Most fifties in IPL
One of the most popular sports leagues in the world, the Indian Premier League hosts some of the best cricketers in the world for two exciting months. The T20 tournament has seen several cricketers notch up great innings that have made for some really entertaining games over the years. Let’s find out which players have the most fifties in IPL history.
David Warner – 50
David Warner, the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, has scored 50 half-centuries in the IPL, which is the most for any player. The destructive opener has won the orange cap thrice and is the fifth highest run-scorer in the IPL with 5447 runs from 148 games that have been scored at a strike rate of 140.13. Along with the long list of half-centuries, Warner also has four centuries under his belt. The Australian batsman started his IPL career with the Delhi Daredevils in 2009, after which he was signed up by the Hyderabad franchise in 2014 and was appointed as the captain next year.
Shikhar Dhawan – 44
Shikhar Dhawan is not just the second-highest run-scorer in IPL history, but he is also second on the list of most fifties in the tournament. In 184 games, the southpaw has scored 44 half-centuries and two centuries. In IPL 2020, Dhawan became the first batsman in the tournament’s history to hit two successive hundreds – the first against Chennai Super Kings and the second against Kings XI Punjab two days after the first one.
Dhawan started his IPL career with Delhi Delhi Capitals before being back with them in 2019. Between that, he has played for Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Virat Kohli – 40
With 40 half-centuries, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli has scored the third most fifties in the IPL. Kohli, who has been with the Bangalore franchise since the tournament’s inception in 2008, is also the tournament’s highest run-scorer with 6076 runs which have come at a strike rate of 130.41. In the first half of IPL 2021, against Rajasthan Royals, Kohli became the first ever player in the IPL to score 6000 IPL runs, during which he has also hit the second most centuries (6) in the competition after Chris Gayle (5). He became the captain of RCB in 2013 and has been at the team’s helm since. However, they are yet to win an IPL trophy.
Rohit Sharma – 40
Kohli’s tally of 40 half-centuries is shared by his Indian teammate Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai Indians captain, who is also the most successful captain in the tournament with five trophies, has scored 40 fifties in 207 matches. Rohit started his IPL career with the Deccan Charges in 2008, before being bought by Mumbai in 2011. Under his leadership, Mumbai based franchise has won the IPL in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020; and they also won the Champions League T20 in 2013.
With 5480 runs, Rohit is currently the fourth top run-scorer in IPL. His only century in the tournament came in 2012 when he scored an unbeaten 109 against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Ab de Villiers – 40
The South African megastar has also scored the same number of half-centuries as Kohli and Rohit. De Villiers has 40 half-centuries in 176 matches and also has three centuries that came in 2009, 2015 and 2016.
The right-hander has been with Royal Challengers Bangalore since the 2011 edition, before which he plied his trade for Delhi. He also holds the record for most man of the match awards in IPL history with 23 awards under his belt. In all, ABD has scored 5056 runs at a strike rate of 152.38. In the process, he has sent the ball out of the park 245 times.
Suresh Raina – 39
With 5491 runs, the CSK batsman is the third-highest run-scorer in the IPL, during which he has scored 39 fifties and a century. Raina, who has been with CSK since the inaugural season, has notched up lots of runs for the franchise year after year. In 200 games, the southpaw has 5491 runs at a strike rate of almost 140. He has not scored less than 350 runs in any season so far, with his most memorable editions being 2014 (523 runs), 2013 (548 runs), 2010 (520 runs) and 2018 (445 runs).
Gautam Gambhir – 36
The two-time IPL winning captain has scored 36 half-centuries in the contest, most of which came while playing for KKR. Gambhir was picked up by Delhi in the inaugural IPL season, in which he ended as the second highest run-scorer of with 534 runs from 14 matches. In the 2011 auctions, the former India batsman was bought by KKR and was appointed the team’s captain that same year. Under Gambhir, the Kolkata based team won the IPL in 2012 and 2014. In 2018, Gambhir returned to the Delhi franchise and ended his career with them. In all, he played 154 IPL games, scoring 4217 runs at a strike rate of 123.88.
Chris Gayle – 31
Gayle, who has played for KKR and RCB before being with his current team Punjab Kings, has been one of the most entertaining batsmen in the IPL. Not only has he scored 31 fifties, but he also has six centuries – the most by anyone in the tournament. The swashbuckling left-hander has 4950 IPL runs at a strike rate of almost 150. In IPL 2012 and 2013, the Jamaican hit 733 and 708 runs and proved everyone why he is one of the best T20 batsmen the world has seen.
Also Read: Which Batsman has the Highest Strike Rate in IPL History?
