Cricket
Best IPL Batsman – Who Dominates the League’s Batting Charts?
The Indian Premier League has provided plenty of thrills and spills over the years, and it continues to astonish with some incredible batting displays. Yes, batsmen normally come to the fore in this T20-style extravaganza, flashing shots to all corners of the venues they play at. They are never afraid to take risks or be aggressive when the opportunity beckons. It’s no surprise that this premier domestic cricket competition has plenty of fans eagerly tuning in worldwide to see the batsmen strut their stuff.
Virat Kohli of RCB//Getty Images
SportsBoom loves a good debate and we have weighed in by exploring who the IPL’s best batsman is. We have used metrics, such as career runs and averages, and we have provided a series of mini profiles to underline the influence each batsman has had on the competition.
A List of the top 10 IPL Batsmen
We have sifted through the data, checked and cross-referenced the stats from several reliable sources, including the official IPL site. We’ve deemed the following players as the top 10 batsmen in the competition, and they saw their stock rise during their careers.
Runs scored, naturally, are the most valuable currency in this guide. Averages are also important, and an average of 30 or over in the shortest format of the game is good going. Meanwhile, strike rates shouldn’t be overlooked as this assesses the regularity in which batsmen hit the ball per delivery faced even if it ends in a dot ball.
Many players you will see here have also been household names in international cricket, so let’s see who features in our table then.
Table of the top 10 IPL Batsmen
| Player | Years Active | Runs | Matches | Innings | Average | Strike Rate | HS |
| Virat Kohli | 2008-2025 | 8094 | 254 | 246 | 38.91 | 132.02 | 113 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 2008-2024 | 6769 | 222 | 221 | 35.26 | 127.14 | 106* |
| Rohit Sharma | 2008-2025 | 6649 | 260 | 255 | 29.42 | 131.04 | 109* |
| David Warner | 2009-2024 | 6565 | 184 | 184 | 40.52 | 139.77 | 126 |
| Suresh Raina | 2008-2021 | 5528 | 205 | 200 | 32.52 | 136.76 | 100* |
| MS Dhoni | 2008-2025 | 5289 | 267 | 232 | 39.18 | 137.70 | 84* |
| AB de Villiers | 2008-2021 | 5162 | 184 | 170 | 39.70 | 151.68 | 133* |
| Chris Gayle | 2009-2021 | 4965 | 142 | 141 | 39.72 | 148.96 | 175* |
| Robin Uthappa | 2008-2022 | 4952 | 205 | 197 | 27.51 | 130.35 | 88 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 2008-2024 | 4842 | 257 | 234 | 26.32 | 135.36 | 97* |
Notes:
- An * denotes an unbeaten knock by a batsman during an IPL innings.
- Some figures may be subject to change following the 2025 edition of the IPL.
Profiling some of the top 10 batsmen
To give you a flavour of what the top batsmen produce, we have limited our mini profiles to the top half of this list rather than going through all of them.
While we haven’t reviewed Chris Gayle’s career, for example, don’t be alarmed. Let’s not forget the West Indies legend has scored the most sixes (357) in the IPL as well as recording the most runs in an over (37) which is incredible.
1 - Virat Kohli (8094 runs)
Even at the grand old age of 36, Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Virat Kohli is showing no signs of slowing down, and he is undisputably a cricket run machine.
One of the most consistent players in the IPL, Kohli is currently more than 1,000 runs ahead of Shikhar Dhawan, and he is likely to put even more distance between them when the 2025 edition finishes.
Yes, Kohli has amassed 8094 runs at the time of writing, and he is a two-time winner of the Orange Cap, an accolade handed to the top run scorer in the competition.
Kohli’s intensity both on and off the pitch has made him a global icon, and his longevity means he has cemented his IPL legacy.
2- Shikhar Dhawan (6769 runs)
Shikhar Dhawan was a bit of a journeyman in the IPL, turning out for the Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers (now defunct), Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Punjab Kings.
That’s quite some list, but he was a brilliant run-getter, managing 6796 runs, and apart from an amazing strike rate of 127.14, Dhawan created history in the IPL in 2020 by becoming the first batsman to score successive hundreds.
His unbeaten knock of 106 for the Delhi Capitals in their last game against the Chennai Super Kings was classy, and he brought up his century in 57 balls. Dhawan’s innings featured 12 fours and 3 sixes.
3 - Rohit Sharma (6649 runs)
Despite having the lowest average among the others in the top five (29.42), Rohit Sharma has become an IPL colossus.
He’s a serial IPL champion (six times so far), and while he doesn’t bludgeon the ball in the same manner as say perhaps Gayle, he looks unflustered at the crease.
The pull shot has been Sharma’s trademark stroke, and a total of 6649 runs at the time of writing, is an amazing return. Although he has struggled so far with the bat in the tournament in 2025, it’s worth casting your mind back to 2012 when Sharma scored an unbeaten 109 from 60 balls for the Mumbai Indians against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sharma fired 12 fours and 5 sixes, and his strike rate soared to an extraordinary 181.66.
4- David Warner (6565 runs)
The left-handed master blaster has thrived in the IPL. In 2016, he captained the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a maiden tournament victory, and a breakdown of his stats suggests 2016 was his best return with the bat.
Yes, in 2016, Warner churned out 848 runs in 17 matches, averaging over 60, and his strike rate was 151.42.
Warner always thought outside the box during his IPL career, deploying hit and switch shots to flummox bowlers, and he was always a livewire. By the time he hung up his bat, Warner wound up with over 6500 runs.
5- Suresh Raina (5528 runs)
Suresh Raina is an attack-minded left-handed batsman who is a prodigious run scorer. Well, over 5,000 runs would suggest as much!
During his 13 years in the IPL, Raina regularly reached the half-century milestone, getting there on 39 occasions, but managed just one century.
Raina enjoyed a fairytale end to his IPL career in 2021, winning the title with the Chennai Super Kings, and although it was his leanest tournament with the bat (161 runs), he was fabulous to watch in full flow.
A decent average of 32.52, along with a strike rate of 136.76, warrants his place on our list.
Conclusion
In this guide, we have placed a heavy emphasis on run scoring. If we were to consider just batting averages, then things would look markedly different.
Anyway, from the research we carried out, Virat Kohli stands heads and shoulders above his rivals. Although there are a few players on this list who have scored hundreds in all formats of the game, Kohli’s consistency and longevity speak volumes about what he has achieved.
Whenever the pressure is on, Kohli invariably delivers, and he will add a fair few more runs to his enviable IPL tally before he walks away. Just how many exactly? Well, that remains to be seen.
FAQs
Although Kohli has scored the most runs in the competition, David Warner has the highest average (40.52), which is extraordinary.
The table we have produced draws attention to some of the finest IPL batters of all time, but Virat Kohli is our number one.
Kohli has been a towering figure, and the rate at which he has accumulated his runs has been exceptional. His run record could stand for a long time.
REFERENCES
- 1
The IPL top batsmen of all time: Records of the most prolific IPL batsmen - https://www.iplt20.com/stats/2024 Accessed April 2, 2025
- 2
Rohit Sharma 109 not out for the Mumbai Indians against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012: IPL scorecard for that game - https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/indian-premier-league-2012-520932/kolkata-knight-riders-vs-mumbai-indians-58th-match-548363/full-scorecard Accessed April 2, 2025
Charles Perrin is a highly experienced sports betting content writer with over six years of working with some of the leading sportsbooks in the UK, including bet365 and William Hill.