IPL Best Batting Averages: All-Time Records

Among batters who have scored 3,000 runs in the Indian Premier League, KL Rahul has the best average: 46.52 from 149 innings, six runs clear of David Warner and Virat Kohli behind him. Lower the bar to 2,000 runs and B Sai Sudharsan goes past him at 48.37 from 57 innings. Lower it to 1,000 and Vaibhav Suryavanshi appears at 44.70 from twenty-three innings without a single not-out.

That is the whole problem with a batting average in this format, and it is why this page publishes three tables instead of one. An average is runs divided by dismissals, and in a twenty-over match a batter's dismissals are governed as much by role and match situation as by ability. A finisher who is unbeaten a third of the time will average well above a better opener. A player with sixty innings has not yet been through the run of poor scores that every long career contains.

Every figure here is computed from ball-by-ball records of all 1,243 Indian Premier League matches from April 2008 to the 2026 final. The qualification thresholds are our own and are stated on each table.

Qualification: 3,000 career runs

#	Player	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
1	KL Rahul	149	24	5,815	152*	46.52	139.15	6	45
2	David Warner	184	22	6,565	126	40.52	139.77	4	62
3	Virat Kohli	275	44	9,336	113*	40.42	134.80	9	68
4	Shubman Gill	130	16	4,598	129	40.33	142.09	5	32
5	Chris Gayle	141	16	4,965	175*	39.72	148.96	6	31
6	Jos Buttler	136	19	4,646	124	39.71	149.73	7	28
7	AB de Villiers	170	40	5,162	133*	39.71	151.69	3	40
8	MS Dhoni	241	99	5,439	84*	38.30	137.45	0	24
9	David Miller	143	52	3,288	101*	36.13	139.50	1	14
10	Shreyas Iyer	144	26	4,229	101*	35.84	136.73	1	32
11	Shikhar Dhawan	221	29	6,769	106*	35.26	127.14	2	51
12	Faf du Plessis	147	11	4,773	96	35.10	135.79	0	39
13	Suryakumar Yadav	164	28	4,581	103*	33.68	148.59	2	31
14	Rishabh Pant	136	21	3,865	128*	33.61	146.79	2	20
15	Suresh Raina	200	30	5,528	100*	32.52	136.73	1	39

Twelve batters have scored 3,000 IPL runs at an average of 35 or better, and nobody has done it at an average above 47. The fastest scorer among the twelve is de Villiers at 151.69, and his average is 39.71 — the pattern across the table is that the rate and the average trade against each other rather than rising together.

Qualification: 2,000 career runs

#	Player	Inns	NO	Runs	Ave	SR	100	50
1	B Sai Sudharsan	57	5	2,515	48.37	149.17	3	20
2	KL Rahul	149	24	5,815	46.52	139.15	6	45
3	Heinrich Klaasen	60	10	2,104	42.08	166.72	2	13
4	David Warner	184	22	6,565	40.52	139.77	4	62
5	Virat Kohli	275	44	9,336	40.42	134.80	9	68
6	Shubman Gill	130	16	4,598	40.33	142.09	5	32
7	Shaun Marsh	69	7	2,477	39.95	132.74	1	20
8	JP Duminy	75	24	2,029	39.78	124.02	0	14
9	Chris Gayle	141	16	4,965	39.72	148.96	6	31
10	Jos Buttler	136	19	4,646	39.71	149.73	7	28
11	AB de Villiers	170	40	5,162	39.71	151.69	3	40
12	Ruturaj Gaikwad	84	10	2,839	38.36	135.64	2	22
13	MS Dhoni	241	99	5,439	38.30	137.45	0	24
14	Kane Williamson	76	17	2,128	36.07	125.62	0	18
15	Sachin Tendulkar	78	11	2,334	34.84	119.82	1	13

Sudharsan's 48.37 across five seasons for Gujarat Titans is the highest figure any batter has taken past 2,000 runs, and unlike most short-career averages it is not built on not-outs — he has five in fifty-seven innings. Klaasen at 42.08 with a strike rate of 166.72 is the only batter past 2,000 runs combining an average above 40 with a rate above 160.

