Faf du Plessis scored 4,773 IPL runs across 14 seasons and retired in November 2025 without a single century to his name – yet that quirk undersells rather than defines him. He is the fourth highest overseas run-scorer in the competition’s history, a two-time champion, and the man who delivered a 86 off 59 match-winning knock in the 2021 final. His full season-by-season record and where he actually ranks among the all-time IPL run-scorers is a more complete story than any single number tells.
Quick Answer – Faf du Plessis IPL Career
Faf du Plessis scored 4,773 runs in 154 IPL matches at an average of 35.09 and a strike rate of 135.78, with 39 fifties and 0 centuries since his debut in 2012. He played for four franchises – CSK, Rising Pune Supergiant, RCB, and Delhi Capitals – and won two IPL titles with CSK in 2018 and 2021. The season-by-season breakdown below shows which phases drove that tally.
हिन्दी: फाफ डु प्लेसी ने आईपीएल में 154 मैचों में 4,773 रन बनाए और 2018 व 2021 में CSK के साथ दो खिताब जीते।
Stats verified via ESPNcricinfo and the official IPL site, updated 27 June 2026.
Faf du Plessis’s IPL Career Journey
Du Plessis joined Chennai Super Kings in 2011 but played no matches until 2012, when Michael Hussey’s early unavailability opened the door and Faf grabbed it with 398 runs. He stayed with CSK through 2015, moved to Rising Pune Supergiant for the two seasons CSK were suspended, and returned in yellow for the 2018-2021 run. In that second CSK stint he moved to the top of the order, found a dependable partner in Ruturaj Gaikwad, and peaked with a franchise-defining 2021 campaign of 633 runs at an average of 45.
The 2022 mega-auction took him to RCB for Rs 7 crore, where he was handed the captaincy that Virat Kohli had just vacated. He led the side for three seasons, reaching the playoffs in 2022 and 2024, before Delhi Capitals bought him at his base price ahead of 2025 – his final IPL season. He retired from the league in November 2025, leaving it fifth on the all-time overseas run-scorers list behind David Warner, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Suresh Raina among all batters in the extended leaderboard.
Faf du Plessis Season-by-Season IPL Stats
The table below runs across four franchises and 13 playing seasons (he was in the 2013 CSK squad but did not play a match). His best runs-in-a-season came at 40 years old, not at 28.
| Season | Team | Innings | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | CSK | 12 | 398 | 73 | 33.17 | 130.92 | 3 | |
| 2013 | CSK | In squad, did not play | – | |||||
| 2014 | CSK | 12 | 303 | 54* | 27.55 | 128.94 | 2 | |
| 2015 | CSK | 15 | 380 | 55 | 29.23 | 125.00 | 1 | |
| 2016 | RPS | 6 | 206 | 69 | 34.33 | 127.16 | 2 | |
| 2017 | RPS | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8.00 | 114.29 | 0 | |
| 2018 | CSK | 6 | 162 | 67* | 32.40 | 125.58 | 1 | |
| 2019 | CSK | 12 | 396 | 96 | 36.00 | 123.36 | 3 | |
| 2020 | CSK | 13 | 449 | 87* | 40.82 | 140.75 | 4 | |
| 2021 | CSK | 16 | 633 | 95* | 45.21 | 138.21 | 6 | |
| 2022 | RCB | 16 | 468 | 96 | 31.20 | 127.52 | 3 | |
| 2023 | RCB | 14 | 730 | 84 | 56.15 | 153.68 | 8 | |
| 2024 | RCB | 15 | 438 | 64 | 29.20 | 161.62 | 4 | |
| 2025 | DC | 9 | 202 | 62 | 22.44 | 123.92 | 2 | |
| Career | 4 teams | 147 | 4,773 | 96 | 35.09 | 135.78 | 39 | |
Faf du Plessis’s Best IPL Season – 2023
The 2023 season was the finest of du Plessis’s IPL career and one of the more unexpected individual peaks in recent memory. Opening for RCB alongside Virat Kohli, he scored 730 runs in 14 innings at an average of 56.15 and a strike rate of 153.68, with eight fifties. Only Shubman Gill finished ahead of him in the season’s run charts. At 38 years old he was scoring faster and more consistently than at any point in his career.
His best individual knock that season was an 84 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Chinnaswamy on 19 April 2023 – 52 balls, with seven fours and five sixes, setting up a 174-run chase that RCB completed with six balls to spare. That innings was a neat summary of what the 2023 Faf looked like: attacking from ball one, converting starts rather than getting out in the fifties, and setting the tempo for the batters to follow.
Where Faf du Plessis Ranks Among IPL’s Greats
The headline ranking is fourth highest overseas run-scorer in IPL history – behind David Warner (6,565), AB de Villiers (5,162) and Chris Gayle (4,965 before retirement). That context matters because it means Faf finished ahead of every other South African ever to play in the IPL and ahead of most Australians, West Indians and Pakistanis who have come through. He sits outside the overall top 10 (which is filled by Indian players with far longer windows), but among overseas batters the picture is more telling.
