Chris Gayle’s 30-ball hundred against Pune Warriors in 2013 remains the fastest century in IPL history — a record that has survived more than 1,200 matches, two teenagers, and a generation of genuinely dangerous new power hitters. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has come closest, twice, with 35- and 36-ball tons in 2025 and 2026. Here’s the complete top-10 all-time list, the stories behind each innings, and an honest look at whether anyone active can break Gayle’s mark.
Quick Answer — Fastest Century in IPL History
Chris Gayle (RCB) holds the record — 30 balls, scored against Pune Warriors at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 23 April 2013. Final score: 175* off 66 balls. Nearest active rival: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at 35 balls (2025) and 36 balls (2026). The record has stood for 13 seasons.
हिन्दी: IPL इतिहास में सबसे तेज़ शतक क्रिस गेल ने 2013 में सिर्फ 30 गेंदों में लगाया था — यह रिकॉर्ड आज भी कायम है।
Fastest Centuries in IPL History — Top 10 All-Time
| Rank | Player | Team | Balls | Score | Opponent | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gayle | RCB | 30 | 175* | Pune Warriors | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru | 2013 |
| 2 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | RR | 35 | 101 | Gujarat Titans | SMS Stadium, Jaipur | 2025 |
| 3 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | RR | 36 | 103* | Sunrisers Hyderabad | SMS Stadium, Jaipur | 2026 |
| 4 | Yusuf Pathan | RR | 37 | 100 | Mumbai Indians | Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai | 2010 |
| 4 | Heinrich Klaasen | SRH | 37 | 105* | Kolkata Knight Riders | Arun Jaitley, Delhi | 2025 |
| 6 | David Miller | KXIP | 38 | 101* | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | PCA Stadium, Mohali | 2013 |
| 7 | Travis Head | SRH | 39 | 102 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru | 2024 |
| 7 | Priyansh Arya | PBKS | 39 | 103 | Chennai Super Kings | Mullanpur, Chandigarh | 2025 |
| 9 | Will Jacks | RCB | 41 | 100* | Gujarat Titans | Narendra Modi, Ahmedabad | 2024 |
| 10 | Adam Gilchrist | DC | 42 | 109* | Mumbai Indians | DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai | 2008 |
📊 What the Top 10 Actually Reveals
Six of the ten fastest IPL centuries have arrived since IPL 2024 — three in the 2025 season alone. The 16 seasons before April 2025 produced just four sub-40-ball tons. IPL 2024–26 has produced five. Ground dimensions, deeper benches, and the emergence of pre-meditated power openers like Sooryavanshi and Arya have compressed the timeline dramatically. Gayle’s record still sits five balls clear of second place — in T20 terms, roughly half a fielding powerplay. Not as comfortable a margin as it looks.
#1 — Chris Gayle, 30 Balls (RCB vs Pune Warriors, 2013)
The Chinnaswamy on 23 April 2013 was the day T20 batting rewrote its own rulebook. Gayle hit Ishwar Pandey’s first ball for four and never slowed down. A 17-ball fifty. Aaron Finch’s over going for 29. Century in the ninth over — 30 deliveries — with 98 of his first 103 runs in boundaries. He finished 175 not out off 66 balls, still the highest individual score in T20 cricket history, with 13 fours and 17 sixes. RCB posted 263 for 5. Pune replied with 133 for 9. Win by 130 runs. In a post-match interview, Gayle said he’d had a plain omelette, two pancakes and a hot chocolate for breakfast. The most destructive batting performance in IPL history, fuelled by room service.
🏆 Gayle’s Innings — The Numbers
30 balls to century · 175* off 66 total · 17 sixes, 13 fours · 98 of first 103 runs in boundaries · 263/5 team total · won by 130 runs. All five of those figures remain IPL records in their own right.
#2 — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 35 Balls (RR vs GT, Jaipur, 2025)
When a 14-year-old hits Rashid Khan over long-on en route to a 35-ball century while chasing 210, the conversation about the record changes. At Sawai Mansingh on 28 April 2025, Sooryavanshi reached fifty in 17 balls, took 26 off an Ishant Sharma over, and brought up his century with a six off Rashid — a detail that underlines the point. He finished 101 off 38 balls, with 11 sixes and seven fours. RR won by eight wickets with 25 balls to spare. At 14 years and 32 days, he also became the youngest centurion in IPL and men’s T20 history.
