3 batsmen with most runs in an IPL season

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become the number one T20 league on the planet thanks to the competition's extraordinary level of cricket. The world's best players gather at one place to compete at the grand stage of the IPL.

IPL matches are played in a T20 format, so the batsmen need to play with an aggressive approach.

While the opening batsmen still have the luxury of playing a few deliveries before attacking the bowlers, the middle-order batsmen and the lower middle-order players need to score runs quickly.

The top-order batsmen have the responsibility of trying to play as many balls as possible and aggregate heaps of runs for their team.

Since the most prominent names of world cricket play in the IPL, fans have always witnessed an intense race between the batsmen to attain the number one position on the 'Most Runs' leaderboard and win the Orange Cap award.

However, a few IPL seasons have seen certain batsmen dominate so much that no other competitor could come close to them. Here's a look at the three such batsmen with the most runs in an IPL season.

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3. Kane Williamson - 735 runs, IPL 2018

In his most memorable #IPL moment, Kane Williamson takes us back to the 2018 season! 🧡Over to you @im_manishpandey and @imK_Ahmed13.#OrangeArmy #SRH #VIVOIPL | 🔁 Kane Williamson Instagram pic.twitter.com/y6U0vTywEZ

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 21, 2020

Kane Williamson replaced David Warner as Sunrisers Hyderabad captain in IPL 2018 after the latter received a one-year ban. Not many fans would have expected Williamson to lead from the front in the way that he did in 2018.

The Kiwi batsman aggregated 735 runs in 17 innings, slamming eight fifties to take his team to the IPL 2018 summit clash.

Unfortunately, the Chennai Super Kings beat them in the finale, but Williamson bagged the Orange Cap award for his incredible batting performances.

Williamson, who has a T20 career strike rate of 125.08, scored runs at a 140+ strike rate for SRH during IPL 2018. His batting average was 52.50 that year, while he smashed 63 fours and 28 sixes.

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2. David Warner - 848 runs, IPL 2016

David Warner - Since IPL 2014 (When he joined SRH)2014- 5282015- 5622016- 8482017- 6412019- 6922020- 513500+ runs in six consecutive seasons. He's scored 3784 runs since start of 2014 IPL, more than any other player, despite missing the 2018 season#IPL2020 #SRHvMI #SRH

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) November 3, 2020

Interestingly, only two batsmen have breached the 800-run landmark in one IPL season over the last 13 years. Both entries came in the 2016 competition, and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner was one of the two players.

Warner captained the Hyderabad-based franchise in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League. The southpaw batted with incredible consistency and scored 848 runs in 17 innings at a superb batting average of 60.57.

Unlike Kane Williamson, David's efforts ensured that Sunrisers Hyderabad ended the season as champions. However, the SRH captain did not win the Orange Cap award in 2016.

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1. Virat Kohli - 973 runs, IPL 2016

As mentioned ahead, the only two instances when a batsman aggregated over 800 runs in one IPL season happened in 2016.

SRH skipper David Warner was the second player to achieve this feat, as Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli breached the landmark first.

Kohli had an unbelievable IPL season in 2016. He had not scored a single IPL ton heading into that tournament, but following IPL 2016, Kohli had four centuries to his name.

The right-handed batsman amassed 973 runs in just 16 innings. He was very close to the 1,000-run landmark, but could not bring his 'A' game to the table in the last two matches.

Eventually, Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Virat Kohli's RCB to claim the trophy. Nevertheless, Kohli won the Orange Cap for his splendid performances.