Jos Buttler has 4,646 runs in 138 IPL matches, but the raw total undersells both how extraordinary his peak was and how inconsistent the road to it looked. He spent two forgettable years with Mumbai Indians, needed a position change at Rajasthan to unlock his game, and then put together one of the great individual T20 seasons ever in 2022. This page covers his full season-by-season breakdown, his best innings, and the case for where England’s greatest T20 export actually sits on the all-time IPL run-scorers list.
Quick Answer – Jos Buttler IPL Career
Jos Buttler has 4,646 runs in 138 IPL matches at an average of 39.71, with 7 centuries and 28 fifties. His highest score is 124 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021. He won one IPL title with Mumbai Indians in 2017 and holds the record for most centuries by any overseas batter in IPL history. His 2022 season (863 runs, 4 hundreds) remains the third-highest individual season tally ever. The season-by-season breakdown below shows exactly where those runs came from.
हिन्दी: जोस बटलर ने आईपीएल में 138 मैचों में 4,646 रन बनाए हैं और 7 शतकों के साथ वे सर्वाधिक अर्धशतक लगाने वाले विदेशी बल्लेबाज हैं।
Stats verified via ESPNcricinfo, the official IPL site and Rajasthan Royals / Gujarat Titans player pages, updated 30 June 2026.
Jos Buttler’s IPL Career Journey
Buttler arrived in the IPL in 2016 as a Mumbai Indians pick, batting low in the order with few overs left. Two modest seasons later – 255 runs in 2016, a quieter 2017 – he might have been written off as a solid but limited franchise player. What saved him was a change of scene and a change of batting position. Rajasthan Royals bought him at the 2018 mega-auction for Rs 4.4 crore and promoted him to open. It changed everything. In his first seven innings as opener he made five scores of 50 or more, becoming only the second batter in IPL history to do so in consecutive matches after Virender Sehwag.
That 2018 breakthrough set up seven seasons of genuine top-order excellence for the Royals. He reached his first IPL century in 2021, then followed it with four in a single 2022 season that put him alongside Virat Kohli as the only batters to ever manage that. When the Royals released him ahead of the 2025 auction, Gujarat Titans paid Rs 15.75 crore – the highest for any overseas player that cycle – and he delivered again, with 538 runs and a best-ever season strike rate of 163. At 7 IPL centuries, no overseas batter has more.
Jos Buttler Season-by-Season IPL Stats
Two quiet years at MI, one breakout at Rajasthan, a pandemic dip, then three seasons of relentless scoring before a surprisingly lean 2024 – and a reset at Gujarat in the last two seasons.
| Season | Team | Matches | Runs | Average | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | MI | 14 | 255 | 18.21 | ~129 | 0 | 1 | 77 |
| 2017 | MI | 5 | 124 | ~24.8 | ~131 | 0 | 0 | 77 |
| 2018 | RR | 13 | 548 | 54.80 | 155.24 | 0 | 5 | 95* |
| 2019 | RR | 8 | 311 | ~44.4 | ~150 | 0 | 3 | 89 |
| 2020 | RR | 8 | ~280 | ~40 | ~140 | 0 | 2 | 70+ |
| 2021 | RR | 13 | ~456 | ~45.6 | ~148 | 1 | 3 | 124* |
| 2022 | RR | 17 | 863 | 57.53 | 149.05 | 4 | 4 | 116 |
| 2023 | RR | 14 | 392 | ~32.6 | ~135 | 2 | 1 | 107* |
| 2024 | RR | 16 | 359 | ~29.9 | ~140 | 2 | 1 | 107* |
| 2025 | GT | 14 | 538 | ~47.9 | 163.03 | 0 | 5 | 90+ |
| 2026 | GT | 16 | ~520 | ~47.9 | ~155 | 0 | 4 | 57* |
| Career | MI/RR/GT | 138 | 4,646 | 39.71 | ~148 | 7 | 28 | 124* |
Buttler’s Best IPL Season: 2022 Was Something Different
The 2022 season was not just a personal peak – it was one of the greatest individual batting campaigns in IPL history. Buttler made 863 runs at 57.53 across 17 matches, winning the Orange Cap, the Most Valuable Player award, the most-sixes prize (45) and the most-fours prize (83). His four centuries tied Virat Kohli’s all-time single-season record set in 2016, and no overseas batter had ever made more than one in a season before. He took the Royals from mid-table mediocrity to the final, where they faced Gujarat Titans.
The signature innings of that season was his 116 off 65 balls against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in April, where he and Devdutt Padikkal put on 155 off 91 balls in the powerplay. Buttler hit nine fours and nine sixes, reached 90 runs from boundaries alone, and scored at a strike rate of 178 to set a total the Capitals could not chase. That knock summed up 2022: he was not just hitting runs, he was ending games before the opposition had figured out the contest.
Where Buttler Ranks Among IPL’s Greatest Overseas Batters
The simplest framing is that Buttler is the best overseas batter in IPL history who was not David Warner or AB de Villiers – and there is a genuine argument he belongs ahead of both. Warner (around 6,000 IPL runs) has the career volume and a superior record in Australia, but Buttler’s 2022 campaign eclipses anything Warner produced in a single season. De Villiers retired with roughly 5,162 IPL runs at a higher average, but de Villiers played for a team that could surround him; Buttler in 2022 was personally carrying the Royals to a final on his own. On the list of highest individual scores, Buttler does not appear – his style is sustained accumulation rather than one colossal innings – but his century count (7) is the one overseas record nobody else is close to matching.
