Seventeen sixes in one innings. That is where the IPL's most extreme batting record has sat since 23 April 2013, and nobody has come within four of it. This page carries every IPL innings that produced 11 sixes or more, how the list splits across eras, the team record that keeps moving, and an honest answer on whether 17 falls. Gayle's wider IPL numbers explain how he got there.
Quick Answer - Most Sixes in an IPL Innings
Chris Gayle hit 17 sixes in one IPL innings, during his unbeaten 175 off 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors on 23 April 2013. No other batter has passed 13. Only twelve innings in nineteen IPL seasons have produced 11 sixes or more, and this page lists all of them alongside the career six-hitting leaderboard.
हिन्दी: 2013 के बाद किसी भी बल्लेबाज ने एक आईपीएल पारी में 12 से ज्यादा छक्के नहीं लगाए हैं, यानी गेल का 17 का रिकॉर्ड अब भी पांच छक्के दूर है।
Every innings below was checked against the ESPNcricinfo most sixes in an innings record and the individual match scorecards, updated 28 July 2026.
Every IPL Innings With 11 Sixes or More
Twelve innings across nineteen seasons have reached 11 sixes. Ties are broken by date, oldest first.
| # | Batter | Sixes | Score (balls) | Match | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gayle | 17 | 175* (66) | RCB v Pune Warriors | 23 Apr 2013 |
| 2 | Brendon McCullum | 13 | 158* (73) | KKR v RCB | 18 Apr 2008 |
| 3 | Chris Gayle | 13 | 128* (62) | RCB v Delhi Daredevils | 17 May 2012 |
| 4 | Chris Gayle | 12 | 117 (57) | RCB v Kings XI Punjab | 6 May 2015 |
| 5 | AB de Villiers | 12 | 129* (52) | RCB v Gujarat Lions | 14 May 2016 |
| 6 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 12 | 103 (37) | RR v SRH | 25 Apr 2026 |
| 7 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 12 | 97 (29) | RR v SRH, Eliminator | 27 May 2026 |
| 8 | Sanath Jayasuriya | 11 | 114* (48) | MI v CSK | 14 May 2008 |
| 9 | Murali Vijay | 11 | 127 (56) | CSK v Rajasthan Royals | 3 Apr 2010 |
| 10 | Andre Russell | 11 | 88 (36) | KKR v CSK | 10 Apr 2018 |
| 11 | Chris Gayle | 11 | 104* (63) | Kings XI Punjab v SRH | 19 Apr 2018 |
| 12 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 11 | 101 (38) | RR v Gujarat Titans | 28 Apr 2025 |
Why 17 Still Looks Untouchable
Most batting records move in small steps. This one moved in a leap. McCullum's 13 in the very first IPL match set a bar that survived four years until Gayle matched it at the Kotla in 2012, and then Gayle cleared it by four sixes in a single evening the following April. A four-six cushion is enormous in a format where the best innings rarely last 60 balls.
The arithmetic is unforgiving. Beating 17 means 18 sixes, or 108 runs from hits over the rope alone, before a single four or single is counted. In nineteen seasons only two innings have even reached 13.
2008 to 2015
Six of the twelve entries. The record itself moved twice, McCullum's 13 in the league's opening match and Gayle's 17 five years later. Gayle owns three of these six. Sanath Jayasuriya was 38 when he hit his 11 at the Wankhede in 2008.
2016 to 2026
Six of the twelve entries, and not one of them beat 13. Season aggregates went the other way entirely: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 72 sixes across IPL 2026, past Gayle's 59 in 2012, without ever clearing 12 in a single innings.
How Gayle Built the 17
Gayle walked out at the Chinnaswamy on 23 April 2013 against a Pune Warriors side going nowhere, and finished unbeaten on 175 from 66 balls with 13 fours alongside the 17 sixes. He reached his hundred in 30 deliveries. Ali Murtaza was taken for 45 in two overs, Mitchell Marsh for 28 in one, Aaron Finch for 29 in an over he was never asked to repeat. RCB posted 263 for 5, Pune replied with 133, and Gayle came back to take 2 for 5 with the ball.
The same innings still tops the highest individual scores list. The detail people forget is how little of it came any other way: 154 of his 175 arrived in fours and sixes, leaving 21 runs from ones and twos across the entire innings.
The Team Record Keeps Moving. The Individual One Does Not.
