Chris Gayle’s 175 not out off 66 balls — hit on April 23, 2013 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium — is the highest individual score in IPL history, and it has stood for 13 seasons with no one even reaching 160. Since 2022, four new entries have joined the top ten, driven by flat pitches and a scoring-rate revolution: KL Rahul’s 152 not out in 2026 is the latest, and he made it on the losing side.
Quick Answer
Chris Gayle (RCB) holds the highest individual score in IPL history — an unbeaten 175 off 66 balls against Pune Warriors on April 23, 2013 at Bengaluru. The top three are Gayle 175*, McCullum 158*, and KL Rahul 152* (2026). Only three batters have ever crossed 150. No double century has been scored in IPL.
हिन्दी: IPL इतिहास का सर्वोच्च व्यक्तिगत स्कोर क्रिस गेल का 175* (RCB vs पुणे वॉरियर्स, 2013) है।
Top 10 Highest Individual Scores in IPL History
The list below is complete and updated through IPL 2026. Scores are ranked by runs. What competitors don’t bother telling you: five of these ten innings came in high-pressure contexts — chases above 200, knockout matches, or dead-rubber situations. Context matters as much as the number.
| Rank | Player | Score | Balls | SR | 4s / 6s | Team | Opposition | Venue | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gayle | 175* | 66 | 265.15 | 13 / 17 | RCB | Pune Warriors | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru | 23 Apr 2013 | Won (130-run margin) |
| 2 | Brendon McCullum | 158* | 73 | 216.43 | 10 / 13 | KKR | RCB | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru | 18 Apr 2008 | Won (KKR 222/3) |
| 3 | KL Rahul | 152* | 67 | 226.86 | 16 / 9 | DC | PBKS | Arun Jaitley, Delhi | 25 Apr 2026 | Lost (DC 264, PBKS chased 265) |
| 4 | Abhishek Sharma | 141 | 55 | 256.36 | 14 / 10 | SRH | PBKS | Rajiv Gandhi, Hyderabad | 12 Apr 2025 | Won (chase of 246, 8 wkts) |
| 5 | Quinton de Kock | 140* | 70 | 200.00 | 10 / 10 | LSG | KKR | DY Patil, Mumbai | 18 May 2022 | Won by 2 runs (playoff spot) |
| 6 | Abhishek Sharma | 135* | 68 | 198.52 | 10 / 10 | SRH | DC | Rajiv Gandhi, Hyderabad | 21 Apr 2026 | Won (SRH 242/2, by 47 runs) |
| 7 | AB de Villiers | 133* | 59 | 225.42 | 19 / 4 | RCB | MI | Wankhede, Mumbai | 10 May 2015 | Won (RCB 235/1, by 39 runs) |
| 8 | KL Rahul | 132* | 69 | 191.30 | 14 / 7 | KXIP | RCB | Dubai International | 24 Sep 2020 | Won (Orange Cap winner 2020) |
| 9 | AB de Villiers | 129* | 52 | 248.07 | 10 / 12 | RCB | Gujarat Lions | Chinnaswamy, Bengaluru | 14 May 2016 | Won (229-run stand with Kohli) |
| 10 | Shubman Gill | 129 | 60 | 215.00 | 7 / 10 | GT | MI | Narendra Modi, Ahmedabad | 26 May 2023 | Won (IPL 2023 Qualifier 2, by 62 runs) |
📊 What the Top 10 Reveals
Four of the top ten innings came in chases, not first-innings totals. Abhishek Sharma’s 141 (2025) and KL Rahul’s 152* (2026) were both built in response to 245+ targets — proof that modern batting isn’t just about posting numbers on flat decks, it’s about refusing to accept that any chase is too steep. AB de Villiers appears twice, with two completely different innings: his 133* in 2015 was a boundary-dominant masterclass (19 fours, 4 sixes), while his 129* in 2016 was a pure power display (10 fours, 12 sixes). Only three venues appear more than once — Chinnaswamy (3 entries), Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (2), and the Arun Jaitley in Delhi (1). Abroad, Dubai (2020) stands as the only non-India venue in the list.
Match Context Behind Each Record Knock
#1 — Gayle 175*, April 23, 2013 (RCB vs PWI, Bengaluru). Gayle opened with Tillakaratne Dilshan, and while Dilshan scratched around for 33 off 36, Gayle hit 17 sixes — a single-innings IPL record that still stands. He reached his hundred in just 30 balls (fastest in IPL history), went from 100 to 175 in the next 36 deliveries, and RCB posted 263/5. Pune were bowled out for 133. It wasn’t a chase, it wasn’t a decider — it was a league game against a struggling team, which makes it simultaneously the most dominant innings and the hardest to compare. The conditions were good, the bowling was not special, but nobody else has managed 175 on any pitch in any IPL game since.
