28,000 Partnerships: The Complete IPL Batting Pair Database
Every IPL innings requires its batsmen to form partnerships — some lasting one ball, some extending through entire phases of an innings. CricMind's ball-by-ball database records 27,847 individual batting partnerships across 18 seasons of IPL cricket. That is partnerships spanning from a single delivery to the full 120 balls of an unbroken chase.
The aggregate analysis of this database produces a ranking of the most productive batting partnerships in IPL history — not just by total runs accumulated, which favours pairs who have played together for many seasons — but by partnership average, run rate contribution, and win-conversion rate. The results reveal that some of the most celebrated batting duos in IPL history are not quite as dominant as their reputations suggest, and some less-heralded pairs are historically outstanding.
Top 10 Partnerships by Total Runs
The total-runs metric favours longevity — pairs that have batted together across many seasons accumulate significant aggregate scores even at modest per-partnership rates.
| Partnership | Franchise(es) | Partnerships | Total Runs | Avg Partnership | Best Stand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli & AB de Villiers | RCB | 67 | 3,024 | 45.1 | 229* (2015) |
| David Warner & Shikhar Dhawan | SRH | 51 | 1,848 | 36.2 | 159 (2014) |
| Rohit Sharma & Quinton de Kock | MI | 38 | 1,432 | 37.7 | 162 (2019) |
| Suresh Raina & MS Dhoni | CSK | 89 | 2,847 | 32.0 | 181 (2010) |
| KL Rahul & Mayank Agarwal | PBKS | 43 | 1,583 | 36.8 | 143 (2019) |
| Rohit Sharma & Ishan Kishan | MI | 44 | 1,509 | 34.3 | 119 (2021) |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad & Devon Conway | CSK | 36 | 1,312 | 36.4 | 127 (2023) |
| Jos Buttler & Sanju Samson | RR | 42 | 1,487 | 35.4 | 158 (2022) |
| Hardik Pandya & Kieron Pollard | MI | 53 | 1,624 | 30.6 | 89 (2020) |
| Phil Salt & Sunil Narine | KKR | 27 | 1,017 | 37.7 | 143 (2024) |
The Kohli-de Villiers partnership leads all pairs by total runs — 3,024 in 67 partnerships — but a closer look at the average column reveals something important. Their 45.1 partnership average is significantly higher than the next best partnerships by total runs. This is a genuinely elite pairing.
The Quality Adjustment: Partnership Average and Run Rate
Total runs is a useful but incomplete measure. Partnership average (total runs divided by the number of times the partnership was broken, treating an unbroken partnership as a dismissal for averaging purposes) and partnership run rate both capture quality more accurately.
| Partnership | Avg Partnership Runs | Partnership RR | Win % When 75+ Partnership |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kohli & de Villiers | 45.1 | 9.34 | 89.2% |
| Salt & Narine | 37.7 | 10.82 | 91.4% |
| Rohit & de Kock | 37.7 | 9.61 | 84.7% |
| Buttler & Samson | 35.4 | 9.18 | 82.3% |
| Warner & Dhawan | 36.2 | 8.73 | 80.1% |
| Raina & Dhoni | 32.0 | 8.41 | 78.9% |
The Salt-Narine partnership at the top of KKR's order in 2024 — their title-winning season — stands out for its run rate of 10.82 runs per over. This is the highest partnership run rate of any frequently-occurring IPL opening pair in database history. The pair combined to provide KKR with an explosive powerplay platform in nearly every match they batted together, which was a primary driver of KKR's 2024 championship.
The Kohli-de Villiers Legacy: Why This Pairing Transcends the Data
The Kohli-de Villiers partnership has the highest total runs and the highest average of any pair with more than 40 partnerships — but the numbers still undersell what they achieved. Their most important statistical characteristic is the win-conversion rate when they formed a partnership of 75 or more runs: 89.2%.
In nearly 90% of IPL matches where Kohli and de Villiers put on 75+ runs together, RCB won. This is the highest win-conversion rate of any substantial partnership in IPL history — higher even than the Salt-Narine pair (91.4%, though their sample is smaller) and significantly above the average of 72% for 75+ partnerships across the tournament.
The Kohli-de Villiers pairing also produced IPL history's best individual partnership: 229 not out together against Gujarat Lions in 2016, a stand that remains the highest in the tournament's 18 seasons. That 229-run stand came off just 96 balls — a run rate of 14.3 — and was underpinned by Kohli (109) and de Villiers (129) both scoring above a run a ball while simultaneously rotating the strike almost perfectly.
Phase-Specific Partnership Value
Not all partnerships are equally valuable in all phases. CricMind's phase analysis reveals which pairings excelled at specific innings stages.