Punjab Kings hold the team version with 24 sixes at Eden Gardens on 26 April 2024, hit while chasing down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Jonny Bairstow struck nine of them in an unbeaten 108 off 48 balls, Shashank Singh eight in 68 not out off 28. KKR had already hit 18 in their 261, so the match produced 42 sixes in total.
Sunrisers Hyderabad sit next with 22, reached twice in 2024, once inside the 287 for 3 against RCB that still heads the biggest team totals. That contrast is the real story of this page. Team six counts have been rewritten repeatedly since 2024, while no individual has hit more than 12 in an innings since Gayle's 17 in 2013.
Who Is Closing In
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is the only realistic chaser, and he is 15. He already owns three entries: 11 sixes in a 38-ball 101 against Gujarat Titans in April 2025, 12 in a 37-ball 103 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Jaipur, then 12 more in a 29-ball 97 in the Eliminator against the same side. That last figure is the one that matters. Gayle needed 66 balls for his 17. Sooryavanshi needed 29 for 12. His full IPL record also carries the season mark of 72 sixes.
Finn Allen is the other name worth tracking. The KKR opener became the first batter to produce two 10-six innings inside one season, an unbeaten 100 against Delhi Capitals and 93 off 35 balls against Gujarat Titans, both in 2026.
Will Anyone Break 17?
Yes, and sooner than a 13-year gap suggests. Gayle got to 17 by batting through all 20 overs and facing 66 balls, clearing the rope once every 3.9 balls. Sooryavanshi's Eliminator innings ran at a six every 2.4 balls. Sustain that across 50 balls and the answer is 20 sixes, which is not a projection so much as a statement of what he has already done in short bursts.
The blockers are real. Openers in the current IPL rarely face 60 balls, because deep batting orders and the impact player rule reward acceleration over anchoring, so a set batter is far likelier to hole out at 40 than bat to the last over. Gayle also had help in 2013: a Warriors attack short of its first-choice bowlers and a ground with square boundaries built for him.
My call is that 17 falls before 2029, and that Sooryavanshi is the one who does it. He has produced the two fastest six-rates on this entire list at an age when most cricketers are playing school matches. He does not need to improve. He needs one night where nobody catches him.
The 17 gets filed alongside the RCB marks people call unbreakable, and that filing is lazy. Truly unbreakable records need a career behind them. Virat Kohli's 9,336 IPL runs cannot be assembled in one evening. This one can. A batter who clears the rope every third ball, a flat surface, an attack a season past its best and 50 balls of strike is the whole requirement, and Sooryavanshi produced that rate twice in the same season. Nobody should be surprised when it goes. I would rather this site said so now than pretended the number is sacred.
FAQ: Most Sixes in an IPL Innings
Who has hit the most sixes in an IPL innings?
Chris Gayle, with 17 sixes in his unbeaten 175 off 66 balls for RCB against Pune Warriors at Bengaluru on 23 April 2013. No other batter has hit more than 13 in an IPL innings. Gayle also shares second place with 13 against Delhi Daredevils in 2012.
Which Indian batter has hit the most sixes in an IPL innings?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, with 12 sixes, done twice in IPL 2026 and both times against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Murali Vijay held the Indian record with 11 for CSK against Rajasthan Royals in 2010, until Sooryavanshi equalled it in 2025 and passed it a season later.
Why has nobody passed 13 sixes in an IPL innings since 2013?
Scoring has risen across the whole innings rather than in one pair of hands. Deeper batting orders and the impact player rule spread the strike and reward acceleration, so top-order batters rarely face the 60 balls Gayle got in 2013. Team six counts have climbed sharply while individual innings have not.
Which team has hit the most sixes in one IPL innings?
Punjab Kings hit 24 sixes while chasing 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on 26 April 2024. Sunrisers Hyderabad are next with 22, reached twice in 2024. The team mark has moved several times since 2024 while the individual mark has not moved since 2013.
Will Chris Gayle's 17-six record be broken?
It is closer than the gap suggests. Sooryavanshi produced 12 sixes from 29 balls in the 2026 Eliminator, a faster rate than Gayle managed across his 66 balls, so the record now needs a long innings rather than a new level of hitting. My call is that it falls before 2029.
Chris Gayle's 17 sixes against Pune Warriors is still the most extreme innings the IPL has produced, four clear of the next best and untouched since 2013. Only twelve innings have reached 11 sixes at all, and the three most recent belong to one teenager who has already matched the six-rate that built the record. The team version keeps moving every couple of seasons. The individual one will move too.