The zero centuries is the unavoidable conversation, and it is a genuine oddity. Faf reached 90 or more four times – 96 twice (2019 and 2022), 95 not out in 2021, and 87 not out in 2020 – and converted exactly none of them. He shares that distinction with MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir as the only players past 4,000 IPL runs without a hundred. What it does not mean is that he was soft in big moments. The record books do not capture that the 2021 final knock came under genuine pressure, needing 192 against a KKR attack in a final with no margin for error.
CSK Years (2012-2021)
- Seasons played: 9 (sat out 2013)
- Runs: 2,931 in 93 innings
- Avg SR: ~130-140
- Titles: 2 (2018, 2021)
RCB-DC Years (2022-2025)
- Seasons played: 4
- Runs: 1,838 in 54 innings
- Avg SR: ~148 (peak 161.62 in 2024)
- Titles: 0, but playoffs in 2022 and 2024
IPL Records and Milestones Held by Faf du Plessis
- Fourth highest overseas run-scorer in IPL history with 4,773 runs, behind Warner, AB de Villiers and Gayle.
- One of only five players past 4,000 IPL runs without a century – alongside Dhoni, Uthappa, Karthik and Gambhir. His highest score is 96, reached twice. See the highest individual scores list to see who else came close.
- Player of the Match in the 2021 IPL Final – 86 off 59 balls against KKR, taking CSK to 192 and their fourth title.
- 39 IPL fifties, the most by any South African in the competition’s history.
- Led RCB as captain for three consecutive seasons (2022-2024), reaching the playoffs twice in that period.
Faf du Plessis’s Final IPL Season (2025) and Retirement
The 2025 season at Delhi Capitals was a difficult final act. Faf managed 202 runs in nine innings at 22.44, his lowest average since the injury-hit 2017 season. DC struggled as a team and he was used at number two but never quite found rhythm. His last IPL match came on 24 May 2025 against Punjab Kings in Jaipur, where he scored 23 off 15 balls before being caught out. Delhi won by six wickets, but there was no farewell innings of the kind the occasion might have deserved.
In November 2025 he announced his retirement from the IPL on social media, citing the desire to focus on other franchise leagues. He had already committed to the Joburg Super Kings in SA20 and continues to play T20 franchise cricket globally.
I do not think Faf du Plessis gets discussed properly. The no-centuries narrative dominates his legacy in a way that is a little unfair: he got out four times in the 90s, which is bad luck as much as anything else, and he was contributing in finals and knockouts when it counted. What actually strikes me about his record is the late-career evolution. The 2023 and 2024 strike rates (153 and 161) from a player in his late thirties are unusual enough to be worth noting. Most IPL openers at that age are slowing down; Faf was accelerating. On the all-time IPL XI conversation, he does not usually come up because the headline numbers are not big enough, and because he never delivered the single 700-run season from the middle of his career. But for longevity, for reliability across franchises, and for stepping up in two finals across a decade, he belongs in a different bracket than where he usually gets placed.
Frequently Asked Questions – Faf du Plessis IPL Stats
How many runs has Faf du Plessis scored in IPL?
Faf du Plessis scored 4,773 runs in 154 IPL matches at an average of 35.09 and a strike rate of 135.78. He played from 2012 to 2025 and retired from the IPL in November 2025. He has 39 fifties and zero centuries, with a highest score of 96.
Did Faf du Plessis win the IPL?
Yes, twice. Faf du Plessis won the IPL in 2018 and 2021, both times with Chennai Super Kings. He was named Player of the Match in the 2021 final for his 86 off 59 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders, which took CSK to 192 and their fourth title.
What was Faf du Plessis’s best IPL season?
His best IPL season was 2023 with RCB, when he scored 730 runs in 14 innings at an average of 56.15 and a strike rate of 153.68, with eight fifties. He was the second highest run-scorer that season behind Shubman Gill, and achieved it at the age of 38.
Has Faf du Plessis scored a century in IPL?
No. Faf du Plessis never scored an IPL century despite playing 154 matches. His highest score is 96, which he hit twice – once for CSK against PBKS in 2019 and once for RCB in 2022. He is one of only five players past 4,000 IPL runs without a hundred.
Which IPL teams did Faf du Plessis play for?
Faf du Plessis played for four IPL franchises across his career: Chennai Super Kings (2012-2015 and 2018-2021), Rising Pune Supergiant (2016-2017), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2022-2024) where he was captain, and Delhi Capitals (2025) in his final season.
The Bottom Line
Faf du Plessis played 14 seasons, for four franchises, and retired as the fourth highest overseas run-scorer in IPL history with 4,773 runs at 35.09. He never made a century and still managed to be one of the more reliable top-order batters the competition has seen, with two titles, a match-winning final performance in 2021, and a 730-run season at 38 that no one saw coming. The century drought is real; it is also the least interesting thing about his IPL record.
