Best Opener in IPL
Arguably, openers play the most important role in T20 cricket. For a team to win T20 matches, it is very important to get great starts in the power play overs. Indian Premier League is the biggest T20 franchise tournament. Teams having the best opening combination tend to be a lot more successful than the ones whose openers turn up with not-so-good performances.
IPL has staged 12 seasons so far, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have been the most successful sides and one of the reasons for that is they always been blessed with the finest opening batsmen.
Over the years, we have seen some great opening batsmen in IPL. In this article, we look at the 5 best openers in IPL:
#5 Virender Sehwag
Destructive Indian opening batsman, Virender Sehwag is the fifth-best opener in the history of IPL. A man who redefined opening in Indian cricket, Virender Sehwag’s numbers in IPL is astonishing. Brutality is what comes to your mind when you witness his bat. His exploits were no different in IPL.
Virender Sehwag played 104 matches in IPL, scoring 2728 runs at an average of 27.55 and strike rate of 155.44. He has hit 2 centuries and 15 half-centuries in IPL.
#4 Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan‘s journey in IPL is nothing but promising. Over the years, he has made telling contributions to whichever franchise he has played for. He is among the top-run getter in IPL and recently became the first player in IPL history to hit two consecutive centuries.
Dhawan has made 169 appearances in IPL so far and has accumulated 5044 runs at an average of 35.02 and strike rate of 126.70. He has two centuries to his name and both have come in the ongoing edition of IPL. He sits third in our list of top 5 openers in IPL.
#3 Chris Gayle
The Universe Boss sits at the third spot in the list of 5 best openers in IPL. Chris Gayle, over the years, has played some unbelievable knocks in IPL. He has found an immense amount of success while playing for RCB. Gayle has hit as many as 6 centuries in IPL.
Chris Gayle has been part of the cash-rich league since 2009 edition. He was unstoppable between 2011 and 2013, where he played at an average of over 60. Runs, though, saw a dip in the following seasons.
Overall, Chris Gayle has played 128 matches thus far in IPL, in which he has managed to score 4590 runs at an average of 40.98 and strike rate of over 150.
#2 David Warner
No one has scored runs at a faster pace than David Warner in IPL. Warner has had some outstanding seasons in IPL. His stellar 2016 season with the bat helped SRH lift the title for the first time ever in IPL.
Warner is the most successful Australian batsman in IPL. He has helped his team race off to wonderful starts in the powerplay overs and has formed some stellar partnership with Jonny Bairstow, over the years.
Looking at his numbers in IPL, Warner has made 136 appearances, scoring 501 runs at an average of 42.72 and strike rate of 141.
#1 Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly the best opener in IPL. The Mumbai Indians have been scoring a barrage of runs right since the inaugural edition of the tournament. He fared well with the bat in the first three seasons with Deccan Chargers before moving to Mumbai Indians in 2012. He was handed the captaincy in the 2013 edition. Surprisingly, the Hitman led his team to its’ first-ever title. There was no stopping back from there.
Rohit Sharma, today, is the most successful captain in the history of IPL. He has given 4 titles to Mumbai Indians and is keen to lift the fifth one in the ongoing edition. Rohit Sharma, in his illustrious IPL career, has scored 5158 runs in 197 matches at an average of 31.45.
