With the Indian Premier League almost upon us, fans are going crazy with the amount of waiting that they are putting in for India’s most glamorous domestic tournament. As the wait grows longer, speculations of certain benchmarks to be rattled are also growing higher. However, with the evolution of IPL over the years, we have seen new names taking over the baton of excellence from former legends.
To dig out the most shining names in the recent history of India’s cricketing extravaganza, we will chalk out five cricketers with the highest number of runs in the last three seasons of IPL.
Rishabh Pant – 1538 runs
Pant is now being considered to be made permanent after Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down from the international scene. His meteoric rise in the Indian Premier League is indeed noteworthy. Coming out as Emerging Player of the Year in 2018, he has showcased class in every way possible.
Over the course of the last three years, the young southpaw has garnered 1538 runs which are the highest in the canon of the IPL. Most of these runs came in 2018 when he scored 684 runs from 14 games at an average of 52.61. Pant also smashed a blistering 127 as his career-best in the tournament. However, the preceding season also saw him doing a highly laudable job as he managed to post 488 runs from 16 innings, striking at a blitzkrieg rate of 162.66. He will continue to be Delhi’s beacon of hope as they take the field in UAE.
Shikhar Dhawan – 1497 runs
India’s opener, Dhawan has been in subliminal form in the preceding three seasons. Smashing 1497 runs from 46 games, he has exhibited a consistent upward curve. In 2017, he managed to notch up 479 runs from 14 matches while the following year saw him amassing 497 runs from 16 matches. The preceding edition of the tournament saw him smashing 521 runs from 16 matches. More importantly, he continues to strike at a decent rate of 135.
With Delhi Capitals cementing Dhawan as their primary opener, he will have to carry on with his steep ascent to ensure that Capitals can continue in climbing higher.
David Warner – 1333 runs
Winner of the Orange Cap for a record three times, Australian opener David Warner is one of the most successful batsmen of the tournament. Being banned in 2017 from all forms of cricket due to the Sandpaper scandal, he couldn’t make it to IPL. Hence the number of runs that we managed to add up for him was for two seasons.
Out of these two seasons, he managed to score 1333 runs from only 26 matches. If he would have played the 2017 season, without a doubt he would have easily aced the list.
Virat Kohli – 1302 runs
Indian skipper, Virat Kohli is one of the finest batsmen in the Indian Premier League as he will be leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in another attempt to lift their maiden IPL trophy.
In the last three seasons, Kohli blasted 1302 runs where the primary year of his excellence was in 2018. He managed 530 runs from 14 games that also saw him stringing an unbeaten 92 as his best figure in that season. The following season saw him scoring a brilliant century but his run count wasn’t as phenomenal as that in the previous edition. He managed 464 runs from 14 games that featured a brilliant century.
Suresh Raina – 1270 runs
One of the most consistent cricketers of IPL, Suresh Raina was the first cricketer to notch up 5000 runs. His heroics in the last three seasons were of the same brilliant stature like that of his previous seasons.
From 46 matches, he managed to stack up 1270 runs which saw him striking the cherry at 137.14. However, this year’s IPL will not be staying witness to his pyrotechnics as the Indian cricketer has pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons.
