceding over 50 runs from his four overs.
Fortunately, Patel took the incident sportingly and did not allow the situation to put his morale down. Speaking to CricTracker, Patel had said, “The one thing you learn in the professional sport after 11 years is that you can’t take anything too seriously. As if you start taking these things too seriously, it will be very difficult to sustain. Yes, I made a few mistakes (in that over). I didn’t execute what I wanted to and the batter (Ravindra Jadeja) had a fantastic day. If he had an average day, he would probably miss one or two. So, I had a very bad day as I couldn’t execute a single yorker, and he got under each and every delivery.”
While Jadeja gave Indian cricket enthusiasts a knock worth remembering forever, 37 runs off an over was already a feat achieved by West Indies bombardier Chris Gayle in 2011 against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. In the third over against Kerala pacer PrasanthParameswaran, Gayle started with two sixes in a row. The second ball was a no-ball, an opportunity well taken by Gayle, who finished the rest of the over with three fours and two sixes.
The scoreboard displaying Gayle’s over against PrasanthParameswaran
