In T20 cricket, unlike in other formats, the instance of a batter making a century in an innings is rare. Teams prefer impact innings by a batter or 2 more than a high score.
But if a certain high score by a batter gives the maximum impact to the team, there is nothing like that and a captain making those scores gives them a huge boost.
In this article, we will discuss the top 10 highest individual scores smashed by captains in an IPL innings while leading the side.
Highest Individual Score as Captain in IPL
| Player | Runs (Balls) | 4s/6s | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KL Rahul (Kings XI Punjab) | 132*(69) | 14/7 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | Dubai | 24 Sep 2020 |
| David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad) | 126 (59) | 10/8 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Hyderabad | 30 Apr 2017 |
| Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils) | 119 (56) | 13/6 | Deccan Chargers | Hyderabad | 5 May 2011 |
| Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals) | 119 (63) | 12/7 | Punjab Kings | Mumbai (Wankhede) | 12 Apr 2021 |
| Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) | 113 (50) | 12/8 | Kings XI Punjab | Bengaluru | 18 May 2016 |
| Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) | 109 (55) | 5/8 | Gujarat Lions | Bengaluru | 14 May 2016 |
| Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) | 108* (58) | 8/7 | Rising Pune Supergiants | Bengaluru | 7 May 2016 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings) | 108* (60) | 12/3 | Lucknow Super Giants | Chennai | 23 Apr 2024 |
| Adam Gilchrist (Kings XI Punjab) | 106 (55) | 8/9 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | Dharamsala | 17 May 2011 |
| Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans) | 104 (55) | 9/6 | Chennai Super Kings | Ahmedabad | 10 May 2024 |
Key Insights
13: The number of instances of a captain scoring a century in an IPL innings. This has been achieved by 7 different batters in the 17 seasons of IPL.
Sachin Tendulkar is the other batter to have struck a century while leading the side. The batting legend made an unbeaten 100 off 66 balls while playing for MI against the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala team in the 2011 season.
Virat Kohli has scored the most number of centuries in the history of the IPL as a captain (5), and 4 of them came in the 2016 season alone. Apart from the 3 hundreds listed above, he has scored 100* against the Gujarat Lions at Rajkot (2016) and 100 against KKR (2019). (Check out Virat Kohli’s IPL centuries here.)
KL Rahul comes in next with 3 centuries as a captain (1 for Punjab and the other 2 for Lucknow).
Also Read | List: Players with Centuries for 2 Different IPL Teams
There have been 2 scores of unbeaten 99 by captains in the IPL, and the batters are Mayank Agarwal (2021) and Shikhar Dhawan (2023). Both knocks came while the batters were leading the Punjab Kings in the respective editions.
226 is the best strike rate for a batter with a minimum of 100 runs in an innings while leading a side, and this was by Virat Kohli. The innings in question is his 113 (50) versus Punjab at Bengaluru back in 2016.
