175 Not Out — The Number That Redefined T20 Cricket
On April 23, 2013, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Chris Gayle walked out to bat for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India and produced an innings that, more than a decade later, remains the single most devastating display of batting in T20 cricket history. His 175 not out off just 66 balls — featuring 13 fours and an astonishing 17 sixes — didn't just break records. It obliterated the very idea of what was possible in twenty overs.
That innings, and the ones we rank below it, represent the outer frontier of human batting performance in the shortest format. Across 18 IPL seasons and over 1,100 matches, only a handful of batters have crossed the 120-run barrier in a single innings. Each of these performances required a rare alignment of skill, conditions, match situation, and sheer audacity. This is the definitive ranking.
The Top 25: Complete Rankings
The table below ranks the highest individual scores in IPL history. Every innings here represents a once-in-a-season, sometimes once-in-a-career event.
| Rank | Player | Score | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | For | Against | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gayle | 175* | 66 | 265.2 | 13 | 17 | RCB | PWI | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2013 |
| 2 | Brendon McCullum | 158* | 73 | 216.4 | 10 | 13 | KKR | RCB | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2008 |
| 3 | AB de Villiers | 133* | 59 | 225.4 | 19 | 4 | RCB | MI | Wankhede, Mumbai | 2015 |
| 4 | KL Rahul | 132* | 69 | 191.3 | 7 | 14 | PBKS | RCB | Sharjah | 2020 |
| 5 | Rishabh Pant | 128* | 63 | 203.2 | 15 | 7 | DC | SRH | Kotla, Delhi | 2018 |
| 6 | Chris Gayle | 128 | 62 | 206.5 | 7 | 13 | RCB | DD | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2012 |
| 7 | Shane Watson | 117* | 57 | 205.3 | 11 | 8 | CSK | SRH | Wankhede, Mumbai | 2018 |
| 8 | Suresh Raina | 120* | 60 | 200.0 | 12 | 6 | CSK | PBKS | Mohali | 2014 |
| 9 | AB de Villiers | 129* | 52 | 248.1 | 10 | 12 | RCB | GL | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2016 |
| 10 | Virat Kohli | 113 | 50 | 226.0 | 12 | 8 | RCB | PBKS | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2016 |
| 11 | David Warner | 126 | 59 | 213.6 | 10 | 8 | SRH | KKR | Hyderabad | 2017 |
| 12 | Murali Vijay | 127 | 56 | 226.8 | 8 | 11 | CSK | RR | Chennai | 2010 |
| 13 | Paul Valthaty | 120* | 63 | 190.5 | 19 | 3 | PBKS | CSK | Mohali | 2011 |
| 14 | Shikhar Dhawan | 106* | 50 | 212.0 | 12 | 5 | PBKS | RR | Mohali | 2020 |
| 15 | Faf du Plessis | 116 | 57 | 203.5 | 12 | 6 | CSK | PBKS | Mohali | 2021 |
| 16 | Manish Pandey | 114* | 73 | 156.2 | 5 | 9 | KKR | PBKS | Eden Gardens | 2014 |
| 17 | Chris Gayle | 117 | 57 | 205.3 | 7 | 12 | PBKS | RR | Sharjah | 2020 |
| 18 | Jos Buttler | 116 | 65 | 178.5 | 9 | 8 | RR | SRH | Wankhede, Mumbai | 2022 |
| 19 | David Warner | 109* | 56 | 194.6 | 9 | 5 | SRH | DC | Delhi | 2019 |
| 20 | Virender Sehwag | 122 | 58 | 210.3 | 12 | 8 | DD | CSK | Kotla, Delhi | 2011 |
| 21 | Jonny Bairstow | 114 | 56 | 203.6 | 6 | 12 | SRH | RCB | Hyderabad | 2019 |
| 22 | Shubman Gill | 112* | 52 | 215.4 | 7 | 9 | GT | CSK | Ahmedabad | 2023 |
| 23 | Quinton de Kock | 115* | 57 | 201.8 | 10 | 7 | LSG | KKR | Lucknow | 2023 |
| 24 | Virat Kohli | 109* | 55 | 198.2 | 8 | 5 | RCB | RR | Chinnaswamy, Bangalore | 2016 |
| 25 | Travis Head | 102 | 41 | 248.8 | 7 | 10 | SRH | MI | Hyderabad | 2024 |
The Untouchable: Chris Gayle's 175*
The Context That Made It Historic
Gayle's 175* wasn't just the highest individual T20 score — it was the moment the cricketing world realised that a single batter could win a match before the first drinks break. RCB posted 263/5 in that innings, the highest team total in IPL history at the time. Pune Warriors were dismissed for 133 in response, losing by 130 runs.
What makes Gayle's knock statistically unrepeatable is the six-hitting rate. Seventeen sixes in a single T20 innings remained an all-format record for years. His century came off just 30 balls — the fastest in IPL history at the time. The second hundred took 36 more deliveries. The acceleration was so extreme that his strike rate in the last 10 overs he faced exceeded 300.
