Jos Buttler became the third fastest batter to score 3000 runs in the Indian Premier League in the CSK vs RR match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. The English batsman reached the milestone in his 85th innings. Chris Gayle tops the list, having reached the 3000-run mark in the IPL in 75 innings. KL Rahul achieved that record in 80 innings.
Buttler was the leading run-scorer in IPL 2022, amassing 863 and smashing four hundreds. The Rajasthan Royals opener has scored two fifties this season. He is a strong contender for the IPL 2023 Orange Cap. Jos Buttler has over 2,400 runs for the Royals. Buttler has scored five hundreds and 18 fifties so far in the league. The right-hander has an impressive 40-plus average and scored his runs at a double-quick 150-plus strike rate. He is the 21st batter to breach the 3000-mark in the IPL, and the 7th overseas player to achieve the feat.
The other six overseas batters with the milestone are David Warner (6090), AB de Villiers (5162), Gayle (4965), Shane Watson (3623), Faf du Plessis (3578) and Keiron Pollard (3412).
Jos Buttler made 52 runs in 36 deliveries with 1 four & 3 sixes. He held the ground while Rajasthan lost wickets at regular intervals. Although he completed his half-century, couldn't change the gear when needed the most.
Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has produced some brilliant batting performances, each more devastating than the other. Some batters gradually become the face of the franchise. IPL teams also heavily depend on them to deliver consistent performances and do the bulk of run-scoring.
In this article, we will take a look at those batters with nost runs in an edition of IPL.
Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudhaesan surpassed 750 runs in IPL 2025 to sign off with a tally of 759 from 15 matches at 54.21. He registered his 6th fifty of the season (100s: 1). He hit 88 fours and 21 sixes, striking at 156.17.
He also won the IPL 2025 Orange Cap award. This also makes Sai Sudharsan, 23 years and 237 days old when IPL 2025 ended, the youngest IPL Orange Cap history, surpassing the previous record held by GT captain Shubman Gill, who was 23 years and 263 days old when he won the award in IPL 2023.
4. David Warner (2016) | 848 Runs
David Warner’s explosive starts at the top are something SRH fans will never forget. Warner’s meteoric rise in the IPL began with his exploits in the 2016 season, when he guided the team to the final and helped them win their first IPL trophy. Warner scored nine half-centuries in the event, averaging more than 60. He had his greatest season with the bat, scoring 848 runs in 17 matches.
Despite scoring a staggering 848 runs, Warner finished as the second-highest run-scorer in 2016 as Kohli's 973 runs trumped him.
3. Jos Buttler (2022) | 863 Runs
Jos Buttler has been a consistent performer for Rajasthan Royals ever since he signed for the team before the Indian Premier League 2018 season.
In 2022, the Englishman went on a scoring spree, notching up four hundreds and as many fifties for his tally of 863 runs that won him the Orange Cap, awarded to the leading run-scorer in IPL each season. He averaged 57.53 from 17 matches that season scoring runs at a healthy strike rate of 149.05, taking the Royals to their first final after the inaugural edition in 2008.
2. Shubman Gill (2023) | 890 Runs
Gujarat Titans talisman took his batsmanship to astronomical heights in the 2023 edition of the IPL. Shubman Gill delivered consistent batting performances throughout the season to amass a staggering 890 runs in 17 matches at an impressive average of 59.33 and a strike rate of 157.80.
Apart from winning the coveted Orange Cap, Gill recorded the second-highest runs in a single IPL season, only behind Virat Kohli. Gill also smashed three centuries in IPL 2023, including a blazing 129 against the Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 to register the highest individual score in an IPL Playoff game.
The 2016 IPL season saw Virat Kohli elevate his batting to a level never seen before. He amassed 973 runs in 16 matches, coming agonisingly close to becoming the first player to score 1,000 runs in a single IPL season. With an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03.
Interestingly, no other batter has scored 900 or more runs in an IPL season. Kohli led RCB to the final that year as they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rahul Dravid has decided to part ways with Rajasthan Royals as a head coach ahead of the 2026 IPL season, after turning down a "broader position" within the franchise. Rajasthan Royals announce this on Saturday.
The Indian team won the T20 World Cup last year under the coaching of Rahul Dravid. After this, his contract ended. After leaving the post of head coach of the Indian team, Dravid joined Rajasthan Royals as a head coach ahead of IPL 2025. However, the performance of the RR team was quite disappointing. Now, after just one season, Dravid has decided to part ways with the team.
Rajasthan Royals posted on social media X and informed about Dravid's resignation. The franchise wrote, "Rahul has been central to the Royals' journey for many years. His leadership has influenced a generation of players, instilled strong values within the squad, and left an indelible mark on the culture of the franchise,"
"As part of the franchise structural review, Rahul had been offered a broader position at the franchise but has chosen not to take this. The Rajasthan Royals, its players, millions of fans worldwide extend heartfelt thanks to Rahul for his remarkable service to the franchise," the statement added.