Qualification: 1,000 career runs

#	Player	Inns	NO	Runs	Ave	SR
1	B Sai Sudharsan	57	5	2,515	48.37	149.17
2	KL Rahul	149	24	5,815	46.52	139.15
3	Vaibhav Suryavanshi	23	0	1,028	44.70	228.95
4	Devon Conway	28	3	1,080	43.20	139.72
5	Heinrich Klaasen	60	10	2,104	42.08	166.72
6	David Warner	184	22	6,565	40.52	139.77
7	Virat Kohli	275	44	9,336	40.42	134.80
8	Shubman Gill	130	16	4,598	40.33	142.09
9	Lendl Simmons	29	2	1,079	39.96	126.64
10	Shaun Marsh	69	7	2,477	39.95	132.74
11	JP Duminy	75	24	2,029	39.78	124.02
12	Chris Gayle	141	16	4,965	39.72	148.96
13	Jos Buttler	136	19	4,646	39.71	149.73
14	AB de Villiers	170	40	5,162	39.71	151.69
15	Michael Hussey	58	7	1,977	38.76	122.64
16	Ruturaj Gaikwad	84	10	2,839	38.36	135.64
17	MS Dhoni	241	99	5,439	38.30	137.45
18	Cameron Green	42	15	1,029	38.11	151.10
19	Kevin Pietersen	36	9	1,001	37.07	134.72
20	Matthew Hayden	32	2	1,107	36.90	137.52

Suryavanshi's entry at number three is the reason a 1,000-run bar is too low to settle anything. Twenty-three innings, no not-outs, an average of 44.70 and a strike rate of 228.95. Both figures are extraordinary and neither has been tested by a bad season. Cameron Green is the opposite case: fifteen not-outs in forty-two innings, which is more than a third, and an average that flatters what he has done.

The not-out problem, quantified

Player	Inns	NO	NO share	Runs	Ave	Ave if every innings counted
MS Dhoni	241	99	41%	5,439	38.30	22.57
David Miller	143	52	36%	3,288	36.13	22.99
AB de Villiers	170	40	24%	5,162	39.71	30.36
Cameron Green	42	15	36%	1,029	38.11	24.50
Virat Kohli	275	44	16%	9,336	40.42	33.95
David Warner	184	22	12%	6,565	40.52	35.68
Faf du Plessis	147	11	7%	4,773	35.10	32.47

The right-hand column is not a serious statistic — you cannot judge a batter by dividing runs by innings — but it does show the size of the effect. Dhoni's 38.30 and du Plessis's 35.10 look like similar careers on the average column. Dhoni was not dismissed in 41 per cent of his innings; du Plessis in 7 per cent. On runs per innings they are 22.57 and 32.47, and the truth about the two players is somewhere between the two views.

This is why the finishers cluster in the top ten of an IPL average table while almost never appearing in a run-aggregate top five. Dhoni, Miller, Green and Duminy are all inside the top twenty here; none has 3,000 runs except Dhoni and Miller.

The best single seasons

#	Player	Season	Team	Inns	Runs	Ave	SR
1	MS Dhoni	2019	Chennai Super Kings	12	416	83.20	134.63
2	Virat Kohli	2016	Royal Challengers Bangalore	16	973	81.08	152.03
3	MS Dhoni	2018	Chennai Super Kings	15	455	75.83	150.66
4	David Warner	2019	Sunrisers Hyderabad	12	692	69.20	143.87
5	David Miller	2022	Gujarat Titans	16	481	68.71	142.73
6	Shaun Marsh	2008	Kings XI Punjab	11	616	68.44	139.68
7	Chris Gayle	2011	Royal Challengers Bangalore	12	608	67.56	183.13
8	Suryakumar Yadav	2025	Mumbai Indians	16	717	65.18	167.92
9	KL Rahul	2021	Punjab Kings	13	626	62.60	138.80
10	Nicholas Pooran	2024	Lucknow Super Giants	14	499	62.38	178.21
11	Virat Kohli	2024	Royal Challengers Bengaluru	15	741	61.75	154.70
12	Chris Gayle	2012	Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	733	61.08	160.75
13	David Warner	2016	Sunrisers Hyderabad	17	848	60.57	151.43
14	Hashim Amla	2017	Kings XI Punjab	10	420	60.00	145.83
15	Jos Buttler	2025	Gujarat Titans	13	538	59.78	163.03

