Top 10 Players with Highest Strike Rate in IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is known for some exciting matches going down the wire. There is a continuous battle between sides with some exceptional bowling and batting talent from around the world taking part in the tournament for its 10 teams. T20 cricket is mostly about big hitting. In IPL batting strike rate is an important factor when it comes to evaluating a batter.

Here we will discuss some batters with the best batting strike rate in IPL.

Hard-hitting allrounder Andre Russell has the IPL highest strike rate for a batter having faced a minimum of 500 balls. Russell usually bats in the lower middle order and has helped his side to wins on numerous occasions. Russell played his first 2 IPL seasons for Delhi Daredevils and then moved to Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 edition playing a key role in them becoming champions in 2014. Russell has faced 1300 deliveries in the tournament hitting 193 sixes and 150 fours to get 2262 runs at a tremendous strike rate of 174.

Russell’s teammate Sunil Narine also has his name in the list. Playing for the Kolkata Knight since 2012, the batter had a change in fortune once he was promoted as an opener in the 2017 season. Since then Narine has batted at that position on several occasions providing the team a good start. He has scored 1046 runs at a strike rate of 165.6 facing 655 balls so far.

The ‘Big Show’ Glenn Maxwell also finds his name in this illustrious list. Playing for 4 different teams, Maxi has scored 2719 runs in the tournament at a strike rate of 157.62. His ability to bat anywhere in the order and to go big at all points of the innings has helped his teams win a lot of matches.

Virender Sehwag is the Indian player with the best strike rate in IPL. Featuring in 8 seasons for Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab, Sehwag hit 2728 runs at a strike rate of 155.44 scoring 2 tons and 16 fifties in IPL career.

Next in line are two demolition men of T20 cricket. AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle have respective strike rates of 151.68 and 148.96 respectively. Both the batters have their names listed in the top 10 run scorers in the league with de Villiers scoring 5162 in 170 innings playing for Delhi Daredevils and majorly for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gayle featured in the IPL for 3 different teams and was a teammate of de Villiers’ in RCB where he hit the world record T20 score of 175 not out. Gayle has hit the most number of sixes (357) with de Villiers at number 3 hitting 251 sixes.

Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Liam Livingstone, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran have also landed on the list with the highest strike rate in IPL history.

Highest Strike Rate in Death Overs in IPL

When it comes to T20 cricket, especially in a tournament like IPL, closing the innings becomes the most important part whether the team is batting first or second. Putting the pressure on the opposition bowlers with some late-order hitting to get as many runs for the team is an important finishing role. Let’s have a look at some of the brilliant batters in IPL who have the highest strike rate in death overs in IPL history.

AB de Villiers leads the pack when it comes to scoring runs at a quick pace in the death overs. No one has hit runs faster than ABD who has smashed 1868 runs at an average of 44.48 striking them at 222.9. ABD has remained unbeaten on 39 such occasions taking the team to a perfect finish. Chris Gayle also has a strike rate over 200 when it comes to batting in the death overs. The Universe boss has unleashed Gaylestorm on the opposition bowlers with his destructive batting hitting 581 runs in 284 balls.

Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is another young left-handed batting giant who dominantly bats in the middle order. He has accumulated 790 runs in 395 balls so far at a strike rate of exactly 200. English skipper Jos Buttler is another batter who can float anywhere in the lineup and score runs at a quick pace. On 29 occasions batting in the death overs, he has hit 524 runs at a strike rate of 196.3 remaining unbeaten on 10 occasions. 
The man with the best overall strike rate in IPL, Andre Russell has hit 1189 runs in 617 balls faced at the death giving him a strike rate of 192.7 in 62 innings. He has hit 107 sixes and 78 fours batting in the last 5 overs. Sanju Samson is next in the list playing the finisher’s role on 43 occasions and hitting 676 runs at a strike rate of 189.4.

The chase master Virat Kohli also makes the grade with a surreal strike rate of 186.9 scoring 1372 runs in 83 innings. He has finished unbeaten on 27 occasions and his average in death overs is 24.5. He has hit 86 fours and 83 sixes scoring 842 out of 1372 runs in boundaries. His former RCB teammate Shane Watson is next on the list. Having played for three different sides in the tournament, Watto has played various roles for his teams. While batting in the death overs, his strike rate has been brilliant at 184.9.

Young batting sensation and hailed as India’s next big finisher Rinku Singh has played the role nicely for the Kolkata Knight Riders scoring with a strike rate of 182.7. His most famous finishing act was hitting 5 sixes in a row against Gujarat Titans pacer Yash Dayal in the 2023 edition of IPL when the team required 28 runs to win in 5 deliveries.

Seasoned campaigner Faf du Plessis has a strike rate of 182.3 in the death overs making the space between the players very sleek. Amongst all players, no one comes close to MS Dhoni who has batted in the last 5 overs on 174 occasions, remained not out 86 times and scored at a strike rate of 174.6 hitting 224 fours and 183 sixes. He might not feature in the top 10 list with the criterion of having 200 balls faced but Dhoni has had a wonderful record playing for CSK and Rising Pune Supergiants. In the 2023 IPL, Dhoni achieved his highest strike in a single season scoring runs at 182.46.