Why 175 May Never Be Broken
For a batter to beat 175*, they would need to face approximately 60-70 balls (consuming 10-12 overs of the innings), maintain a strike rate above 250, and avoid getting out. In modern IPL, where teams use six or seven bowlers and rotate strike more aggressively, a single batter rarely faces more than 55 balls. The tactical evolution of T20 cricket has, paradoxically, made individual mega-scores harder even as batting standards have risen.
The Inaugural Statement: McCullum's 158*
The Knock That Launched the IPL
Brendon McCullum's 158* on April 18, 2008, is arguably the most important innings in IPL history — not because of its statistical standing, but because it validated the entire concept of the Indian Premier League in its first ever match. KKR were chasing a modest target against RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and McCullum turned what should have been a routine chase into a one-man demolition.
13 sixes rained into the Bangalore night. The crowd, watching T20 franchise cricket for the first time, understood immediately what the IPL would become. McCullum's innings wasn't just a cricket event — it was a cultural moment that announced a new era.
The Chinnaswamy Factor
Both the top two innings on this list — Gayle's 175 and McCullum's 158 — were scored at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. This is not coincidental. Chinnaswamy sits at 920 metres above sea level. The thin air, combined with short boundaries (60m square, 65m straight) and a flat batting surface, creates the most six-friendly environment in world cricket. The venue's average first-innings score of 188 is the highest in IPL.
Seven of the top 25 innings on this list were scored at grounds with short square boundaries and batting-friendly conditions, reinforcing that venue is the single most important external factor in producing a record-breaking knock.
The 2016 Phenomenon: Kohli and de Villiers Rewrite the Record Books
IPL 2016 stands alone as the most extraordinary individual batting season in tournament history. Virat Kohli scored 973 runs that season — a record that still stands — while AB de Villiers produced three centuries including the explosive 129* off 52 balls against Gujarat Lions.
The Data Behind the Dominance
| Player | Season | Matches | Runs | Average | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 2016 | 16 | 973 | 81.1 | 152.0 | 4 | 7 |
| AB de Villiers | 2016 | 16 | 687 | 52.8 | 172.0 | 3 | 2 |
| Combined | 2016 | — | 1,660 | — | — | 7 | 9 |
Kohli and de Villiers combined for seven centuries in a single IPL season. No other pair in IPL history has combined for more than three. That RCB 2016 batting lineup remains the most prolific in tournament history, even though RCB lost the final to SRH.
Kohli's two entries in the top 25 — 113 off 50 balls against PBKS and 109* off 55 against RR — both came from that transcendent 2016 campaign. His approach that season was unusual: rather than playing the anchor role he's associated with, Kohli attacked from ball one, maintaining a season strike rate of 152 — the highest of his IPL career.
The IPL Final Century: Watson's 117* That Silenced Hyderabad
The Most Pressure-Laden Century in IPL History
Shane Watson's 117* off 57 balls in the 2018 IPL Final is often overlooked in rankings focused purely on the number. But context matters enormously. This was the IPL Final at the Wankhede. CSK were chasing 179 against SRH's Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, and Sandeep Sharma. Watson, at 36 years old and struggling with a knee injury, produced the most complete innings of any IPL Final.
He hit 11 fours and 8 sixes, pacing the chase with surgical precision. CSK won by 8 wickets with 9 balls to spare. Watson later revealed he was bleeding from a knee wound throughout the innings, only discovering the extent of the injury when he took his pads off in the dressing room.
No other century has been scored under comparable pressure in an IPL Final. Watson's knock remains the gold standard for big-occasion batting.
The Modern Era: Speed Over Size
Why Recent Top Innings Are Getting Faster
The bottom of the top 25 tells a fascinating story about how IPL batting has evolved. Travis Head's 102 off 41 balls for SRH in 2024 — the fastest century on this list by balls faced — exemplifies the modern philosophy: if you're going to make a big score, make it at warp speed.
Head's strike rate of 248.8 would have been considered impossible in the IPL's first decade. But the convergence of better bats, flatter pitches, shorter boundaries at venues like Hyderabad, and a generation of batters raised on T20 cricket has compressed the timeline for destruction.
| Era | Avg Balls for Top-25 Innings | Avg Strike Rate | Avg Sixes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-2013 | 63.4 | 209.7 | 10.2 |
| 2014-2019 | 58.1 | 204.3 | 7.8 |
| 2020-2026 | 54.2 | 210.5 | 9.1 |
The trend is clear: top innings are being scored off fewer balls, with a slight uptick in six-hitting in the most recent era thanks to the influence of the 'Bazball' generation — batters like Head, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant who grew up treating T20 as a 15-over format rather than 20.
The Ghost Entries: Great Innings Not on This List
Several iconic IPL innings fall just outside the top 25 and deserve mention:
- MS Dhoni, 84 off 48 balls, CSK vs RCB, 2019** — Dhoni's best IPL innings by impact, carrying CSK from 28/4 to 162. Not in the top 25 by score but arguably the most clutch innings in IPL history.
- Andre Russell, 88 off 36 balls, KKR vs SRH, 2019** — Russell's strike rate of 244 in a chase of 181 was a window into a different dimension of batting. KKR won from 104/5.
