What is the greatest batting partnership in IPL history?

Individual brilliance is common in IPL. Complementary partnership brilliance — where two batters enhance each other's effectiveness beyond their individual ceilings — is rare. The Gayle-Kohli pairing for RCB between 2011-2014 is the clearest example of this amplification effect in IPL history.

The numbers at individual level are well-known. Chris Gayle's 175* against PWI in 2013 remains the highest IPL score. Kohli's 973-run 2016 season is the finest sustained T20 batting campaign ever. But the partnership data — specifically how they operated together in the powerplay — reveals something beyond individual achievement.

When Gayle and Kohli opened together, RCB's powerplay average was 58.4 — the highest ever recorded for a consistent opening pair across a full season. The dynamic was specific: Gayle's aggression forced field spreads by over 4, creating gaps Kohli exploited with running and placement. Kohli's running between wickets — elite even by his own standards — created easy singles that reset the strike and kept Gayle facing fresh bowlers.

The mechanism matters. This wasn't two star players batting independently; it was a functional system where each player's style enhanced the other. Gayle's flat-bat power made bowling to Kohli at the other end a losing proposition; Kohli's precision scoring made bowling to Gayle a high-stakes proposition.

Warner-Dhawan (SRH, 2013-2019) is the strongest counter: 2,186 partnership runs across 5 seasons, more consistent across a longer arc. But Gayle-Kohli's peak intensity in 2012 was the highest of any pair in a single season, and it's the peak that defines legendary status.