In IPL 2024, bowlers claimed 28 wickets from 758 yorkers across 74 games. This season, they’ve already picked up 22, with 24 matches still to go. Batters have struck at just 81 against yorkers — the lowest IPL strike rate for this length since 2020.
Dot-ball percentage from yorkers has surged to 44.6, the highest ever. The boundary rate — 6.66% — is among the lowest on record, bettered only in 2019 and 2020.
Avesh Khan leads the yorker charts. In 10 matches for Lucknow Super Giants, he’s landed 24 yorkers and conceded just 19 runs. Chennai Super Kings’ Matheesha Pathirana has hit the same count but given away 26 runs. Both have claimed two wickets apiece from the delivery.
Avesh showcased textbook death bowling to defend nine runs off the final over against Rajasthan Royals.
Earlier this season, he’d been clobbered by Hardik Pandya for a six off a full toss with 22 needed from the final over. But he stuck to his guns, followed up with near-perfect block-hole deliveries, and LSG conceded just three runs off the last five balls to win by 12.
“I always think the yorker is my best ball,” Avesh said after his match-winning spell. “I try to bowl it in any situation. In the IPL, it’s important to back yourself. I focus on execution, and once I take the ball, I don’t get tense. Whatever I decide to bowl, I commit to it fully.”
Crucially, yorkers have worked even at the death — overs 16 to 20 — when batters tend to unleash. This year, 15 wickets have fallen to yorkers in this phase, already matching last year’s tally. The economy rate has dipped from 8.15 to 6.79, while dot-ball (38.3%) and boundary (9.47%) rates have also improved significantly.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar applied a chokehold on Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh, conceding just 28 runs in the final four overs. Andre Russell and Vaibhav Arora did something similar against the same opposition, giving away just 27 in the last three overs. It would’ve been fewer had Vaibhav not dropped Shreyas Iyer off Russell.
What explains the resurgence? It’s hard to pin down, but reverse swing — possibly aided by the discreet use of saliva — might be a factor.
Pathirana has bowled 14 reverse-swinging yorkers this season — the most by any bowler — yielding one wicket. Starc, surprisingly, has delivered only three reverse-swinging yorkers so far, despite his reputation.
Whatever the reason, bowlers won’t mind the help. In a tournament often skewed in favour of batters — especially since the introduction of the Impact Player rule — the yorker’s comeback is a welcome leveller.