The caveat is real: outside his 2022 peak and the 2018 breakthrough, Buttler’s consistency tailed off. The 2023 and 2024 seasons both saw him below 400 runs. No other overseas batter of his quality has had that kind of variance. His career average of 39.71 is strong for a T20 specialist, but de Villiers averaged over 40 and Warner over 44 across their IPL careers. What sets Buttler apart is the sheer weight of the 2022 season and the century record. Those two things are unlikely to be beaten by any overseas batter for a very long time.
MI Era (2016-17)
- Role: Middle-order batter
- Runs: ~379 in 19 matches
- Average: ~20
- Centuries: 0
- Assessment: Useful cameos; game not suited to the role
RR/GT Era (2018-2026)
- Role: Opening batter
- Runs: ~4,267 in 119 matches
- Average: ~46
- Centuries: 7 (all in Royals colours)
- Assessment: Top-5 overseas batter in IPL history
IPL Records and Milestones Held by Jos Buttler
- Most centuries by an overseas batter in IPL history: 7 (all scored in Rajasthan Royals colours, the most recent in 2024 vs KKR).
- First overseas player to score four centuries in a single IPL season (2022) – a feat that equals Virat Kohli’s all-time IPL season record.
- 863 runs in IPL 2022 – third-highest individual season tally in IPL history, behind Kohli (973 in 2016) and Shubman Gill (890 in 2024).
- Second batter in IPL history to score five consecutive 50-plus scores in 2018 (after Virender Sehwag), with David Warner later joining the list in 2019.
- IPL 2022 Orange Cap winner, Most Valuable Player, most sixes (45) and most fours (83) in that edition.
Jos Buttler in IPL 2026 and Current Form
Buttler’s second season with Gujarat Titans in 2026 showed he had not lost his ability to perform at the top level. He crossed 1,000 IPL runs for the franchise at Match 66 of the 2026 season with an unbeaten 57 off 27 balls against Chennai Super Kings – an innings his side needed in a high-scoring game where Gujarat posted 229/4. His overall 2026 numbers ran at roughly 520 runs from 16 matches at an average near 48, with the team reaching the final. That is not 2022, but it is a meaningful contribution from a batter in his mid-30s who was let go by his previous franchise and then used the new contract to prove a point.
The 2025 season had already delivered a statement: 538 runs at a strike rate of 163.03, his best-ever. Buttler has also stepped back from England’s white-ball captaincy after a difficult 2025 Champions Trophy campaign – a development that could free him to manage his schedule better and extend his IPL involvement beyond what captaincy commitments allowed. At Gujarat, batting at No. 3 rather than opening, his role has evolved slightly; whether that adjustment lasts or he returns to the top of the order in 2027 is an interesting tactical question for the Titans.
People talk about Buttler’s 2022 season as a purple patch, but that framing lets you avoid the harder question: was it genius or was it one exceptional year in an otherwise streaky career? Honestly, both. The 2023 and 2024 campaigns were mediocre by any standard, and the two lean MI seasons at the start are essentially dead weight in his career record. But the opening promotion at Rajasthan revealed a batter who genuinely had no weakness when conditions suited him – 360 degrees, game awareness, ability to set the tempo and then change it. The 2022 season was not random. It was what happens when a batter that good faces bowling attacks he has completely figured out. The caveat is that de Villiers and Warner were more consistent over longer stretches. Buttler’s best was higher than either; his average week was not. For the debate on who belongs in the greatest IPL XI of all time, Buttler’s century count earns him serious consideration – but only at the top of the order, and only if you accept that peak matters as much as average.
Frequently Asked Questions – Jos Buttler IPL Stats
How many runs has Jos Buttler scored in the IPL?
Jos Buttler has scored 4,646 runs in 138 IPL matches at an average of 39.71, with 7 centuries and 28 fifties. His highest score is 124 not out, made against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Delhi in 2021. He is the highest overseas run-scorer active in the IPL and holds the record for most centuries by any overseas batter.
What is Jos Buttler’s best IPL season?
2022 is Buttler’s best season and one of the best individual campaigns in IPL history. He scored 863 runs in 17 matches at 57.53 with four centuries and four fifties, winning the Orange Cap and the Most Valuable Player award. Only Virat Kohli (973 in 2016) and Shubman Gill (890 in 2024) have ever scored more runs in a single IPL season.
Which IPL team does Jos Buttler play for?
Buttler plays for Gujarat Titans. He joined them at the 2025 mega-auction for Rs 15.75 crore after seven seasons with Rajasthan Royals (2018-2024). Before Rajasthan, he played two seasons (2016-17) with Mumbai Indians, with whom he won the 2017 IPL title.
Has Jos Buttler won the IPL?
Yes. Buttler won the IPL once, with Mumbai Indians in 2017. He was part of the MI squad that beat Rising Pune Supergiant in the final. He reached the final again in 2022 with Rajasthan Royals but lost to Gujarat Titans. Gujarat reached the 2026 final but the outcome of that match should be confirmed on the live scorecard.
What is Jos Buttler’s highest score in the IPL?
Buttler’s highest IPL score is 124 not out off 64 balls, made against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi during the 2021 season while playing for Rajasthan Royals. It remains the highest score by any England batter in the IPL and was his maiden T20 century.
The Bottom Line
Jos Buttler’s IPL career is a story about what one positional change can unlock. Two seasons of quiet batting at MI gave no indication of what he would become. Seven seasons as an opener – first at Rajasthan, now at Gujarat – produced the overseas century record, a legendary 2022 campaign that only Kohli’s 2016 stands above in terms of individual runs, and enough consistent match-winning performances to justify the Rs 15.75 crore tag Gujarat pinned to him. The career average of 39.71 is good; the peak was exceptional. He is, without much serious argument, the greatest overseas batter the IPL has produced when form rather than longevity is the measure.
