IPL 2022: Which edition saw the most number of centuries?
The T20 format is arguably the most difficult for scoring centuries. The entire team has just 120 balls to play, which is less than the average number of balls a batter takes to score a hundred in Test cricket. The pressure is brimming as bowlers put all of their strengths and guile in four overs and fielders are at their most attentive.
Still, T20 franchise tournaments tend to bring the batters' beast modes. The IPL has seen as many as 72 hundreds since its inception in 2008. The least number of tons in a season is two, coming in its second year - 2009. Below, we take a look at the IPL edition which saw the most tons and its closest competitors.
#1 IPL 2016 - 7 centuries
Scoring 973 Runs in an IPL season is not easy as this man showed.
Glad is witnessed him scoring 973 Runs and 4 Centuries in IPL 2016.
Virat Kohli ♥️ https://t.co/TmS0yFZEZV
Multiple IPL seasons have witnessed six hundred but only one went higher - 2016. Only one man could lead the charge in such a chart; then-Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli hit four centuries, one better than the other, in 2016 to end up as the top run-scorer in a season with a glittering 973 runs.
Kohli's third century of the year - 109 (55) - against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions came after his Royal Challengers partner AB de Villiers had smashed a jaw-dropping 129* (52), including 10 fours and 12 sixes, from the other end.
Like Kohli, Delhi Daredevils' (now Delhi Capitals) Quinton de Kock, and the defunct Rising Pune Super Giants' Steve Smith also got their first and only hundreds in the IPL that year. De Kock hit 108 (51) against the Royal Challengers while Smith smashed 101 (54) against Gujarat to make it seven for the season.
#2 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2019 - 6 centuries
Four IPL editions have been a witness to six centuries, starting with the inaugural season.
Current Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach and then player Brendon McCullum famously notched the first century of this new radical tournament, an unbeaten 73-ball 158, setting the tone for years of annual celebration of the sport. Interestingly, no Knight Riders batter has hit a IPL century since.
Australian legends Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist scored the next three centuries of 2008. Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya got the third - an unbeaten 114 off 48 - for the Mumbai Indians (MI) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Paul C. Valthaty of the Kings XI Punjab (Now Punjab Kings) scored the first ton of 2011 for Punjab against the Super Kings. Two hundreds from Chris Gayle and one each from Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gilchris made it six.
In 2012, six different players got to the three-figure-mark. They included Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle and Murali Vijay. Only Pieteren and Warner represented the same team - Delhi Daredevils.
Similarly in 2019, Sanju Samson, Jonny Bairstow, Warner, KL Rahul and Kohli scored centuries. Bairstow and Warner's tons - 114 off 56 and 100* off 55 - came together for SunRiser Hyderabad at home against the Royal Challengers.
#3 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022* - 5 centuries
Can Jos Buttler match Virat Kohli’s memorable 2016 season? 🤔
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Since the seven-ton IPL season, there have been three completed five-ton ones. Samson, Warner, South African legend Hashim Amla and Ben Stokes scored centuries in 2017. The last two scored their centuries against Gujarat Lions.
2018 was Shane Watson's year. The Australian smashed two centuries, including a match-winning 117* off 57 balls in the final against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). Gayle, the then young prodigy Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu scored the other three.
Punjab openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal scored a ton each in 2020 followed by two back-to-back centuries from Shikhar Dhawan. Stokes made it five with his stunning 107* off 60 for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.
We are 60 matches into IPL 2022 and have already seen five hundreds, all of them between two players - three from Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler and two from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul. With about 15 matches still remaining to be played this season and with fresh pitches to come for the qualifiers, there's a good chance we'll see the record of most centuries scored in a year being challenged in IPL 2022.