#3 — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 36 Balls (RR vs SRH, Jaipur, 2026)
He did it again in IPL 2026 — making him the first batter in IPL history with two sub-40-ball centuries. Opening against Sunrisers Hyderabad, his first five scoring shots were all sixes. Fifty in 15 balls. Century off 36 balls, raised with a lofted six off Sakib Hussain, before being dismissed next delivery. He’d scored 103 of Rajasthan Royals’ 170 runs by the time he walked off. The only player in the top three besides Gayle — and he’s done it twice.
#4 (Joint) — Yusuf Pathan, 37 Balls (RR vs MI, 2010)
RR needed 143 off 57 balls chasing MI’s 212 — a near-impossible target. Pathan arrived and scored 54 off his next 11 deliveries, three successive sixes off Ali Murtaza and 24 more in the following over. He brought up the then-IPL record century with a towering six and was run out the very next ball. Shane Warne called it the best innings he’d ever seen. RR still lost. The century held as the IPL record for three years until Gayle, and it’s the only entry in this list that came in a losing cause.
#4 (Joint) — Heinrich Klaasen, 37 Balls (SRH vs KKR, Delhi, 2025)
A dead rubber in Delhi — both sides already out of the 2025 playoffs — produced a live classic. Klaasen came in at No. 3 in the seventh over and smashed Sunil Narine for 24 off 10 balls, Varun Chakravarthy for 36 off 12, and finished unbeaten on 105 off 39 balls as SRH reached 278 for 3 — the fourth-highest team total in IPL history. The kind of innings his team had been waiting for all season, delivered in a match that didn’t matter to the table.
#6 — David Miller, 38 Balls (KXIP vs RCB, Mohali, 2013)
Kings XI Punjab were 64 for 4, chasing 191 — effectively done — when Miller arrived. He scored 101 not out off 38 balls, with 99 runs coming in the last five overs. He tore into RP Singh for 26 in a single over and hit the winning six to bring up his century simultaneously. Post-match, he quoted his father: “If it’s in the V, it’s in the tree. If it’s in the arc, it’s out of the park.” He’s the only player in this list to score a sub-40-ball century from a No. 5 position.
Entries 7–10 — The Modern Wave
Travis Head (SRH, 39 balls, 2024): Head set the tone in Bengaluru, putting SRH at 76 for 0 inside the powerplay before being dismissed for 102 off 41 balls — century in 39 — in the 13th over. SRH finished 287 for 3, the highest team total in IPL history. Head’s powerplay assault made that score possible.
Priyansh Arya (PBKS, 39 balls, 2025): The 24-year-old Delhi opener Punjab Kings paid ₹3.8 crore for at auction delivered against CSK at Mullanpur — first-ball six, maiden IPL century in the 13th over, three consecutive sixes off Matheesha Pathirana in the same burst. Pure pre-meditated destruction from a player who’d scored 47 off 23 on debut.
Will Jacks (RCB, 41 balls, 2024): Started 17 off 17, then scored 83 off his next 24 to finish 100 not out off 41 total, with ten sixes. RCB chased 201 in 16 overs against GT at Ahmedabad. ESPNcricinfo noted it as the only entry in this list struck at a neutral venue. Adam Gilchrist (DC, 42 balls, 2008): The inaugural IPL season’s benchmark — 109 not out off 47 chasing 155 against Mumbai Indians, with 19 boundaries. Deccan Chargers won by 10 wickets with eight overs to spare. The first IPL century to suggest chasing teams could win comfortably, not just survive.
Records Closing In — Who Can Break Gayle’s 30-Ball Mark?
Sooryavanshi is the likeliest candidate — not just because he’s come closest twice, but because he’s 15, playing at a quick-outfield home ground, and getting stronger each season. The gap is five balls, which sounds close. The mathematics says otherwise. Breaking the century record probably requires breaking the fifty record first — Gayle’s 17-ball fifty is joint-fastest in IPL history. Sooryavanshi’s best is 15. He’s two deliveries shy at the halfway point, which makes the full century record about as far as it sounds.
