Cricket
Most Hundreds Scored in IPL History: Top Players & Records (2024)
T20 cricket is often labeled as the batter’s game. With increasing time, life has become difficult for the bowlers as the batter’s hunger for big hundreds has taken an undying upward surge.
Rajasthan Royals batter Yashasvi Jaiswal//Getty Images
The advent of T20 cricket has unearthed a batter's long-hidden potential. The format is responsible for the flamboyance and charisma shown by a blend of orthodox and unorthodox strokes played by modern-day batters. This increases their scoring areas and has led to scoring chunks of runs more consistently than ever. This aggressive mindset coupled with the hunger for runs has not just helped individual cricketers but also their respective teams with totals of over 200 seeming a cakewalk these days.
The same approach has quite the relevance in the renowned Indian Premier League (IPL) with a plethora of batters scoring centuries for fun. For example, there were twelve hundred notched up in IPL 2024, the highest ever in a season. Except for the Delhi Capitals, each of the nine teams had players who racked up a century on a given day. Such has been the domination and hunger from the batters to score big runs.
In this piece, we shall look at the cricketers with the most hundreds in IPL and the teams with the most number of century count.
Top Players with the Most IPL Hundreds
| S.No. | Player | Matches | Total Runs | 100s | HS | SR |
| 1 | V Kohli (RCB) | 252 | 8004 | 8 | 113* | 131.97 |
| 2 | JC Buttler (MI/RR) | 107 | 3582 | 7 | 124 | 147.52 |
| 3 | CH Gayle (KKR/KXIP/PBKS/RCB) | 142 | 4965 | 6 | 175* | 148.96 |
| 4 | Shubman Gill (GT/KKR) | 103 | 3216 | 4 | 129 | 135.69 |
| 5 | KL Rahul (KXIP/LSG/PBKS/RCB/SRH) | 132 | 4683 | 4 | 132* | 134.60 |
| 6 | SR Watson (CSK/RCB/RR) | 145 | 3874 | 4 | 117* | 137.91 |
| 7 | DA Warner (DC/SRH) | 184 | 6565 | 4 | 126 | 139.77 |
| 8 | SV Samson (DC/RR) | 168 | 4419 | 3 | 119 | 138.96 |
| 9 | AB de Villiers (DC/RCB) | 184 | 5162 | 3 | 133* | 151.68 |
| 10 | HM Amla (KXIP) | 16 | 577 | 2 | 104* | 141.76 |
Analysis of the Leading Century Scorers
1. Virat Kohli
Labeled as the ‘run-machine’, Virat Kohli is one of the oldest cricketers to participate in the Indian Premier League. He is one of the consistent performers in the glitterati league, and the numbers speak for itself. It took him almost eight years to get his maiden century in IPL against the Gujarat Lions in 2016. His 63-ball 100 against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot was not enough to earn the Royal Challengers Bengaluru a win. In the same year, Kohli smashed three more centuries – against Rising Pune Super Giants, in a reverse fixture clash against the Lions, and against the Kings XI Punjab—all three at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Unlike the one in Rajkot, the other three centuries came on winning cause as he belted a whopping 973 runs in 16 innings at an average of 81.08 in the edition.
While the former Indian captain kept piling runs in the following IPL editions, it took him another three years to get to his fifth IPL ton against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Four years later, Kohli racked up a couple of tons in the 2023 edition of IPL – a 63-ball 100 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, followed by 61-ball 101* against the Gujarat Titans in Bengaluru. The first ton kept the Bengaluru-based side in playoff contention but a maverick-like performance from Shubman Gill eclipsed Kohli’s ton to douse the home team’s hope of qualification. Kohli’s eighth IPL century came against the Rajasthan Royals in 2024 but his 72-ball 113* wasn’t backed enough by the bowlers as Jos Buttler stormed around the park to snatch victory from the Bengaluru side.
Having racked up 8004 runs at an average of 38.66, Kohli is the leading run-getter in the tournament’s history. Not only has he portrayed impeccable consistency with the bat but outstanding adaptability against bowlers across generations regardless of the conditions. The next best are Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who have yet to touch the 7000 runs landmark.
