IPL 2021 Phase 2: Punjab Kings’ Chris Gayle may be approaching his last IPL but his records in the tournament is such that will take a long time to shatter. The Universal Boss is the star of the tournament who continues to mesmerize the fans with his powerful batting and is just 50 runs short of reaching 5,000 IPL runs. He may have hit a slump and is in the twilight of his career but his destruction of the bowlers will be remembered in the league forever.
From smashing 175, the highest T20 knock, to scoring six centuries in the IPL, Chris Gayle has put IPL on fire. With the IPL 2021 Phase 2 approaching which could very well be the West Indies legend’s last sojourn, we look back at the Punjab Kings batsman’s 5 biggest records.
IPL 2021 Phase 2: Highest individual score in IPL
Combing through Chris Gayle’s career, who can forget his swashbuckling 175 against now-defunct Pune Warriors? Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Gaylestorm had the last laugh at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru in 2013. Off the 66 balls he played, he smashed 13 fours and a mammoth 17 sixes with a strike rate of 265.15. It’s a record that is probably going to stay for long. It was the Punjab Kings’ batsman’s highest T20 knock and also the league’s highest individual score.
IPL Most sixes in an innings
The record-breaking knock had plenty of other records too. With 17 sixes, Chris Gayle annihilated Mitchell Marsh, Ali Murtaza, Ashok Dinda and Ishwar Pandey. Previously, Brendan McCullum set the stage on fire with his 158 not out against RCB in IPL 2008 opener. It included 13 sixes but Chris Gayle bettered the record and it is still untouched even after 8 long years.
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IPL Fastest century
The fact that Chris Gayle could have scored a double-hundred in the match would be an understatement. He reached his 100 off just 30 balls while the next 75 came in 36 balls. Had he continued at the same strike rate as the 100, Gayle would have been the 1st man in the IPL to score a double-century. Yusuf Pathan’s 37-ball century against Mumbai Indians is the 2nd best in the fastest century list.
IPL 2021 Phase 2: Most sixes
That match aside, Chris Gayle has plenty of other records too. That he has smashed 357 balls out of the park takes him at the top of the list. And no batsman is even near to achieving the milestone. The next batsman on the list is AB de Villiers with 245 sixes, a mile away from Gayle’s 357. It will take 5 years of IPL to come close to the record.
Chris Gayle also at the top of most centuries leader board. With six centuries, in his IPL career, Gayle tops the ton list. Virat Kohli is the second best with 5 tons. That Gayle has missed 4 centuries getting out in the 90s tells you that he could have reached 10 centuries, stretching his records even further. But he could still do that in the IPL 2021 Phase 2 in the UAE. Virat Kohli is just a step behind and could also equal or take over Gayle in the 2nd Phase.
IPL 2021 Phase 2: IPL Most run in over
The other record Gayle has is most runs in an over. Playing for RCB, he hammered 36 runs off Prasanth Parameswaran in IPL 2011 of now-defunct Kochi Tuskers. The over included 4 sixes and 3 fours as Chris Gayle didn’t leave a single ball. All ended up in boundaries. He has scored 126 runs in that innings. After 10 long years, CSK’s Ravindra Jadeja equalled the record hammering 36 off Harshal Patel of RCB in the IPL 2021 1st Phase.
Editors pick