The franchise said that Rahul Dravid was offered some other position instead of the head coach. He refused this and resigned.
RR won only 4 matches in 2025
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid was part of Rajasthan Royals as a player from 2011 to 2015. He then returned to the franchise last year. The Royals' 2025 campaign was disappointing. The team won only 4 matches in 14 matches. Rajasthan Royals finished 9th in the table with 8 points. The franchise has not won any title since the first season of IPL.
Interestingly, the Royals announcement comes amidst rumours that skipper Sanju Samson also wants to leave the franchise. If Samson also leaves the side, it will leave the Royals in a tricky position a few months before the mini auction.
Over the years India is blessed to have got some big hitters in their line up who are capable of clearing any boundary in the world. In this article we will take a look at those batters with most sixes for India in T20Is.
Cricket today is almost entirely a batsman's game. Flat pitches, small boundaries and bigger bats have tilted the game heavily in favor of the batsmen. The bowlers have got nowhere to hide and, the advent of T20s, where the batsmen go after them from the first ball itself have made it even more difficult.
The T20 format has brought about a revolution where the bowlers are more than grateful to keep the run rate down, rather than to take wickets. India made a wonderful foray into the shortest format of the game, winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Over the years India is blessed to have got some big hitters in their line up who are capable of clearing any boundary in the world.
In this article we will take a look at those batters with most sixes for India in T20Is.
Most Sixes for India in T20Is
5. Hardik Pandya | 95
Hardik Pandya debuted in T20I cricket in 2016 and swiftly established himself as a key member of India's preferred playing eleven, serving as a seam-bowling all-rounder. His T20I career reached its peak in 2024, marked by outstanding all-round performances during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, helping India clinch the title. In terms of batting, Pandya has struck 95 sixes across 90 T20I innings.
Pandya has been included in the Men in Blue's 15-member squad for this year's Asia Cup. If Pandya manages to hit five more maximums in the Asia Cup, then he will go on to surpass KL Rahul's tally of 99 sixes in the shortest format. This will see the all-rounder become the Indian player with the fourth-most sixes in T20Is.
KL Rahul, who was once a consistent member of the T20I squad now finds himself out of favour in the T20I setup. Between 2016 and 2022, he played in 72 T20I matches and mostly batted in the top three.
He hit 99 sixes in 68 T20I innings. Following the T20 World Cup 2022, he was excluded from the shortest format due to his outdated approach to T20 cricket, as he did not improve his intent and strike rate.
3. Virat Kohli | 124
The Run Machine Virat Kohli has hit 124 sixes in 117 T20I innings for India. He is one of the most consistent players in the Indian team, with an average of 48.69. He made his T20I debut for India in 2010 and since then he has been a cornerstone of India's batting. Kohli also recorded 4,188 runs in T20I format, which included 38 fifties.
“King Kohli” was part of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup in June 2024. After winning the trophy, Kohli announced his retirement from the format.
2. Suryakumar Yadav | 146*
Yet another batsman who has made six-hitting look extremely easy is India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Despite making his T20I debut in March 2021 with a match against England, the elegant middle-order batter has already launched 146 maximums in just 79 innings for Team India.
Having the ability to hit sixes at all parts of the ground with relative ease makes Yadav, a.k.a SKY, draw a comparison with South Africa’s great AB De Villiers who was called Mr. 360 in cricket. His centuries have also come against big teams like England, South Africa, and New Zealand apart from Sri Lanka. He has hit the most number of T20I sixes against West Indies (35).
1. Rohit Sharma | 205
Former Indian T20I captain Rohit Sharma hit the most sixes for India in T20Is, having hit 205 sixes in 159 games he played. He made his debut for India in the 2007 T20 World Cup against South Africa. However, he failed to cement his place in the team. The turnaround came in the 2013 Champions Trophy when MS Dhoni promoted him up the order to open the batting with Shikhar Dhawan.
The mighty Australians have been Rohit's favourite opponent in this format against whom he has hit 29 sixes in 23 matches with Bangladesh being the second, conceding 22 sixes off his willow. Fondly called the “Hitman”, Rohit Sharma hung up his boots from T20Is after delivering the 2024 T20 World Cup title for India.
The controversy over the key members of the Indian Test team not being selected for major domestic cricket tournaments continues to grow. Now The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has expressed strong displeasure over the exclusion of top international players like KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj from the South Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
After this, the Board has officially written a letter to all the state associations asking them to give priority to the selection of centrally contracted players for this opening tournament of the domestic season.
South Zone announced its team on July 27. Many big names like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna and Sai Sudharsan were not included in it.
The Duleep Trophy, which begins in Bengaluru on August 28, is considered an important platform for domestic and national level talents. The board did not like the decision of the South Zone to not include these players in the team despite their availability during the off-season.
Abey Kuruvilla wrote the email
BCCI General Manager of Cricket Operations Abey Kuruvilla addressed the issue in an email sent to zonal coordinators and state units last week. According to the reports, Kuruvilla stressed the importance of ensuring the participation of all available Indian players to maintain the prestige and competitive level of the Duleep Trophy.