The Englishman didn’t gain the attention he deserved at the start of his IPL career. Buttler represented the Mumbai Indians between 2016-17 but failed to be consistent with the bat despite being part of a title-winning side. The next year he was roped in by the Rajasthan Royals and the wicketkeeper-batter’s graph rocketed in no time. He smashed 548 runs from 13 innings at 54.80 but fell short of his maiden IPL hundred by just five runs against the Chennai Super Kings.
2. Jos Buttler
The Englishman didn’t gain the attention he deserved at the start of his IPL career. Buttler represented the Mumbai Indians between 2016-17 but failed to be consistent with the bat despite being part of a title-winning side. The next year he was roped in by the Rajasthan Royals and the wicketkeeper-batter’s graph rocketed in no time. He smashed 548 runs from 13 innings at 54.80 but fell short of his maiden IPL hundred by just five runs against the Chennai Super Kings.
Subsequently, Buttler had shilly-shally seasons until 2021 barring a magnificent 124 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi. In the next season, the Taunton-born made a meal out of the bowlers by garnering 863 runs at an average of 57.53 from 17 innings. His superlative performance was based on four centuries in the season, equalling Kohli’s most number of tons in an IPL season.
On April 2, 2022, Buttler smoked a ton against his former franchise Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium. It was followed by 103 and 116 against the Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals respectively. At the cue end of the tournament, he smashed an unbridled 106 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to notch up his fifth century of the year.
While Buttler’s batting graph scaled down in the next couple of editions, he managed to rack up a couple of match-winning centuries in 2024. His 100* against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur outclassed Virat Kohli’s hard-fought ton, followed by a 107* against the Kolkata Knight Riders, eclipsing Sunil Narine’s only IPL ton at the prestigious Eden Gardens.
The English white-ball captain has racked up 3582 runs from 107 innings at an average of 38.10 thus far. He is midway through his IPL career and one can expect Buttler to shatter more records in the near future.
3. Chris Gayle
Popularly known as the “Universe Boss”, Chris Gayle was first acquired by the Kolkata Knight Riders, who were captained by the visionary Indian leader Sourav Ganguly. However, his attacking approach was suppressed in the first three years as Gayle failed to score a ton in 16 games with the highest being 88.
Ahead of the 2011 mega-auction, the big-hitter was released by the Shahrukh Khan-co-owned franchise, and to everyone’s surprise, he went unsold in the auction. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Jamaican as Gayle came in as an injury replacement for RCB and took the competition by storm. He smashed the bowlers left, right, and centre in most games, racking up 733 runs in 15 games at an average of 67.55. This included a couple of tons – 102* against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens followed by 107 against the Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
He clobbered an unbridled 128 versus the Delhi Daredevils followed by 175* against the Pune Warriors India. The latter was a gargantuan knock and the individual best by any cricketer in a T20 game. After three consecutive seasons where he averaged in excess of 50 with the bat, the ‘Gaylestorm’ was silenced in 2014 before he knit a century (117) against the Punjab side in Bengaluru in 2015. Three years later, he scored 104* versus the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, while donning the Kings XI Punjab jersey.
Other Notable Players
In the seventeen years of the IPL, there are a few players that have etched their names with consistent blissful performances. While Kohli (8), Buttler (7), and Gayle (6) make the top three, four cricketers - Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, David Warner, and Shane Watson - have already scored four centuries in IPL. Sanju Samson and AB de Villiers are next in the chart with three tons while fourteen players have smashed a couple of tons until IPL 2024.
Key Milestones and Records
Chris Gayle has scored the fastest century in an IPL game. He scored a ton off just 30 balls during his 175* carnage against the Pune Warriors India in 2013.
Seven cricketers – Wriddhiman Saha, Rajat Patidar, Jos Buttler, Murali Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Shane Watson, and Shubman Gill – have scored a century in an IPL Playoffs or knockout game. Saha and Watson are the only players to score a century in an IPL final. However, the former’s ton came in a losing cause in 2012 while the latter’s hundred helped the Chennai Super Kings lift their third IPL title in 2018.
