Scoring a century in a T20 match is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially in the Indian Premier League due to its high-octane atmosphere.
Just 73 centuries by 39 different batsmen in a tournament spanning more than 15 years is a testimony to that fact. Christopher Henry Gayle tops the list with 6 IPL centuries so far, followed by Virat Kohli with 5.
Here you go: List of Batsmen with 3+ IPL Centuries
Out of those 39 batsmen who have crossed the three-figure mark in the tournament, 11 of them have done it for two different franchises.
Let’s see them all one by one:
1. Adam Gilchrist – KXIP & DC
The legendary Australian wicket-keeper batsman was the first batsman to achieve this rare feat when he scored 106 off 55 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore while playing for Kings XI Punjab during the 2011 season I the Indian Premier League. The knock consisted of 8 fours and 9 sixes which took Punjab’s total to 232/2. The RCB line-up succumbed to a paltry total of 121 handing a mammoth 111 runs victory to KXIP.
The first century by Gilchrist was actually scored in the very first season while playing for Deccan Chargers. He annihilated the Mumbai Indians line-up in front of their home fans in his way to a lighting knock of unbeaten 109 in meagre 47 balls. His blistering knock with a strike rate well above 230 assured the victory for his side.
2. Virender Sehwag – DD & KXIP
The Nawab of Najafgarh has 2 centuries to his name in the IPL. His first one was scored in 2011 while playing for Delhi Daredevils while the second one in 2014 while playing for Kings XI Punjab. Chasing a stiff total of 176 against Deccan Chargers during the 2011 season, Virender Sehwag led the charge for Delhi with a dominating knock of 119 facing just 56 deliveries. With 13 fours and 6 sixes in his glorious knock, he completely took the Chargers out of the game.
Three years later, Viru replicated that performance by scoring another match-winning century against the Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni. During the second qualifier match of 2014 season, Sehwag played a magnificent knock to ensure a great total on the board for Kings XI Punjab. He scored 122(58) to take the Punjab total to 226/6. KXIP went on to win the match by 24 runs and booked their spot in the finals.
3. Brendon McCullum – KKR & CSK
Brendon McCullum is an unforgettable name in the IPL as he was the one who started it all. His incredible knock of 158 unbeaten of 73 balls kickstarted the tournament with an absolute bang. While playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, Bazz took complete control of the RCB bowling attack smashing 10 fours and 13 sixes. KKR defeated RCB by a huge margin of 140 runs on the back of McCullum’s surreal performance in a match where the next best score was 20.
His second hundred came against Sunrisers Hyderabad during the 2015 season while playing for Chennai Super Kings. Batting first, CSK put a total of 209 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of an unbeaten 100 of 56 balls by Brendon. CSK won the match by 45 runs as Brendon McCullum undoubtedly was the Man of the Match.
4. AB De Villiers – DD & RCB
Playing for Delhi Daredevils during the second edition of the tournament, De Villiers smashed 105 not out facing 54 deliveries against Chennai Super Kings. De Villiers’ performance, which consisted 5 fours and 6 sixes, took Delhi to a formidable score of 189/5. Delhi won the match by 9 runs and AB was quite rightly adjudged the Man of the Match.
AB since then has scored two more centuries in IPL, both for Royal Challengers Bangalore. His first of two centuries for RCB came during the 2015 season where he absolutely belted the Mumbai Indians bowling attack with his 360 range of stroke-making. He scored an unbeaten 133 off just 59 balls spearheading the 39-run victory for his team.
The last of De Villiers’ IPL centuries was scored a year after the previous one against the now defunct Gujarat Lions. He smashed 10 fours and 12 sixes on his way to a 52-ball 129*. With twin-centuries from Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers, RCB went to post a commanding total of 248/1 in the first innings and defeated the lions from Gujarat by a huge margin of 144 runs.
5. David Warner – DD & SRH
David Warner is one of the only two players to have scored two centuries for two different franchises with the other being his countryman Shane Watson. He scored his first hundred for Delhi Daredevils in 2010 against Kolkata Knight Riders. His 107 not out off 69 balls, comprising of 9 fours and 5 sixes, paid dividends as Delhi triumped by 40 runs.
His second century came two years later when Delhi faced off against Deccan Chargers. Chasing a challenging total of 188 to win, David Warner laid the foundation as well as took the team over the line with an unbeaten 109 off 54 balls. He struck 10 fours and 7 sixes on his way to a memorable knock.
Warner notched up his third IPL century, first for Sunrisers Hyderabad, during the 2017 season in the league match against Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 126 off 59 balls with 10 fours and 8 sixes. His masterful knock assured a victory of 48 runs for the Orange Army.
Two years later, Warner joined forces with Jonny Bairstow to make the highest opening stand in the tournament history as the duo added 185 runs. David finished unbeaten on exactly 100 off 55 balls as Sunrisers scored 231 for the loss of two wickets. The target was too much for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they handed Sunrisers a victory of 118 runs.
6. Chris Gayle – RCB & KXIP
Chris Gayle holds the IPL record for scoring the most number of centuries with 6 of them to his name. Out of the 6 three figure scores, he has scored 5 of them of Royal Challengers Bangalore whereas one for Kings XI Punjab.
He scored his maiden IPL century back in 2011 for RCB against his previous franchise KKR. The big-hitter from Jamaica took matters into his own hands in the chase of 172. He remained unbeaten on 102 off 54 balls as RCB won the match by 9 wickets.