Kuruvilla wrote in the email, “To uphold its prestige and ensure the highest quality of competition, it’s imperative that all currently available India players are selected for their respective zonal teams. Requesting the Zonal Convenors to ensure that all the current India players who are available to play Duleep trophy should be picked.”
“All players, contracted or otherwise, who make themselves available for selection into Team India, shall participate in domestic matches conducted by BCCI,”
“In case any player opts not to participate in any domestic cricket tournaments in spite of availability, he/she shall not be considered for selection unless a prior recommendation is obtained to skip the match/tournament from the National coach and the chairman of the selection committee, and prior approval from the BCCI. In case any leave is granted, the same shall be considered on the basis of some valid and cogent reason.” the email said.
Instructions to give priority to domestic cricket
This directive is in line with the BCCI's policy of making participation of international players mandatory in domestic competitions. The board had previously warned players against giving priority to the IPL over first-class cricket and earlier this year reminded all contracted players to remain committed to the domestic calendar.
However, this instruction from BCCI has come after South Zone announced its team. It is still not clear whether the selectors will make any changes in their list or not. Tilak Verma was made the captain of the team.
Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Shreyas Iyer among many other players are expected to participate in the tournament representing their respective regions.
The state associations have previously expressed concern that the automatic inclusion of Indian stars in the regional teams overlooks Ranji players who have performed consistently throughout the season.
Many have argued that matches such as India A tours and Board President's XI would be a more suitable platform for international players, leaving regional tournaments as a rewarding avenue for domestic players.
ENG vs IND, 4th test: Three Indian players ruled out, what could be possible Indian lineup?
Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy have been ruled out of the ENG vs IND, 4th test in Manchester. Here is the possible lineup of the Indian cricket team in the fourth test.
Indian cricket team management suffered major setbacks ahead of the ENG vs IND, 4th test in Manchester, starting from Wednesday. Two Indian pacers, Akash Deep and Ashdeep Singh, have been ruled out of the 4th test along with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
With three players already ruled out due to injuries, Shubman Gill and company will have to find solutions within the squad to name a strong playing XI at Old Trafford.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who was hit on his bowling hand, needed stitches. As per the reports of the Indian Express on Sunday, the Medium Pacer will need at least 10 days to recover. This has already ruled him out of the fourth test, and he is unlikely to return for the final test starting on 31st July.
Arshdeep Singh suffered a finger injury while bowling at the nets. Image | BCCI on X
As per the same report by The Indian Express, another pacer, Akash Deep, who was India's hero in their first-ever Test win in Birmingham, has issues with his groin and back. The Indian team management does not want to take risks with his injuries, and thus, he will be monitored as a precaution.
On the other hand, Hindustan Times reported that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy suffered an injury during the gym session on Sunday. So he is also ruled out of the fourth test at Old Trafford Stadium.
In the situation where India are trailing by 1-2 in the Test series and needs to win the 4th test, to be in contention to win the series, Gautam Gambhir and company will have to dig deep to find solutions.
Here are the solutions India can go for during the 4th test.
#1 Bumrah, Siraj, Shardul, and who?
Shardul Thakur during a parctice session. Image - BCCI on X
With both Akashdeep and Arshdeep Singh being ruled out, there is certainty that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj will be India's leading pacers in the fourth test. Although our questions on the workload management of both those pacers, they will have to be at their best if India wants to bring balance to the series.
Now, with Nitish Kumar Reddy's injury, India will have to go back to Shardul Thakur, who played in the first test in Leeds. The Mumbai all-rounder only scored 4 runs and took two wickets in that match.
But if India wants to go for another pacer, they will have the option of Prasidh Krishna and newcomer Anshul Kamboj. Krishna, who did not do very well in the first two test matches, might not be brought back. In that case, Kamboj, who has done well in the first-class games he has played so far, is likely to get his test cap.
Kuldeep last played a test match in 2024. Image | BCCI on X
Now, this has been an inclusion that Indian fans have been waiting for from the first test. Kuldeep, who last featured in test matches for India in 2024 against New Zealand at home, can bring the ex-factor in the bowling lineup. But this will leave the batting lineup a bit thin.
Since Gautam Gambhir has always looked to go for that added batting cushion, it will be hard for Kuldeep to find his place. Even if he plays, will India look to sacrifice Washington Sundar? This would be a very hard question to answer.
#3 Jurel to keep, Pant to play as a specialist batter
Jurel kept wickets for India during the Lord's test. Image | BCCI on X
Along with these three injuries, we had already reported that Rishabh Pant has not recovered fully from the finger injury he suffered during the Lord's Test. In that case, Dhruv Jurel, who kept wicket at Lord's, is likely to play as a wicket keeper while Rishabh Pant could play as only a specialist batter.
If Jurel comes in, India can leave Shardul out and bring Kuldeep Yadav into the playing XI. However, it will only depend on the pitch condition.
ENG vs IND, 4th test: India's possible lineup
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
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