Opening hitters are the batsmen who bat first in cricket. Because the entire batting lineup is dependent on their performance, an opening-hitting combination is always considered a front card for any team. In this article, we’ll look at the performance of the IPL’s top 10 opening batting combinations. Now, we will visualize the top 10 batters who have scored the most runs as an opener in IPL history as openers.
| Batsman | Matches | Runs | H/S | Avg. | S/R | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shikhar Dhawan | 186 | 5837 | 106* | 35.37 | 127.33 | 2 | 43 |
| David Warner | 141 | 5226 | 126 | 41.47 | 142.01 | 4 | 49 |
| Chris Gayle | 123 | 4480 | 175* | 41.86 | 151.4 | 6 | 28 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 123 | 3597 | 93 | 32.11 | 124.85 | 0 | 34 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 120 | 3595 | 105* | 34.23 | 122.44 | 2 | 24 |
| KL Rahul | 77 | 3389 | 132* | 52.95 | 139.23 | 4 | 29 |
| Virat Kohli | 84 | 2972 | 113 | 41.85 | 134.54 | 5 | 20 |
| Q de Kock | 92 | 2764 | 140* | 32.13 | 133.91 | 2 | 19 |
| Brendon McCullum | 101 | 2756 | 158* | 28.7 | 132.94 | 2 | 13 |
| Faf du Plessis | 82 | 2634 | 96 | 35.59 | 131.5 | 0 | 21 |
01. Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan is one of the top Opening batsmen in Indian Cricket. He proved himself in IPL and holds the record for most runs as an opener in IPL. He represented 05 IPL teams (Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Kings XI Punjab) in different seasons. As of now, Shikhar Dhawan has scored 5679 runs as an opener in IPL.
- For Deccan franchise, he scored 942 runs.
- For Mumbai franchise, he scored 191 runs.
- For Punjab franchise, he scored 302* runs.
- For Delhi franchise, he scored 1726 runs.
- For Hyderabad franchise, he scored 2518 runs.
02. David Warner
David Warner represented two teams in IPL (Delhi Capitals and Sunrises Hyderabad) in 12 seasons. He is the highest-scoring foreign opener player in IPL. As of now, he has scored 5013 runs as an opener.
- For Delhi Capitals, he scored 1421 runs.
- For Sunrises Hyderabad, he scored 3592 runs.
Read more: David Warner runs as captain in IPL
03. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle represented three teams in IPL. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore in 11 seasons. As of now, he has scored 4480 runs with a strike rate of 152 as an opener.
Read More: Chris Gayle hit most sixes in IPL
- For Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 463 runs.
- For Punjab Kings, he scored 858 runs.
- For Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 3159 runs.
04. Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir represented Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in 11 seasons. As of now, he scored 3597 runs as an opener.
- For Delhi Daredevils, he scored 986 runs.
- For Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 2611 runs.
For KKR, Gambhir Scored 3025 runs as captain in IPL(3rd highest runs by any captain.)
05. Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane represented five teams in IPL. He played for Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiant, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians. As of now, he scored 3542 runs as an opener.
- For Mumbai Indian, he scored 4 runs.
- For Rajasthan Royals, he scored 2570 runs.
- For Delhi Capitals, he scored 26 runs.
- For Pune Supergiant, he scored 862 runs.
- For KKR, he scored 80* runs.
06. KL Rahul
KL Rahul represented five teams in IPL. He played for Kings XI Punjab, Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. As of now, he scored 3141 runs as an opener.
- For Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 225 runs.
- For Punjab Kings, he scored 2548 runs.
- For Pune Supergiant, he scored 225* runs.
07. Brendon McCullum
Brendon McCullum represented Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He scored 2756 runs with a strike rate of 133.
- For Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 820 runs.
- For Chennai Super Kings, he scored 816 runs.
- For Gujrat Lions, he scored 673 runs.
- For Kochi Tuskers, he scored 357 runs.
- For Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored 80 runs
08. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli only played as an opener for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He scored 2759 runs with a strike rate of 137 and an average of 44.
09. Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag represented Delhi Daredevils and Punjab Kings in IPL. In 98 matches, he scored 2586 runs as an opener.
- For Delhi Daredevils, he scored 2032 runs.
- For Punjab Kings, he scored 554 runs.
10. Murali Vijay
Murali Vijay represented three teams in IPL. He played for Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, and Kings XI Punjab in different seasons. He scored 2574 runs as an opener in the Indian Premier League.
- For Chennai Super King, he scored 1663 runs.
- For King XI Punjab, he scored 704 runs.
- For Delhi Daredevils, he scored 207 runs.
