🇯🇲 West Indies
IPL 2009–2021 • 3 Franchises
🏅 Orange Cap x2
🏆 Universe Boss
CG
Chris Gayle
Left-hand Bat • Opener • Born 21 Sep 1979, Kingston, Jamaica
The Universe Boss. The man who holds every IPL batting record that matters — highest individual score (175*), most sixes (357), fastest century (30 balls). Back-to-back Orange Caps. IPL MVP. A force of nature who made the Chinnaswamy Stadium feel too small.
4,965
Career Runs
142 matches
357
Career Sixes
IPL All-time Record
175*
High Score
Highest in IPL history
6
Centuries
Most in IPL history
Career at a Glance All IPL Seasons
39.7
Batting Average
Career
149.0
Career Strike Rate
Amongst highest ever (4000+ runs)
30
Fastest Century (Balls)
IPL record • vs PWI 2013
17
Sixes in One Innings
175* vs PWI • IPL record
Runs by Season 2008 – 2021
🔥 Season-by-Season Run Tally
Bar width proportional to career-best 733 (2012, second consecutive Orange Cap). DNP = bought by KKR in 2008 but did not play due to WI tour.
2008 KKR
DNP
2009 KKR
314
2010 KKR
204
2011 RCB
🏆 608 • Orange Cap • MVP
608
2012 RCB
🏆 733 • ORANGE CAP x2
733
2013 RCB
🔥 175* off 66 balls • Records
708
2014 RCB
420
2015 RCB
236
2016 RCB
227
2017 RCB
200
2018 PBKS
New team, instant century
413
2019 PBKS
99 not out (twice missed ton)
490
2020 PBKS
99 again!
288
2021 PBKS
Final IPL season
177
Regular season
Orange Cap / MVP seasons (2011, 2013)
Career-best 733 (2012)
Performance vs Each Team Career Totals
🏈 Career Runs vs Each Opponent
Total runs across all IPL seasons. Note: GT and LSG did not exist during Gayle's playing years.
MI
620
Most
CSK
582
DC
488
SRH
458
KKR
415
RR
412
PBKS
380
📈 Batting Average vs Each Opponent
Runs per dismissal. Gayle's high not-out rate inflates these significantly — he finished many games unbeaten.
MI
44.3
Most
CSK
41.6
DC
40.7
SRH
38.2
PBKS
38.0
RR
37.5
KKR
34.6
⚡ Strike Rate vs Each Opponent
Runs per 100 balls. Gayle consistently strikes above 140 against every team he's faced.
MI
162.5
Most
SRH
158.0
DC
155.0
CSK
152.0
PBKS
151.0
RR
149.0
KKR
143.0
🎯 Fifty-Plus Scores vs Each Opponent
Innings of 50 or more runs including his 6 IPL centuries — the most in IPL history.
MI
5
Most
CSK
5
Most
KKR
4
DC
4
SRH
4
RR
3
PBKS
3
IPL Records Held
175*
Highest Individual Score in IPL
vs Pune Warriors India, 2013 • off 66 balls
357
Most Sixes in IPL History
Only player to hit 300+ sixes in IPL
30
Fastest Century in IPL (Balls)
vs Pune Warriors India, 2013
17
Most Sixes in an IPL Innings
175* vs PWI • 88% of runs from boundaries
6
Most Centuries in IPL History
Virat Kohli holds overall record (8) but Gayle held it longest
2x
Back-to-Back Orange Caps
Only player to win Orange Cap in consecutive seasons (2011 & 2012)
Career Journey Key Seasons
2008
Bought by KKR — Never Plays a Ball
KKR sign Gayle for the inaugural season. A WI tour conflict keeps him away. He misses the entire season — missing out on his only chance to be part of the first IPL. The Universe Boss sits out the universe's greatest new cricket show.
2009
IPL Debut at Last — KKR, South Africa Edition
Finally plays. 314 runs for KKR in the tournament held in South Africa. Shows glimpses of his T20 potential but KKR struggle as a team. A decent start but nothing prepares anyone for what comes next when he switches to RCB.
2011
🏅 Goes Unsold, Then Joins RCB — Changes Everything
Gayle goes unsold at the mega auction. RCB sign him as a replacement mid-season for injured Dirk Nannes. He scores 608 runs in just 12 matches, wins the Orange Cap and is named IPL Most Valuable Player. The Chinnaswamy erupts. The legend begins.
2012
🔥 Career Best — 733 Runs • Orange Cap Again
733 runs, avg 61.08, 7 fifties, 1 century. Second consecutive Orange Cap — the only player in IPL history to do so. His partnership with Virat Kohli becomes the most feared in the league. The Gayle Storm is at its absolute peak.
2013
🔥 175* off 66 Balls — The Greatest T20 Innings Ever
April 23, 2013. Chinnaswamy. vs Pune Warriors India. 175* off 66 balls • 17 sixes (IPL record in an innings) • century in 30 balls (fastest in IPL history). 88% of runs from boundaries. The highest individual score in the history of T20 cricket. 708 runs in the season. The night that defined him forever.
2018
New Home — PBKS — Instant Century vs SRH
Released by RCB after 2017. PBKS snap him up. He repays them immediately: a century against SRH in his new colours. 413 runs at avg 41.3. Partners brilliantly with KL Rahul. The left-right Gayle-Rahul combo becomes one of the most feared in the league.
2019
99 Not Out — The Century That Got Away (Twice)
490 runs, avg 54.4. Gets to 99 not out vs KKR — PBKS win before he can face another ball. In 2020 he does it again: another 99*, stranded once more. Two of the most agonising near-misses in IPL history — both in the same tournament.
2021
Final Season — The Universe Boss Takes His Leave
177 runs in 11 matches at 40+ years old. His last IPL match is on November 1, 2021, vs CSK in Abu Dhabi. He scores 12 before being dismissed. The Universe Boss walks off an IPL ground for the last time. He has given the tournament 4,965 runs, 357 sixes, 6 centuries and a record that may never be broken.
Did You Know?
During his 175* vs Pune Warriors in 2013, Gayle scored 154 of his 175 runs from boundaries alone — that is 88% of his total from fours and sixes. He hit 13 fours and 17 sixes. The bowlers were simply spectators.
Gayle went unsold at the 2011 IPL mega-auction. No franchise bid for him. RCB then signed him mid-season as a replacement for injured Dirk Nannes. He proceeded to win the Orange Cap and MVP award in that very season. The greatest bargain in IPL history.
Gayle won the Orange Cap in 2011 and 2012 — consecutive seasons — the only player ever to achieve back-to-back Orange Caps. In those two seasons combined he scored 1,341 runs at an average above 60.
Gayle was stranded on 99 not out twice in two successive IPL seasons (2019 and 2020) — both times because PBKS won the match before he could face another delivery. No other batter in IPL history has suffered that specific heartbreak even once, let alone twice.
Gayle holds the record for most sixes in T20 cricket history with over 1,000 maximums across all T20 competitions. His 357 IPL sixes alone is more than most players hit in their entire T20 careers. Rohit Sharma (302) is the closest Indian, still 55 behind.
The Kohli-Gayle partnership of 2,787 runs for RCB is the second most prolific in IPL history, behind only Kohli-ABD (3,123). Their 2012 season together — Gayle scoring 733 and Kohli 364 — was the most destructive opening partnership the IPL had ever seen.