Just few days after his first hundred, Gayle scored one more, this time against Kings XI Punjab. He smashed 10 fours and 9 sixes in his 49-ball 107 as RCB amassed 205/6 and went on to win the game by 85 runs.
Batting first during a league match in 2012, Royal Challengers put up a dominating total of 215 for the loss of one wicket against Delhi Daredevils. The destroyer-in-chief for RCB was yet again Christopher Henry Gayle. He stayed unbeaten on 128 of meagre 62 balls smashing as many as 13 sixes and made the victory easier for his team.
Chris Gayle played the greatest IPL knock during the 2013 season when he smashed the Pune Warriors India bowling line-up with absolute demolition. He recorded the highest individual score in IPL history when he amassed 175* runs off 66 balls with 13 fours and 17 sixes. His knock propelled RCB to the highest score in IPL (263/5) and they want on to win the game by 130 runs.
His final century for Kohli’s brigade was scored in 2015 when he took apart the bowling attack of Kings XI Punjab. Batting first, Gayle hit 12 sixes on course to a score of 117 facing 57 deliveries. RCB notched up 226 for the loss of 3 wickets and defeated the Punjab team by a huge margin of 138 runs.
After switching from RCB to KXIP, Gayle scored his first century in 2018 season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored 104 not out off 63 balls with just one four and 11 sixes. KXIP, by virtue of his knock, scored 193/3 and won the match by 15 runs.
7. Shane Watson – RR & CSK
As aforementioned, Watson has scored two centuries for two different franchises in the IPL. His first two centuries were for Rajasthan Royals.
During the 2013 season, Watson scored his maiden IPL century. He smashed 6 fours and equal sixes to get to 101 off 61 deliveries and took RR’s total to 185/4. Despite his valiant efforts, RR couldn’t cross the finishing line as CSK chased down the target with just one ball to spare.
In a high-scoring thriller between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Watson’s fiery knock paid dividends for the later as Rajasthan went on to win it by 9 runs. Watson’s knock consisted 9 fours and 5 sixes.
Watto was picked by CSK for the 2018 season and he repaid the faith by scoring two centuries in the tournament. The first one was against his old allies Rajasthan Royals. He scored 107 off 57 balls to take the Super Kings to 204/5 at the end of 20 overs. CSK triumphed over the Royals by 64 runs.
While his century in the league match was quite good, the best one was still reserved for the grand finale. Chasing a tough target of 179 with the pressure of a final on his shoulders, he scored a magnificent 117 not out with a strike rate well over 200 as the chase unfolded quite convincingly. CSK won the final by 8 wickets and Shane Watson was the Man of the Match.
8. Sanju Samson – DD & RR
The talented Indian youngster scored his maiden IPL century in the 2017 season for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiants. Batting at number 3, Sanju showed his range of strokes and went on to score 102 off 63 balls striking 8 fours and 5 sixes. On the back of his knock, RPS were set a target of 206 but failed to do so as Delhi won the match by 97 runs.
Samson scored his second hundred last season for Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He faced 55 balls to remain unbeaten on 102 smashing 10 fours and 4 sixes. Despite a great batting performance RR failed to get victorious due to lacklustre bowling performance and Sanju’s valiant performance went unacknowledged.
9. Ben Stokes – RPSG & RR
The first Ben Stokes century in IPL came in his Rising Pune Super Giants jersey, where the English all-rounder single-handedly chased down Gujarat Lions’ decent total of 166. Coming into bat while the score was 10/3, Ben Stokes, along with MS Dhoni, put on a crucial 50+ partnership. Stokes’ unbeaten century came in the first ball of the last over of chasing, whereas Dan Christian’s six in the penultimate ball of the game sealed it for RPSG. One of the top-notch innings from Ben Stokes.
The second Stokes century has come in the pink jersey while playing for the Rajasthan Royals side. This time, walking in as an opener, Ben Stokes played a massacre of an innings against a top-quality bowling line-up of Mumbai Indians. His 60-balls 107 turned down MI’s total of 195 looks mediocre at its best. Completing the chase in 18.2 overs, Ben Stokes became the ‘Player of the Match’ that day.
Mumbai Indians have conceded 9 IPL centuries so far. Check which team has conceded the most in the tournament to date here. Guess the answer before clicking the link.
10. KL Rahul – KXIP & LSG
KL Rahul, when completing his third century while playing as LSG captain, he became the second player to score multiple hundreds as captain in IPL after Virat Kohli. While doing so, Rahul also became the first-ever player to score two centuries as captain of two different sides – Kings XI Punjab and Lucknow Super Giants.
From 2018 to 2021, the Bangalore-based cricketer has consecutively crossed the landmark of 500 runs every season in the last four years. Find the list of batsmen who have crossed the 500-runs mark most times in IPL.
11. Quinton de Kock – DD & LSG
Quinton de Kock’s first IPL century came in 2016, playing for Delhi Daredevils in a successful chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Even though he had a successful stay with Mumbai Indians from 2019 to 2021, he couldn’t hit a triple-digit score.
QDK has to wait for 7 years to score his second IPL century, playing for the Lucknow Super Giants. In his IPL record partnership with his LSG captain, KL Rahul, the South African wicketkeeper-batsman batted for the whole 20 overs of his team innings and scored 140 runs in just 70 balls comprising 10 sixes and 10 fours. The partnership with KL Rahul has also been recorded as the first-ever opening pair to walk out unbeaten in the full 20 overs in IPL.
