Most fours in IPL history (2008 to 2024)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has earned the tag of the most popular T20 tournament in world cricket courtesy of its top-notch standards. The league has turned out to be a launchpad for the careers of many young players. Some of the youngsters prefer the IPL over first-class cricket because of its fame and the money involved and its high credentials as well. The seventeenth edition kicked off on Friday, March 22, 2024, as the defending champions Chennai Super Kings locked horns with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai where the defending champions defeated RCB in the first clash.

For any batter to succeed in a tournament like the IPL, it is important that he is able to find boundaries at regular intervals during his team's innings. The openers get an added advantage due to field restrictions in the powerplay while the middle-order batters have to make slightly extra efforts in finding the gaps. 

Though some players have enough power to let the ball sail over the ropes for a maximum, others have to use their skills to hit fours and accelerate the innings. In this article, we are going to list out players who have hit the most fours in the history of the cash-rich league. Interestingly, not even one out of five of the players who are amongst the top 5 six hitters in the IPL find a place in the chart for most fours scored.   

Most fours in IPL history

India’s swashbuckling opener Shikhar Dhawan is ruling the charts with a comfortable margin in terms of the most fours hit in the league. Dhawan has hit 768 fours in the IPL and has aggregated 6769 runs at an average of 35.25. Though with 152 sixes to his name in the tournament, he does not find his name in even the top 10 six hitters, however, he has compensated for it with an ample number of boundaries. He has smashed 2 centuries in the league so far, with both of them coming in IPL 2020 and that too in consecutive games, being the first player in the history of the league to achieve such a feat.      

Virat Kohli, who holds the record for scoring the most runs in the cash-rich league, is second on the list of most fours scored. He has hit 705 fours and 272 sixes in 244 innings and averages 38.67 in the league. His IPL numbers include eight tons and 55 fifties, with his highest score being 113*. Among the seven centuries, four came in the 2016 season itself, where he amassed a record 973 runs. Virat was the leading run-getter during the T20 World Cup 2022 and might end up winning the IPL Orange Cup 2024, given he ends up having a season like 2016.

Dhawan’s former opening partner and current Delhi Capitals batter David Warner occupies the third spot on the list. He has 663 fours in the tournament in 184 innings and has scored 6564 runs at an average of 40.52. Warner has slammed four hundreds in the marquee tournament and has 236 sixes in total till now.

The joint-most successful skipper in the history of the IPL, Rohit Sharma, who has won the title for MI five times, finds himself in the fourth position in this chart. The right-handed batter has struck 599 fours and 280 maximums in 252 innings since the inaugural 2008 season. The 36-year old player has racked up 6628 runs at an average of 29.72 with two centuries and 43 half-centuries.

Suresh Raina, who was the mainstay in the Chennai Super Kings lineup, has hit a total of 506 fours in the tournament. He has accumulated 5528 runs in the league and is considered among the most consistent performers since the tournament's inception. The left-hander has one hundred and 39 half-centuries to his name and has smashed 203 sixes so far.

List of Most Fours in IPL history

*Last updated on 25th May, 2024