The highest individual score in IPL is 175* by Chris Gayle. The next best came in the opening match of the tournament by Brendon McCullum when he smoked 158 against the Bengaluru side. The third-best is Quinton de Kock’s 140* against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022.
Time and again, the centuries have been clinical in their respective team’s wins. While not always has a player’s century resulted in a victory, it assured a fighting total for the bowlers to defend.
Team-Wise Distribution of IPL Hundreds
| Team | Total Hundreds | Key Players |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 19 | Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers |
| Rajasthan Royals | 17 | Jos Buttler, Shane Watson, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal |
| Punjab Kings | 15 | Glenn Maxwell, Chris Gayle, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller |
| Chennai Super Kings | 10 | Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Murali Vijay |
| Delhi Capitals | 10 | David Warner, Virender Sehwag |
| Mumbai Indians | 8 | Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 6 | David Warner, Heinrich Klaasen |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 4 | Nicholas Pooran, Quinton de Kock |
| Gujarat Titans | 5 | Shubman Gill |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 3 | Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer |
| Deccan Chargers | 2 | Andrew Symonds |
| Rising Pune Super Giants | 2 | Ben Stokes, Steve Smith |
Impact of Centuries on Match Results
There is no doubt why the cricket pundits and experts often mention the importance of scoring in chunks. They often emphasize converting starts into big scores, ultimately contributing to a team’s success. Out of the 53 hundred scored by cricketers in IPL history, 41 have come in winning cause. The remaining twelve hundreds including Wriddhiman Saha’s 55-ball 115 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 have come in the team’s losing cause. Looking at the top century-getter’s stats, Virat Kohli has hit five centuries that helped the Royal Challengers Bengaluru secure victories.
With growing time, the IPL is witnessing an upward surge in centuries. The latest edition saw a plethora of runs being stockpiled with the batters often taking a nonchalant aggressive approach against the bowlers. This resulted in as many as twelve hundred in the season. With time, the hunger of batters are only going to get better and the tournament’s hundred per season is going to thrust upwards. No doubt, the importance of big hundreds will always be pivotal in dictating a contest’s outcome.
FAQs
The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain has scored eight centuries in IPL.
Chris Gayle scored a hundred in just 30 balls, the fastest in the tournament’s history.
References
- 1
Most Hundreds in IPL: ESPNCricinfo. Records. Trophy. Batting. Most Hundreds. IPL. ESPN, https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/trophy/batting-most-hundreds-career/indian-premier-league-117 Accessed Feb 1, 2025
- 2
Virat Kohli IPL stats: IPLT20.Com. Virat Kohli. Stats. IPL https://www.iplt20.com/teams/royal-challengers-bengaluru/squad-details/164https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/murali-vijay-237095 Accessed Feb 1, 2025
- 3
Jos Buttler T20 Records: ESPNCricinfo. Statsguru, IPL, ESPN, https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/308967.html?class=6;filter=advanced;orderby=default;template=results;trophy=117;type=allround Accessed Feb 3, 2025
- 4
Chris Gayle T20 Records: ESPNCricinfo. Statsguru, IPL, ESPN https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/51880.html?class=6;filter=advanced;orderby=default;template=results;trophy=117;type=allround Accessed Feb 4, 2025
- 5
IPL Hundreds in Knockouts: ESPNCricinfo, Statsguru, IPL, ESPN https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=6;filter=advanced;final_type=1;final_type=3;final_type=7;final_type=8;orderby=hundreds;template=results;trophy=117;type=batting Accessed Feb 4, 2025
- 6
IPL Centuries List by Teams: Cricbuzz, Cricket News. Statistical Breakdown. Cricbuzz https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/130392/ipls-century-of-centuries-a-statistical-breakdown Accessed Feb 4, 2025
- 7
IPL Centuries List on Winning Note: ESPNCricinfo, Statsguru. ESPN https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=6;filter=advanced;orderby=hundreds;result=1;template=results;trophy=117;type=batting Accessed Feb 4, 2025
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