Overview:

The Indian Premier League is often considered ‘the ultimate paradise for batters’ since setting a mammoth 200-run total while batting first is not considered a safe target to defend anymore, as it is often chased down by the team batting second and that too quite emphatically.

In addition to all these benefits that the batters are already enjoying the free-hit rule is surely the cherry on the cake that allows the batters to maximize their game.

No-balls and the free-hits that follow have played consequential roles in many IPL games where a free-hit and a few bad deliveries have changed the entire course of a match.

Though an average IPL batter is often successful in hitting the ball out of the park on a free hit, there are a handful of occasions where a batter couldn’t make much of a free hit and in some of the cases even ended up hitting the ball straight into the hands of the fielders.

This IPL legend got clean bowled on a free-hit no-ball

MS Dhoni:

One of the best finishers and captains of world cricket, M.S. Dhoni is a stupendous match-winner who can steal the match away from his opponents even if they are on the cusp of a victory.

However, ‘Thala fans’ would be disgruntled to know that their legend was dismissed and that too clean bowled off on a free hit.

In the match against Kolkata Knight Riders when Dhoni came out to bat in the 20th over with the fans expecting MSD to smash a  maximum on a no-ball bowled by the KKR youngster Vaibhav Arora, they were left disheartened to see their maestro getting clean bowled off on a free-hit. The amateur bowler, Vaibhav Arora was thrust into the limelight after accomplishing this majestic feat.

To date MS stands as the only proper batter in IPL who has made it to this infamous list.