IPL 2023: To date, there is no season of IPL without a century being scored. The 2009 edition had the lowest three-digit score with only a couple of centuries hit. However, at IPL 2022, they set a new record for most centuries in a single season (8).
New Zealand legend Brendon McCullum was the first hitter to reach a century in the IPL. He hit 158* off 73 balls in the T20 match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB). Chris Gayle holds the record for most in the IPL with six 100s.
Among the Indians, Manish Pandey was the first to hit a 100 in IPL. RCB hitter Virat Kohli recorded five 100s, the highest for an Indian in the tournament. In addition to Pandey and Kohli, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma have also hit triple figures in the IPL.
As the franchise builds toward the 2023 IPL, we predict five Indian batters who could reach their first century in the T20 league in 2023.
1. Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav looks to be in great form and had given sensational performances in T20I cricket for India. Since debuting in the format in March 2021, he has scored 1,578 runs in 45 games with an exceptional batting average of 46.41 and a strike rate of 180.34.
The right-handed hitter has scored two centuries in T20I in 2022 and most recently hit his third 100 against Sri Lanka, hitting 112* of his 51 pitches at Rajkot.
Surprisingly, the 32-year-old has yet to hit 100 in IPL, the tournament that put him in the spotlight. In his 123 T20 matches, Suryakumar scored 2644 runs, averaging 30.39 and batting at a rate of 136.78. He has 16 half-centuries and 82 is the best score so far in IPL.
Looking at his incredible form, Suryakumar has a high chance of breaking his 100-run barrier in the IPL 2023 season.
2. Prithvi Shaw
Dynamic Mumbai hitter Prithvi Shaw could find it difficult to return to the India team. However, he will undoubtedly open batting (fitness permitting) for the Delhi Capitals (DC) at IPL 2023 with David Warner.
The 23-year-old hit the second-highest total in the Ranji trophy on Wednesday, Jan 11. After opening Mumbai’s batting against Assam, he struck 379 off 383 balls, hitting 49 fours and four sixes.
In his 63 games of IPL, the aggressive right-hander has scored 1,588 runs with a strike rate of 147.45. Shaw has 12 half-centuries so far in the T20 league. He has a knock of 99 from 55 balls for DC against KKR in the 2019 edition.
3. Ishan Kishan
Like Shaw, Ishan Kishan has the highest IPL score of 99. He set the same record in his MI vs RCB match 2020 edition in Dubai.
The southpaw smashed 99 runs from 55 balls and knocked in nine sixes as Mumbai drew the match against Bangalore. However, Kishan’s knock was in vain as RCB won the super over.
The Indian batsman recently made news when he beat his fastest ODI men’s double hundred against Bangladesh in Chattogram. Kishan hit 210 from just 131 balls, 24 4s, and 10 6s.
After the game, Kishan explained that he could have scored 300 if he had kept batting. The southpaw seems hungry to run and there is no doubt that in 2023 he is keen to break the triple-digit mark in the IPL.
4. Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has made his mark for India in 2022 white ball cricket. He scored 463 runs in his 17 T20I. And he has a strike rate of 141.15 with four half-centuries to his name. Shreyas was the main run-getter in ODI’s Men for Blue last year.
He scored 724 runs in 17 games, an average of 55.69, and a strike rate of 91.52. He made one century and 6 half-centuries.
The 28-year-old had a mixed start to his 2022 IPL as KKR captain. He scored 401 runs in 14 games, averaging 30.85 and a striker rate of 134.56 with three 50s.
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Shreyas hit 90 several times in the T20 league but failed to convert to triple digits. His highest score of 96 was in the 2017 edition, for Delhi against the Gujarat Lions.
5. Rahul Tripathi
Maharashtrian slugger Rahul Tripathi recently made his T20I debut for India during the series against Sri Lanka. After being sent off for five in his first match, he recorded an impressive 35/16 in his second match in India.
The 31-year-old has had a great batting average lately. He was one of Maharashtra’s top performers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, averaging 87.33 with a strike rate of 94.24. He scored 524 runs with the help of three 100s and two 50s over eight games.
Tripathi had also played at no.3 for SRH in IPL 2022. In 14 games, he scored 413 runs and had a strike rate of 158.24 with three 50s.
He made his best score of 93 off 52 in the T20 league in the 2017 edition, where he was batting for the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS). Hence we can expect Tripathi to score his 100 in the Indian Premier League.
