Reaching the milestone of scoring 5000 runs in IPL is considered a massive success by fans and critics alike for the sheer difficulty that the Indian Premier League offers to its participants. From extreme playing conditions to top-quality opponents, the Indian Premier League ranks among the toughest T20 tournaments in cricket, with the best in the sport gracing the league with their presence.
Over the past 14 seasons of the Indian Premier League, only six players have managed to score 5000 IPL runs, which shows the magnanimity of the achievement. To put things further into perspective, this elite club doesn’t have cricketing greats like MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Sachin Tendulkar and many others.
Players fastest to reach 5000 IPL Runs
Player | Team | Innings to reach 5000 runs |
David Warner | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 135 |
Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 137 |
AB de Villiers | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 161 |
Shikhar Dhawan | Delhi Capitals/ Delhi Daredevils | 168 |
Suresh Raina | Chennai Super Kings | 173 |
Rohit Sharma | Mumbai Indians | 187 |
Suresh Raina: First to reach 5000 runs in IPL
The first player to reach the 5000-run landmark in the IPL was Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina. The southpaw, who comes to bat in the middle-order, remained the highest run-scorer in the T20 tournament for years before Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma overtook him. Raina had achieved this feat in the first match of IPL 2019 when CSK had taken on RCB. The Chennai batsman had taken 173 innings to reach the milestone with one century and 35 half-centuries to his name then. His compatriot and India cricket team captain Virat Kohli was highly close to snatching the mantle from him.
David Warner: Fastest player to score 5000 runs in IPL
While Suresh Raina was the first player to reach 5000 runs in the IPL, swashbuckling Australian opener David Warner was the fastest batsman in IPL to tally 5000 runs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner, who had led the franchise to their maiden IPL title in 2016, had taken just 135 innings to score 5000 runs in IPL and become the first overseas batsman to reach the landmark. He achieved this feat in IPL 2020 when SRH were playing Kolkata Knight Riders. Averaging 42.77, Warner had hit four centuries and 44 fifties in his IPL career by then.
Virat Kolhi: First batsman in IPL to score 5000 runs for one team
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli was once close to becoming both the first and the fastest player to reach 5000 IPL runs, but missed out on both the records. When Raina had reached his tally of 5000 IPL runs, Kohli was sitting at 4948 runs with four centuries and 34 fifties to his name. Despite starting young and slow, Kohli’s unparalleled IPL season of 2016, where he had tallied a whopping 973 runs in the tournament, had brought him highly close to leapfrogging Raina. However, RCB’s failure to reach the playoffs in 2018 meant Raina got more time to get things sorted. Kohli finally attained the milestone in IPL 2019 when he scored 46 runs in 34 balls. The Indian captain remains the batsman with the most runs in the tournament in a season and overall.
Also read – Here is a list of Centuries by Virat Kohli in IPL. Find it out (mpl.live)
AB de Villiers: Fastest to score 5000 in terms of ball faced
While Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma have also reached the 5000-run milestone in the tournament, RCB hitman AB de Villiers remains one of the fan favourites to enter the elite club. The South African cricketer is only the second overseas player after Warner to tally 5000, but more importantly, the quickest to join the 5000 run club in terms of ball faced. AB de Villiers had taken just 3288 balls to reach the landmark compared to Warner, who had faced 3554 balls. Raina (3620 balls), Sharma (3817 balls) and Virat Kohli (3827 balls) follow him.
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