5 IPL records held by Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. While his reputation and career statistics at the international level are enviable, he was also a prolific batsman and an inspirational captain in his Indian Premier League (IPL) career.
Gambhir's association with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), from the 2011 to the 2017 season, will remain etched in every IPL fan's memory forever - especially his prolific run-scoring to lead KKR to two IPL wins (2012 and 2014). He was in terrific form in the 2012 season, where he scored 590 runs in 17 matches at an average of 39.33 and a strike rate of 143.55.
Gambhir is the fourth highest run-scorer in IPL currently, with 4217 runs in 152 innings. For a batsman who builds up his innings, and believes in playing a ball on its merit, his IPL strike rate of 123.88 and average of 31 made him the perfect fit for any T20 team in the world.
On that note, here is a look at some records currently held by Gautam 'Mr.Dependable' Gambhir in the IPL.
9 - Most consecutive wins in a season as a captain. KKR have the record of most consecutive wins in an IPL season, which they created in IPL 2014 under the captaincy of Gambhir. That run eventually culminated in their second IPL victory.
14 - Most consecutive wins by an IPL team. The Gambhir-led KKR first marched on a nine-match winning streak to win the IPL 2014 trophy, and then continued their winning run in the Champions League T20 tournament the same year. Their victory juggernaut was finally halted by their defeat to the Chennai Super Kings in the final.
36 - Most number of 50s in the IPL. Gambhir has the most number of 50s in the IPL, a record he shares with Australia's David Warner.
184* - Highest opening partnership. In the third match of the 2017 IPL season, the Gujarat Lions scored 183 for the loss of 4 wickets after being sent in to bat first. KKR in reply overcame the target in the 15th over, with 31 balls to spare and 10 wickets in hand. Gambhir scored 76* off 48 balls, while Chris Lynn was awarded the Man-of-the-Match for his knock of 93* off 41 balls.
491 - Most fours in IPL. With 491 fours in 152 innings, Gambhir's record is in danger from the second batsman on the list. Shikhar Dhawan needs another 32 boundaries in the upcoming season to get to the top of this list, but for now the record belongs to the one and only Gautam Gambhir.