The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) is only a month away, with the first thrilling game scheduled for March 22, when the Chennai Superkings take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The IPL is world-famous for its explosive matches that often see the world’s best batters deploy an all-out attack strategy while bowlers do everything they can to keep the run count respectable.
It should not come as a surprise to learn that the top-tier batsmen often command the highest salaries in the IPL; runs win cricket matches, after all. Not every batter can handle the unique pressures of limited-over cricket, but the following five IPL stars hold the record for most runs scored in the competition since its inception in 2008. The following five elite-level opening batsmen have scored a combined 32,016 runs in the IPL during their glistening careers!
Highlights
Virat Kohli – 7,263 runs
Virat Kohli is considered one of the most incredible batters of all time, and you only need a fleeting look at his incredible run-scoring record to see why the best online sports betting sites alter their odds whenever he is on the field. The 35-year-old holds the record for most runs scored in T20I and the IPL, is the third-highest run-scorer in ODI, and fourth-highest in international cricket. Kohli is magical in all forms of the game.
Kohli is the highest-paid player in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad, with a salary of ₹ 15 crore ($1.9 million). He commands such massive compensation thanks to his outstanding record in the IPL. Kohli is the competition’s highest-ever run-scorer with 7,263, ranks fifth in most career sixes (234), has the most career centuries (7), and holds the record for most runs in a single season (973).
Amazingly, it is not only batting records that Kohli dominates because he is second in the race for most career catches (106), only three behind the now-retired Suresh Raina. Kohli has the ability to win IPL games almost single-handedly, and we cannot wait to see him with a bat in his hand during the 2024 IPL.
Shikhar Dhawan – 6,617 runs
Shikhar Dhawan of the Punjab Kings ranks second in the IPL’s all-time career runs standings with an impressive total of 6,617. Dhawan started his career as a wicket-keeper but is now known for being one of cricket’s best opening batters.
Dhawan is a consistent run-getter who is a thorn in the side of every opponent he faces. His best IPL season, regarding runs scored, was the 2020 campaign, where he played 17 matches and scored 618 runs, including a 106 not-out, four half-centuries, and two centuries.
In April 2022, while playing against the Chennai Super Kings, Dhawan accomplished two significant IPL milestones. First, he played in his 200th match of the competition and broke through 6,000 career runs, becoming the second player to do so after Virat Kohli.
David Warner – 6,397 runs
David Warner is the captain of the Dehli Capitals, and the Australian superstar ranks third in the IPL all-time run-scoring charts with an impressive total of 6,397. Warner’s haul is amazing in its own right, but more so when one considers he did not compete in the inaugural IPL in 2008.
Warner was almost unstoppable during the 2016 season as he put on one of the best displays with the bat the IPL has ever seen. The Aussie was not out in three of his 17 appearances, during which time he racked up 848 runs, the fourth-highest runs total in a single season. During that season, Warner missed out on a century by a mere seven runs, although he enjoyed nine half-centuries and hit 88 fours and 31 sixes!
There is every chance that 2024 is the last time we will see Warner grace the IPL with his presence. Warner will be 38 in October and recently retired from ODI and Test cricket. One of IPL’s greatest is nearing the end of an excellent career.
Rohit Sharma – 6,211 runs
Rohit Sharma is one of his generation’s most feared and respected batters and has several records to his name. Sharma has the most double centuries in ODI cricket (3), the joint most hundreds in T20I (5), and the most centuries at the Cricket World Cup (7). He is not too shabby with the bat in the IPL, either.
Sharma has featured in 243 IPL matches since 2008 and has scored 6,211 runs, including a 109 not-out in 2012. Although that is Sharma’s only IPL century, he has 42 half-centuries, thanks partly to a staggering 554 fours and 257 sixes!
The 36-year-old is a leader on the field in every sense of the word and one of the most decorated players in IPL history. Under Sharma’s guidance and leadership, the Mumbai Indians have won the IPL tournament five times.
Suresh Raina – 5,528 runs
Suresh Raina achieved legendary status in Indian cricket circles, not least because he was once India’s second-youngest captain and the first Indian batsman to hit a century in all three formats of international cricket.
Raina started his IPL career in 2008 with the Chennai Super Kings. His half-century in the final of the 2010 competition turned the tide and ultimately resulted in the Super Kings beating the Mumbai Indians.
On March 23, 2019, Raina became the first IPL player to reach 5,000 career runs, but he failed to recapture the form of his earlier years after that. Raina pulled out of the 2020 IPL, citing personal reasons, before playing 12 times in 2021, scoring only 160 runs. After going unsold in the 2022 IPL Auctions, Raina became a commentator for the IPL.
Raina retired from all forms of the game in September 2022, two years after retiring from international cricket. His IPL career statistics of 205 games, 5,528 runs, one century (100 not out), 39 half-centuries, 506 fours, 203 sixes, and 108 catches make impressive reading.
Leave a Reply