The IPL 2025 season has lived up to expectations so far and is nothing short of entertaining. DC, GT, LSG, and RCB have been off to a great start in this season as they have been consistent in their performances, and it seems that they have all their bases covered. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have not had the best of starts as they are sitting at the bottom of the table by winning only one game from the matches that they have played so far.
Sunrisers Hyderabad was the most highly anticipated team of the 2025 IPL season with a stupendous team that has a power-packed batting unit and fiery pace attack with the likes of Mohammed Shami and Pat Cummins. Despite the modern approach to T20 cricket, many teams have played too many dot balls. Now, let’s have a glance at the top 10 teams that have played the most dot balls in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League so far:
10. Delhi Capitals-123 dot balls
Delhi Capitals has been the best side of the IPL season so far, and they are unbeaten from the 4 games that they have played so far. Axar Patel has been brilliant with his captaincy, as he hasn’t gone a foot wrong in terms of decision-making in the season so far. They have a powerful batting unit, with KL Rahul and Faf Du Plessis being the potential leaders of the batting unit. They have acquired the right players at the auction, and they have got all their bases covered well. The batting of this Delhi side goes deep, and they have plenty of firepower in the middle and lower order. Delhi have played only 123 dot balls in their season so far.
9. PBKS-160 dot balls
PBKS have been off to a good start this season, winning 3 games so far. They have a blistering batting unit as they have got everything they want in terms of technical abilities and power hitting. Priyansh Arya has been a great find for them as the uncapped batter has been great for them, and he has scored his maiden IPL ton as well. Shreyas Iyer is also proving his worth in the Punjab squad, both as batter and captain. They have an explosive middle order with the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Shashank Singh. They have already crossed the 200 run mark multiple times this season, and we can surely expect more. Punjab has played only 145 dot balls so far this season.
8. Gujarat Titans- 177 dot balls
Gujarat Titans has had a fine start this season, winning 4 games so far. Their openers have been in tremendous form in the season, with Sai Sudharshan holding the orange cap as well. Sai and Gill have been consistent in the season so far by constantly giving the team solid starts, and this gives the rest of the batting unit the freedom to go out there and express themselves. Their top auction pick, Jos Buttler, has also been in good touch and has adapted well to his new role of coming in at number 3. They have no deficit in terms of fire-power in that batting unit, and we can expect plenty of big scores from this batting unit. Gujarat Titans has played 167 dot balls in the season so far.
7. Lucknow Supergiants-186 dot balls
Lucknow have been off to a good start as well this season, winning 4 games so far. Nicholas Pooran, arguably the best T20 batsman in the world, has been consistently getting the big scores and helping his team reach respectable totals and chase big scores. Mitchell Marsh has stood tall as well this season, along with Pooran, and these two have been carrying this batting unit on their shoulders. Markram has also been a fine pick for them as he has started performing well with a couple of good starts this season. The batting unit is already dangerous, but the return of an in-form Pant could make this side unstoppable. Lucknow Supergiants has played 186 dot balls in this season so far.
6. Sunrisers Hyderabad-200 dot balls
Sunrisers Hyderabad made a statement in their opening match with phenomenal ball striking on display against the Rajasthan Royals, but ever since that match, things have gone downhill for the side. Their fearless batting approach is undoubtedly deadly with the kind of batting they have at each position, but in certain instances, their intent has cost them low scores. Despite losing consecutive games, Pat Cummins and his men are determined to stick to their same batting approach, and they believe it’s just a run of bad luck. Once their batting unit starts firing, the bowlers will be facing the deadliest batting unit in this IPL season. They have got a fiery batting unit with Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen being the best batsmen in this side along with the likes of Ishan Kishan, Abhinav Manohar and Aniket Verma. This batting unit could be the nightmare of the opposition bowlers. SRH has played 191 dot balls this season so far.
5. Mumbai Indians -198 dot balls
Mumbai Indians have been off to a poor start this season, as they have only one game so far. They have a tremendous batting unit with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rickelton, Jacks, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. The batsmen haven’t been able to find their form this season, as many of them are still looking to get some runs under their belt to gain some kind of confidence. Tilak Verma has been quite good as he has a couple of fifties to his name this season, and Hardik Pandya had a wonderful outing against RCB, where he played a thrilling knock. The batting unit of Mumbai needs to fire if they’re looking to turn their fortunes this season. Mumbai Indians have played 198 dot balls this season so far.
4. Royal Challengers Bengaluru- 202 dot balls
Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been off to a fine start this IPL by winning 3 games so far. They have a well-rounded batting unit that can get the team across the line in terms of chasing and in terms of setting huge scores. Virat Kohli has been in good touch recently, and he has been crucial to their plans. They have conquered the fortresses of CSK, MI AND KKR within their first 4 matches of the season. Despite being a team that has batted quite well this season, they had plenty of dot balls in their games against Delhi and Gujarat as the top order collapsed in both instances. They will just have to continue playing good cricket to improve their playoff chances. RCB has played 202 dot balls in their season so far.
3. Rajasthan Royals -206 dot balls
Rajasthan Royals have gotten off to a decent start this season by only winning 2 games so far. Their top order hasn’t been off to the best of starts, as Sanju and Jaiswal are just getting into their rhythm this season. The lack of foreign batting depth could hurt RR, as the only foreign batter on their side is Shimron Hetmyer. Riyan Parag could be heavily burdened with the responsibility of staying deep in the match to provide support to the big hitters on the other end. They perhaps might be asking a bit too much from their Indian batting side that is relatively inexperienced, and only time will tell if they put a foot wrong in the auction. Rajasthan Royas has played 206 dot balls in this season so far.
2. Kolkata Knight Riders- 234 dot balls
Kolkata Knight Riders have been off to a decent start this IPL by winning 3 games so far. KKR have a destructive opening pair with the likes of Sunil Narine and Quinton De Kock. They have a solid middle order with top-quality players like Rahane, Raghuvanshi, Rinku, Russell and Ramandeep. They might have paid too much for Venkatesh Iyer, as he hasn’t started firing in the season so far. They have accumulated a considerable amount of dot balls due to their poor performance in the middle overs of the opening game and due to their batting collapse against Mumbai Indians. Otherwise, they have been a good batting side with almost all bases covered, and it will only be a matter of time until we see a full-fledged batting performance from the Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR have played 234 dot balls in the season so far.
1. Chennai Super Kings -245 dot balls
The Chennai Super Kings have had a nightmare of a season so far, as they have only won one game so far this season. It is fair to say that this batting unit will be carried by mainly four batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube. With Gaikwad being injured, their lack of batting depth has been exposed convincingly enough to point out the flaw that was made in the auction itself. They are asking a bit too much from players like Tripathi, Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda. Another issue they could be facing is the lack of firepower in the death, which restricts the team from reaching huge defendable targets. MS Dhoni backing himself to come out to bat as low as number 9 could also just inflate the batting problems for CSK. It would be difficult for CSK to make a comeback from this situation with their lack of resources in the batting department. Chennai Super Kings has played 245 dot balls in this season so far, the most by any team this season.