#2 — McCullum 158*, April 18, 2008 (KKR vs RCB, Bengaluru). The very first match of IPL history, and McCullum set a standard that took five years to beat. KKR’s captain, batting in the inaugural game with no template for what IPL batting should look like, blasted 158* off 73 balls with 10 fours and 13 sixes. KKR reached 222/3. McCullum won the first-ever Player of the Match award in IPL history and held the scoring record until Gayle overtook him. He scored just 30 more runs in his remaining three games that season.
#3 — KL Rahul 152*, April 25, 2026 (DC vs PBKS, Delhi). The most bittersweet innings in this top ten. Rahul’s 67-ball 152* — the highest score by an Indian in any T20 cricket — came on the losing side. DC posted 264/2, the highest total in IPL 2026, with Rahul reaching his century in 47 balls and going from 100 to 150 in just 19 more. PBKS chased it down in 18.5 overs, with Prabhsimran, Priyansh Arya, and Shreyas Iyer’s 71* completing the highest successful T20 chase in that edition. Rahul won Player of the Match anyway — a rare distinction for the batter on the losing side.
#4 — Abhishek Sharma 141, April 12, 2025 (SRH vs PBKS, Hyderabad). The greatest chase innings in this list. SRH needed 246. Abhishek walked in and put on 171 in 75 balls with Travis Head, whose 66 was the supporting act. He brought up his century in 40 balls, finished at 141 off 55 (14 fours, 10 sixes), and SRH won by eight wickets with nine balls to spare. He used Shubman Gill’s bat — a detail Abhishek revealed post-match. Before this game he’d managed just 5, 5, 0, 8, and 18 in five outings that season.
#5 — Quinton de Kock 140*, May 18, 2022 (LSG vs KKR, DY Patil). De Kock hit the 140* while batting the entire 20 overs — LSG closed at 210/0, the highest opening partnership (210 with KL Rahul 68*) in IPL history. KKR needed 211 and reached 208/8 in what became one of IPL’s greatest final-over finishes. De Kock was given a life in the third over, dropped at third man off Umesh Yadav when on 12, and made KKR pay with 10 fours and 10 sixes at an even 200 strike rate. LSG sealed their playoff spot on the last ball.
Batting First (6 entries)
Gayle 175*, McCullum 158*, ABD 133*, Abhishek 135*, ABD 129*, Gill 129. These innings set totals — all six resulted in wins for the scoring team, with margins ranging from 39 to 130 runs. The batter’s team won every time.
Chasing (4 entries)
KL Rahul 152*, Abhishek 141, de Kock 140*, KL Rahul 132*. Three of the four chases were successful. Only Rahul’s 2026 knock came in a losing cause — DC posted 264 and still lost. Chasing 200+ is the new proving ground for elite scores.
Scores Above 150 in IPL — Season-by-Season
No competitor lists this. Here’s the complete picture of how often batters have crossed 150 across IPL’s 19 seasons — and what it tells you about the tournament’s batting evolution.
| Season | Player | Score | Team | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL 2008 | Brendon McCullum | 158* | KKR | First-ever IPL match |
| IPL 2013 | Chris Gayle | 175* | RCB | All-time record; still stands |
| IPL 2026 | KL Rahul | 152* | DC | Highest by Indian in T20s; losing side |
🔢 The 150-barrier in numbers
In 19 IPL seasons and over 1,000 matches, only three innings have crossed 150. That’s a frequency of roughly one per 350 innings. Between McCullum’s 158* in 2008 and Gayle’s 175* in 2013, there was a five-year gap. Between Gayle’s record and Rahul’s 152* in 2026, there was a 13-year gap — despite the IPL era producing dramatically higher team totals, smaller grounds, and bigger bats. Individual batting records are far harder to break than team scoring records.
Virat Kohli’s Highest IPL Score
A question that gets about 40,000 searches a month deserves a clear answer in context. Kohli’s highest individual score in IPL is 113 not out, scored twice — once off 50 balls against Punjab Kings at Chinnaswamy in May 2016 (part of his record 973-run season), and once off 72 balls against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur in April 2024. The 2016 knock is the more violent: 12 fours and 8 sixes off 50 balls at a strike rate of 226 in a match reduced to 15 overs.
