Pitch zones

Sixer six-hitting maps · annotated pitch zones for every venue

The desk reads six-hitting zones by pitch quadrant at every India venue. The hub publishes a six-rate per zone, the boundary geometry and the desk's per-batter profile for the batters who clear the rope most often.

What the six-hitting hub covers

The six-hitting hub is the desk's annotated map of where the ball goes when a batter clears the rope. The desk reads every IPL venue, every India international venue and a curated set of domestic grounds, then plots the six-hitting zones by pitch quadrant: cow corner, mid-wicket, long-on, long-off, point and third man. Each zone carries a six-rate per over (a 6.2-metre strip from the popping crease to the rope), an average distance in metres, and a frequency distribution across the players who have batted at the venue in the last 60 innings. The hub does not score six-hitting zones by raw count; it scores them by expected boundary bonus at the venue, weighted by the operator's published boundary table.

How the desk reads a six-hitting zone

The desk reads a six-hitting zone by three measurements: the boundary distance (longest and shortest measurement along the rope), the surface type (grass, drop-in, dry roll) and the wind pattern (sea breeze at Mumbai, dry inland air at Chepauk, evening crosswind at Mohali). A boundary of 56 metres at long-on and 64 metres at cow corner means a power-hitter with a strong leg-side arc will clear the rope more often than a player who scores square of the wicket. A surface that holds together through the death overs means a clean striker can find the straight boundary; a surface that grips and stops means the same striker has to manufacture pace and risks a leading edge to the inner ring.

The desk tracks six-hitting zones match-by-match. After every contest window, the desk updates the venue's six-hitting map with the previous match's data, removes the oldest match from the rolling 60-innings window, and recomputes the per-zone six-rate. The hub also tracks a per-batter six-hitting profile: which zones each batter scores in, the average distance of those sixes, and the frequency of clean contact versus mishits that clear the rope by accident.

Why six-hitting zones matter for fantasy

A boundary (four) is worth 4 bonus points. A six is worth 6 bonus points on top of the six runs, so the total for one six is 12 points (6 runs + 6 bonus). The captain multiplier compounds these bonuses: a captain who clears the rope twice in an innings contributes 24 base points on the sixes alone, plus 12 more at the 2.0x multiplier, plus the runs (12 base, 24 at the multiplier) for a total of 36 captain-multiplied points from sixes only. A captain who hits only fours contributes 8 base points per four (4 runs + 4 bonus), 16 at the multiplier. The arithmetic makes six-hitters materially more valuable as captains at small-boundary venues, even before you account for the strike-rate bonus.

The strike-rate bonus (12 points above a strike-rate of 200) compounds with the boundary bonus and the captain multiplier. A captain who scores 35 off 15 balls (strike-rate 233) at a small-boundary venue will pick up the top strike-rate band, the six bonus on every six, and the captain multiplier. The desk's six-hitting map is designed to identify the players who compound all three bonuses in the same innings.

Three six-hitting profiles the desk tracks

Profile one: the leg-side power-hitter at a small-boundary venue. Six-hitting zones cluster at mid-wicket, long-on and cow corner. Average six distance 76 metres. Strike-rate above 170 across the last ten innings at the venue. Profile two: the straight-bat anchor at a large-boundary venue. Six-hitting zones cluster at long-off and long-on, with occasional sixes over mid-wicket. Average six distance 84 metres. Strike-rate between 130 and 150. Profile three: the death-overs accumulator who hits mostly to cow corner regardless of venue. Six-hitting zones cluster at cow corner, with a small share at fine leg. Average six distance 72 metres. Strike-rate above 180 in death overs (last four overs of a T20 innings).

Six-hitting reading checklist

Check the venue's boundary length before reading the six-hitting map.
Cross-check the surface type and the likely pace off the pitch.
Look at the batter's last five innings at the venue, not the career profile.
Identify which six-hitting zone the batter favours at this venue.
Compare the batter's average six distance to the venue's shortest boundary.
Cross-check the operator's boundary bonus table before captain arithmetic.

Common six-hitting reading mistakes

The desk's most common six-hitting reading mistakes: trusting a batter's career six count without reading the venue profile (a player can be a six-hitter at Wankhede and a boundary-only batter at Chepauk), reading the boundary length without the surface type (a slow surface stops the clean striker and forces mishits), trusting the broadcaster's six-counter without the desk's per-zone breakdown (the broadcaster counts the six, the desk reads the zone and the expected points). The desk recommends reading the per-zone profile and the surface before locking the captain.

Read the captain picks page for the 2.0x multiplier arithmetic that compounds the six bonus, the salary cap page for the per-point cost that ties six-hitting to squad construction, and the desk's longform guide on the geometry of a six for the venue-by-venue annotated diagrams.

Reader questions

Six-hitting · FAQ

Does the desk publish a six-hitting map for every IPL venue?

The desk publishes a six-hitting map for the ten IPL franchise venues, the international venues in India (Wankhede, Chepauk, Eden Gardens, Arun Jaitley, Mohali, Narendra Modi, M. Chinnaswamy, Rajiv Gandhi, Green Park, Holkar) and the venues that host the WPL finals. Domestic venues are added to the rolling 60-innings window as they accumulate enough matches.

How often is the six-hitting map updated?

The desk recomputes the six-hitting map after every contest window. The rolling window holds the last 60 innings at the venue, drops the oldest match when a new match is added and re-scores the per-zone six-rate within an hour of the match ending.

Is a six always six bonus points?

Yes. A six is worth six bonus points on top of the six runs, so one hit is 12 base points. Some operators apply a contest-specific six multiplier in big-league formats; the desk reads the operator's published rules before every contest window.

What boundary length favours six-hitting?

Boundaries under 65 metres on the leg side favour six-hitting. The desk's rule of thumb: a batter's average six distance must be at least eight metres longer than the boundary they hit to for that zone to be a high-frequency six-hitting zone.