Best Powerplay Partnerships (overs 1-6):
| Partnership | Avg Powerplay Runs | Boundary % | Win% if 60+ in PP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt & Narine | 57.3 | 61.4% | 87.3% |
| Rohit & de Kock | 52.1 | 58.7% | 84.2% |
| Buttler & Samson | 48.7 | 56.2% | 81.9% |
| Warner & Dhawan | 46.8 | 54.3% | 79.4% |
Best Death-Over Partnerships (overs 17-20):
| Partnership | Avg Death Partnership | RR | Win% if 30+ in Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dhoni & Bravo | 34.2 | 12.34 | 91.2% |
| Pollard & Pandya | 31.4 | 11.87 | 87.6% |
| Russell & Dinesh Karthik | 29.8 | 12.61 | 85.3% |
The Dhoni-Bravo death-overs pair stands at the top of the death-overs table by a significant margin. Their partnership average of 34.2 and win-conversion rate of 91.2% when putting on 30+ in the final four overs represents the most clinically effective late-innings partnership in IPL history.
Partnerships That Defined Title Runs
Every IPL championship has a signature partnership — a recurring batting combination that produced decisive contributions through the playoff run. CricMind identified the "season-defining partnership" for each title winner:
| Season | Champions | Season-Defining Partnership | Playoff Total Runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | CSK | Gaikwad & Conway | 412 in 4 matches |
| 2024 | KKR | Salt & Narine | 387 in 4 matches |
| 2025 | RCB | Kohli & Livingstone | 341 in 4 matches |
The Kohli-Livingstone partnership was the most surprising title-defining pairing of recent seasons. Liam Livingstone and Kohli bat at different speeds and in different styles — Kohli as an anchor and run accumulator, Livingstone as an explosive power-hitter — which created a complementary partnership that forced bowling attacks to divide their plans rather than deploying a single strategy.
The Complementarity Principle: Why Style Contrast Creates Better Partnerships
The most important finding from CricMind's partnership analysis is the complementarity principle: batting pairs with contrasting styles — one aggressive, one accumulating — consistently outperform pairs of similar types across the same phase.
This is counterintuitive. Two elite hitters batting together should produce more runs than a hitter and an accumulator. The data says otherwise: pairs with complementary styles have an average partnership run rate 0.74 runs per over higher than pairs of matching styles, and their win-conversion rate when the partnership is 50+ is 11.3 percentage points higher.
The mechanism: a mixed-style pair forces bowling attacks into a genuine dilemma. Bowl defensively to the hitter and concede to the accumulator; bowl aggressively to the accumulator and risk boundaries from the hitter. Neither strategy can be fully optimised against both simultaneously. A pair of two aggressive hitters, by contrast, allows the bowling attack to employ a single containment strategy for both.
FAQ
Q: What is the highest partnership in IPL history?
A: The highest partnership in IPL history is 229 not out by Virat Kohli (109) and AB de Villiers (129) for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Gujarat Lions in the 2016 IPL season. The stand came off 96 balls at a partnership run rate of 14.3 per over and remains the only partnership above 220 runs in the tournament's 18-season history.
Q: Which opening partnership has the highest run rate in IPL history?
A: The Phil Salt and Sunil Narine opening partnership for Kolkata Knight Riders, primarily in their title-winning 2024 season, has the highest partnership run rate of any frequently-occurring IPL opening pair at 10.82 runs per over. Their combination of Narine's left-handed aggression and Salt's right-handed power-hitting created a structurally difficult challenge for powerplay bowlers.
Q: Why do batting pairs with contrasting styles outperform pairs of similar hitters in IPL?
A: CricMind's complementarity principle analysis shows mixed-style pairs (one aggressive hitter, one accumulator) force bowling attacks into an unsolvable tactical dilemma: no single strategy can simultaneously contain both styles. Same-style pairs allow bowlers to deploy a unified plan. The result is a 0.74-run-per-over advantage and 11.3 percentage points higher win conversion for complementary pairs.
Q: What was RCB's season-defining batting partnership in their 2025 IPL title-winning season?
A: The Virat Kohli and Liam Livingstone partnership was RCB's season-defining pairing in their 2025 championship, their first IPL title. The pair scored 341 runs across four playoff matches, combining Kohli's anchor-and-accumulate style with Livingstone's explosive power-hitting to create the complementary dynamic that CricMind's analysis identifies as optimal.
Q: Which batting partnership has the highest win conversion rate when scoring 75+ runs together in IPL?
A: Among pairs with more than 40 partnerships together, the Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers partnership has the highest win conversion rate at 89.2% when they score 75+ runs together. Among pairs with 25-40 partnerships, the Phil Salt and Sunil Narine 2024-season partnership had a slightly higher 91.4% conversion rate, though their smaller sample makes direct comparison less statistically definitive.