Kohli doesn’t appear in the top 10 highest scores list, and that’s actually consistent with his batting style — he’s the IPL’s all-time leading scorer precisely because he converts good starts into 60s, 70s, and 80s with regularity rather than hunting individual records. His Virat Kohli IPL career stats page has the complete season-by-season breakdown, including his record nine centuries in the tournament.
Records Closing In — Who Can Break Gayle’s 175?
Thirteen years on, Gayle’s record looks safer than ever against established players. But two names under 25 have genuine structural ability to challenge it.
Abhishek Sharma now has two entries in the top ten in consecutive seasons — 141 in 2025 and 135* in 2026. He’s 25, opens for SRH, and at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (a batter’s paradise) he’s shown he can play through 20 overs when he wants to. His 141 was dismissed — Gayle wasn’t. The next step is converting a 140+ start into a full 20-over unbeaten demolition.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi reached an IPL century in 35 balls in 2025 — the second-fastest in history — and has publicly said he wants to break Gayle’s record. At 14 (turning 15 in 2025), he’s the youngest centurion in IPL history. He has the raw hitting rate; the question is whether he can sustain a 265-strike-rate innings for 66 balls without getting out. Gayle didn’t have to do that — he made 17 boundaries in sixes alone, which requires exceptional timing AND power for an extended period.
For context, the most centuries in IPL history page tracks who’s most likely to be batting in the position to even attempt it.
The number that stands out to me isn’t 175 — it’s the gap between #1 and #2. McCullum’s 158* is 17 runs behind Gayle’s record. Every other gap in the top 10 is smaller. Gayle didn’t just break McCullum; he lapped him. That’s the hardest thing to replicate: not just a big innings, but an innings so far ahead of the second-best that it looks like a rounding error.
KL Rahul’s 152* in 2026 is the most technically compelling innings in this list because it came on the losing side, under pressure, in a playoff-implications match. That’s context Gayle’s record doesn’t have. Both are extraordinary for completely different reasons — Gayle scored on a day when everything went right; Rahul scored on a day when even 152 wasn’t enough. I’d pick Abhishek Sharma as the most likely challenger over the next three seasons — but I wouldn’t bet on it. Gayle’s record is one of the safest in cricket.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest individual score in IPL history?
Chris Gayle holds the highest individual score in IPL history with an unbeaten 175 off 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India on April 23, 2013 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. His innings included 13 fours and 17 sixes at a strike rate of 265.15. RCB won the match by 130 runs.
Who scored 175 in IPL?
Chris Gayle of Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 175 not out against Pune Warriors India in IPL 2013. He hit 17 sixes (a single-innings IPL record) and 13 fours off just 66 balls. He also scored the fastest IPL century in the same innings — reaching 100 in 30 balls. The record has stood for 13 seasons as of IPL 2026.
How many scores above 150 have been made in IPL?
Only three individual innings above 150 have been scored in IPL history across 19 seasons: Brendon McCullum’s 158* in IPL 2008, Chris Gayle’s 175* in IPL 2013, and KL Rahul’s 152* in IPL 2026. The 150-barrier has been crossed on average once every six seasons — a testament to how rare sustained elite striking is in 20-over cricket.
What is Virat Kohli’s highest IPL score?
Virat Kohli’s highest individual IPL score is 113 not out, which he has achieved on two occasions: 113* off 50 balls against Punjab Kings at Chinnaswamy in IPL 2016 (a 15-over match, SR 226), and 113* off 72 balls against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur in IPL 2024. Both came while opening the batting for RCB. Despite holding nine IPL centuries — more than any player — Kohli has never crossed 120 in a full 20-over match.
Has anyone scored a double century in IPL?
No player has scored a double century (200+) in IPL history. In T20 cricket, the format is capped at 120 balls per innings and a team innings, making a double century theoretically impossible for an individual — the maximum possible without extras would require extreme circumstances. The all-time record of 175* by Gayle represents the ceiling of what’s been achieved. A score in the 190s is theoretically possible but has never happened in any major T20 tournament globally.
Bottom Line
Chris Gayle’s 175* is not just the highest individual score in IPL history — it’s one of the most statistically distant records in the game, sitting 17 runs clear of second place after 13 seasons. KL Rahul’s 152* in 2026 brought the conversation back, but three batters crossing 150 across 19 seasons tells you how hard this territory is. The all-time most runs in IPL list shows the batters with the most chances at it — and even they haven’t come close. For a full comparison of what Abhishek Sharma’s run of big scores means for the batting records category, check the related pages below.