Travis Head would merit consideration for his raw tempo, but he tends to be dismissed in the 40-ball range rather than pushing deeper. AB de Villiers — whose 43-ball century against Gujarat Lions in 2016 sits just outside this top-10 — showed that middle-order batters can get there too, given the right match state. The difference is that getting a No. 5 to the crease early enough is itself a prerequisite. Gayle had a full 20 overs when the game state gave him licence to go from ball one. That combination of circumstances — flat surface, licence, early arrival — is harder to manufacture than it looks.
2008–2023: Gayle’s Era (16 Seasons)
- Sub-40-ball centuries: 4 (Gayle, Pathan, Miller, Head)
- Closest challenge: 38 balls — Miller, 2013
- Gap between entries: 3 years (2010→2013), then 11 years (2013→2024)
2024–2026: The New Wave
- Sub-40-ball centuries: 5 in three seasons
- New names: Sooryavanshi (×2), Klaasen, Arya, Jacks, Head
- Two players now inside 37 balls for the first time
The record is safe — but for the first time in 13 years, I’m not certain it’ll survive another five seasons. What’s changed isn’t the talent; Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan were extraordinary power hitters. What’s changed is the mandate. Sooryavanshi doesn’t have a middle-over anchor role to protect, Arya opened with a first-ball six on his second game, and Klaasen’s franchise rebuilt entirely around strike-rate-first batting. Six of the ten fastest IPL centuries came in the last three seasons. That’s not a coincidence — it’s a structural shift in how the game is being played from the top of the order.
Where I’d push back on the “record is about to fall” narrative: Gayle’s 30-ball mark included a 17-ball fifty, which is the joint-fastest in IPL history. Sooryavanshi’s best split is 15 balls — faster. But his second fifty has never come at 13 balls. That’s the actual ceiling. The record won’t be broken by someone in great form; it’ll be broken by someone in great form on a day when the first fifteen balls go impossibly well, too. That day is coming. Whether it’s Sooryavanshi who has it is another question.
Fastest IPL Century — FAQs
Who has the fastest century in IPL history?
Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) holds the record — scored off just 30 balls against Pune Warriors at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 23 April 2013. He finished 175 not out off 66 balls, the highest individual score in IPL and T20 cricket history. The record has stood for 13 IPL seasons.
Who is second on the fastest IPL century list?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals) sits second with a 35-ball century against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on 28 April 2025. At 14 years and 32 days, he also became the youngest centurion in IPL and men’s T20 cricket history. He scored 101 off 38 balls in total. He holds positions 2 and 3 on the all-time list, having also hit a 36-ball century in IPL 2026.
Who has the fastest century by an Indian in IPL?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 35-ball century for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in April 2025 is the fastest by an Indian and the fastest by an uncapped player in IPL history. Yusuf Pathan had held the Indian record at 37 balls since 2010. Priyansh Arya’s 39-ball ton in 2025 is the third-fastest by an Indian batter.
Can anyone break Chris Gayle’s 30-ball IPL century record?
It’s possible — Sooryavanshi at 35 balls is the closest anyone has come, and he’s still 15 with years of IPL ahead. But Gayle’s mark required a 17-ball fifty (joint-fastest in IPL history) and a 13-ball second fifty. Sooryavanshi’s fastest fifty split is 15 balls. Closing that two-delivery gap at the midpoint, while also maintaining it for the second fifty, is the specific challenge. The record is under more genuine threat than at any point since 2013.
Which IPL season produced the most fastest centuries?
IPL 2025 produced the most sub-40-ball centuries of any single season — three in total: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (35 balls), Heinrich Klaasen (37 balls), and Priyansh Arya (39 balls). The 16 seasons before 2025 had produced just four combined. IPL 2026 has added Sooryavanshi’s second sub-40-ball ton at 36 balls.
Bottom Line
Gayle’s 30-ball century from 2013 remains the most secure individual batting record in IPL history — and yet, for the first time since it was set, there’s a credible challenger in Sooryavanshi, who is still a teenager with 10 more IPL seasons ahead of him. The list itself has transformed: six of the top 10 fastest IPL centuries have arrived in the last three seasons, which tells you more about where T20 cricket is going than any single number. Check the most runs in IPL history list for the batters best positioned to produce the next entry here, or browse our IPL player stats hub for updated career records, batting stats, milestones, and profiles of every major IPL star.
