IPL 2019: Chris Gayle becomes quickest to score 4000 runs in IPL
Chris Gayle became the fastest player to score 4000 IPL runs in the game against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on Monday. He reached the milestone in 112 innings. Gayle scored a brilliant 79 off 47 balls to help Kings XI Punjab post a competitive total of 184 in 20 overs. His knock earned him the Man of the Match award.
Gayle took 27 innings to 1000 runs, 49 innings to 2000 runs, 76 innings to 3000 runs and 112 innings to reach 4000 runs in IPL.
David Warner of Sunrisers Hyderabad took 114 innings to reach 4000-mark. RCB skipper Virat Kohli reached the milestone in 128 innings while Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir took 140 innings to breach the barrier.
Gayle joined a list of elite players to score 4000 IPL runs. Apart from Gayle, Virat, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Shikhar Dhawan, and David Warner are the other batsmen to have achieved the milestone. Suresh Raina is the only cricketer to score 5000 runs in IPL.
Gayle made his IPL debut for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2009 and played till 2010. From 2010-2017, he had played for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gayle holds the record of the highest individual score in the IPL, having scored 175* off 66 balls against Pune Warriors India in the 2013 edition.
Chris Gayle is currently the 8th leading run-getter in IPL with 4073 runs from 113 matches (112 innings) with 6 centuries and 25 half-centuries. He also holds the record of most sixes in IPL.
Suresh Raina holds the record of most runs in IPL history with 5004 runs from 177 matches (173 innings) with 1 century and 35 half-centuries to his name.