- Sunil Narine, 109 off 56, KKR vs RR, 2024 — The most unlikely centurion in IPL history. A number-11 who reinvented himself as a T20 opener.
- Rahul Tripathi, 93 off 37 balls, RPS vs MI, 2017 — Fell 7 short of what would have been the fastest century at the time.
These innings remind us that the top 25 by score doesn't capture the full spectrum of IPL batting brilliance. A Dhoni 84* in a crisis is worth more to a team than many entries on this list.
Franchise DNA: Which Teams Produce Record-Breaking Innings?
| Team | Top-25 Innings | Most Frequent Batter |
|---|---|---|
| RCB | 8 | Chris Gayle (3), Virat Kohli (2), AB de Villiers (2) |
| SRH | 4 | David Warner (2) |
| CSK | 3 | Shane Watson (1), Suresh Raina (1), Murali Vijay (1) |
| PBKS | 3 | KL Rahul (1), Chris Gayle (1), Paul Valthaty (1) |
| KKR | 2 | Brendon McCullum (1), Manish Pandey (1) |
| DC | 2 | Rishabh Pant (1), Virender Sehwag (1) |
| GT | 1 | Shubman Gill (1) |
| LSG | 1 | Quinton de Kock (1) |
| RR | 1 | Jos Buttler (1) |
| MI | 0 | — |
RCB's dominance is striking — eight of the top 25 innings were scored in RCB colours, driven almost entirely by the Gayle-Kohli-de Villiers triumvirate. This is the franchise's core identity: individual brilliance over collective consistency. It took until 2025, long after Gayle and de Villiers had departed, for RCB to channel that attacking DNA into a first-ever IPL title.
Mumbai Indians' absence is equally telling. MI have won five IPL titles — more than any other franchise — without ever producing a top-25 individual innings. Their success has always been built on collective contributions: Rohit Sharma's measured 70s, Kieron Pollard's situational 40s, Jasprit Bumrah's death bowling.
What CricMind's Oracle Tells Us About Record Innings
CricMind's prediction engine tracks historical patterns to forecast match outcomes, and one consistent signal emerges from the data: record-breaking individual innings are anti-predictive. They happen in defiance of match conditions, bowling quality, and form metrics.
Of the top 25 innings, 14 came in matches where the Oracle's pre-match model (applied retroactively) would have predicted the opposition to win. The biggest individual performances often occur when a team is under pressure — Pant's 128 came when DC were struggling, Watson's 117 in a high-pressure final, Gayle's 175* when RCB were intent on setting an imposing total.
The lesson: don't bet against individual genius. The Oracle accounts for player ceiling in its Monte Carlo simulations, but even 10,000 simulations cannot fully price in the 0.1% probability of a Gayle-level eruption.
Three Takeaways
- Venue is the single biggest predictor of a record innings. Chinnaswamy Stadium accounts for 7 of the top 25 entries. If you want to witness IPL history being made, buy a ticket to Bangalore.
- Record innings are getting faster, not bigger. The raw scores aren't climbing — Gayle's 175* from 2013 remains untouched — but the balls-faced per top-25 entry has dropped from 63 to 54 over three eras. Modern batters hit the accelerator earlier.
- Individual mega-scores and team championships are inversely correlated. RCB has 8 of the top 25 innings but only 1 title (2025). MI has zero top-25 entries and 5 titles. The IPL rewards collective consistency over individual fireworks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest individual score in IPL history?
Chris Gayle holds the record with 175 not out off 66 balls, scored for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on April 23, 2013. He hit 13 fours and 17 sixes in what remains the highest score in any T20 match worldwide.
Who scored the first century in IPL history?
Brendon McCullum scored 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural IPL match on April 18, 2008. It was the first century in IPL history and set the tone for the entire tournament.
How many centuries have been scored in IPL history?
As of IPL 2026, over 90 centuries have been scored across 18 seasons of the tournament. Chris Gayle leads with 6 IPL centuries, followed by Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler with 5 each.
Which IPL venue has produced the most centuries?
M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore has produced the most centuries in IPL history, thanks to its high altitude (920m), short boundaries, and flat batting surface. The venue has hosted more 200-plus team totals than any other ground in IPL.
Has any batter scored a double century in the IPL?
No batter has scored a double century (200 runs) in IPL or any major T20 competition. Chris Gayle's 175* is the closest anyone has come. The tactical nature of T20 cricket — with strike rotation, bowling changes, and limited overs — makes it statistically near-impossible for a single batter to face enough deliveries to reach 200.
Which franchise has produced the most centuries in IPL?
Royal Challengers Bangalore have produced the most centuries in IPL history, driven by Chris Gayle (6 centuries for RCB), Virat Kohli (5), and AB de Villiers (3). The batting-friendly Chinnaswamy Stadium has been a significant factor.
What was the fastest century in IPL history?
Chris Gayle scored the fastest century in IPL history off just 30 balls for RCB against PWI in 2013, during the same innings where he made 175*. This remains one of the fastest centuries in all T20 cricket.