Qualification here is 400 runs in the season. Dhoni's 2019 tops it with 416 runs from twelve innings at 83.20, and the reason is again the not-outs: he was dismissed five times all season. Kohli's 2016 is the only 900-run season on the list and the only entry that would top an average table and a run-aggregate table simultaneously.

Suryakumar Yadav's 2025 — 717 runs at 65.18, striking at 167.92 — is arguably the most complete season in the whole table. Nobody else has combined 700 runs, an average above 60 and a strike rate above 165.

Averages the format punishes

Player	Inns	Runs	Ave	SR
Axar Patel	134	2,089	21.76	133.74
Parthiv Patel	136	2,848	22.60	120.78
Mayank Agarwal	125	2,756	22.97	133.53
Glenn Maxwell	134	2,819	23.89	155.15
Wriddhiman Saha	143	2,934	24.25	127.57
Yuvraj Singh	126	2,750	24.77	129.72
Aaron Finch	90	2,091	25.19	128.20

Seven batters have passed 2,000 IPL runs at an average under 26. Two of them, Maxwell and Axar Patel, did it in roles where a low average is the price of the job — Maxwell struck at 155.15 and is one of the most valuable middle-order batters the competition has employed. The others are mostly openers or keeper-batters who batted through the tournament's lower-scoring middle years.

Yuvraj Singh's presence is the one that surprises people. He was an outstanding one-day batter and the most expensive player at two separate auctions, and his IPL average of 24.77 across 126 innings is the lowest of any batter on this page with more than 2,500 runs apart from Parthiv Patel and Mayank Agarwal. His international record and his franchise record point in opposite directions, which the Yuvraj Singh profile sets out.

Three things the average tables show

A 40 average is the practical ceiling over a long career. Kohli, Warner, Rahul and Gill are the only players past 4,500 runs averaging 40 or more, and none is above 47. In one-day international cricket a dozen batters have careers above 45; the twenty-over game does not allow it, because the format asks for risk in every innings.

Short careers own the top of every unqualified list. Sudharsan, Suryavanshi, Conway, Klaasen and Simmons all sit above Kohli on the 1,000-run bar, and between them they have played fewer innings than he has. A qualification threshold is not pedantry here — it is the difference between a useful list and a random one.

The best average and the highest aggregate are not the same career. Rahul tops the 3,000-run table; Kohli has 3,521 more runs. The full aggregate list is on the IPL most runs page, and the scoring-rate view of the same population — where none of the top five here appears — on the IPL best batting strike rates page. Century and fifty conversion, the third way of reading a batting career, is on the IPL most centuries page.

For where the tournament sits in the Indian season and its structures, start from cricket in India.

Sources and method

All averages are computed from the Cricsheet ball-by-ball archive (cricsheet.org, ODC-BY 1.0), which holds a complete delivery record for the 1,243 IPL matches played between 18 April 2008 and 31 May 2026.

An average is runs scored divided by innings in which the batter was dismissed. A batter who retired hurt or retired not out is treated as not out, in line with scorecard practice. Innings counts every occasion the batter came to the crease, including those in which no ball was faced. Super-over innings are excluded, since super-over runs are not part of a batting record.

Strike rate is runs off the bat per hundred balls faced, with wides excluded and no-balls counted. The "average if every innings counted" column in the not-out table is runs divided by innings and is included only to size the effect of not-outs; it is not offered as a replacement measure and should not be quoted as one.

The three qualification bars — 3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 career runs — are ours, chosen to show how the ranking changes rather than to settle it, and the 400-run bar on the season table is ours too. No governing body publishes an official qualification for this record, which is precisely why the number has to be stated. Season labels are the calendar year the tournament was played. All figures close with the 2026 final and will move with the next season.