The Indian Premier League (IPL) is here, marking the start to a season of cricketing frenzy. From soaring centuries, scintillating batting performances, bowlers holding their grounds and upsets to expected results, here’s looking at the highest partnerships in IPL — full of thrilling moments and innings of sheer genius. These count for the top performances in the tournament, which has been ongoing since 2008. Through the past 15 years, the tournament has seen some of the best cricketing performances from batsmen, and even bowlers at the death. Here’s what has made the history sheets so far, as IPL 2023 gets underway.
*Note: All stats in this list are updated until Match 14 of Sunday, April 9.
List of Highest Partnerships in IPL 2023
| Date | Players | Runs | Team | Opponents | Result |
| April 2 | Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli | 148 | RCB | MI | RCB won by 8 wickets |
| April 3 | Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway | 110 | CSK | LSG | CSK won by 12 runs |
| April 6 | Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur | 103 | KKR | RCB | KKR won by 81 runs |
| April 9 | Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer | 100 | KKR | GT | KKR won by 3 wickets |
| April 8 | Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler | 98 | RR | DC | RR won by 57 runs |
Also Read: Highest Score in IPL: List of Highest Team Scores in IPL History from 2008 to 2023
Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli – 148 runs
King Kohli lit up the IPL on its third day, with an unbeaten 49-ball 82. The menacing Faf du Plessis joined the party with equal menace, scoring 73 off 43 balls and picking up the Man of the Match award in process. RCB eventually cantered to their victory, with eight wickets to spare.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway – 110 runs
The holders of the 10th highest IPL partnership to date teamed up to score 110 for the first wicket in the sixth IPL match of this season, leading CSK to their first victory after the outfit lost their first match. Gaikwad scored 57 off 31, complete with four sixes.
Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur – 103 runs
KKR were reeling at 89/5 in 12 overs, when Shardul Thakur came in to bat. What followed was a masterclass of T20 batting, with Thakur bashing 68 off 29 balls to bring up a total of 204 runs — unthinkable at one point. Thakur also led an RCB batting collapse with 1 for 15 in two overs bowled.
Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer – 100 runs
The KKR vs Gujarat Titans match will forever be remembered in IPL history for Rinku Singh hitting five sixes in the final five balls to propel KKR to an improbable win. But, this was only possible thanks to a resilient 29-ball 45 from Rana and a swashbuckling 40-ball 83 from Iyer, who kept KKR in the game into the final stage of the match.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler – 98 runs
With a steep first-class cricket reputation, Jaiswal showed his class by leading RR to 199/4 with his 31-ball 60. The inimitable Buttler played an anchoring innings, scoring 79 off 51 balls. Ironically, both openers were dismissed in the exact same fashion.
List of Highest Partnerships in IPL by Runs
| Players | Runs | Team | Opposition | Year | Venue |
| Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers | 229 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Gujarat Lions | 2016 | Bengaluru |
| Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers | 215* | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Mumbai Indians | 2015 | Mumbai |
| Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul | 210* | Lucknow Supergiants | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2022 | Mumbai |
| Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh | 206 | Kings XI Punjab | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2011 | Dharamsala |
| Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli | 204* | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) | 2012 | Delhi |
| David Warner and Naman Ojha | 189* | Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) | Deccan Chargers (now Sunrisers Hyderabad) | 2012 | Hyderabad |
| Jonny Bairstow and David Warner | 185 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2019 | Hyderabad |
| Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn | 184* | Kolkata Knight Riders | Gujarat Lions | 2017 | Rajkot |
| Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul | 183 | Kings XI Punjab | Rajasthan Royals | 2020 | Abu Dhabi |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway | 182 | Chennai Super Kings | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2022 | Pune |
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – 2016
King Kohli and affable master-hitter AB de Villiers have been lauded for their friendship off the ground. But, at their best, what no bowler wanted to witness was the duo in full flow on the pitch. Both the batsmen scored their respective centuries, guiding their team to a record 248/3. Needless to say, RCB came off the ground as the winners.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – 2015
The Kohli-de Villiers duo had done this a year ago as well, when they smashed an unbeaten 215-run partnership. RCB posted a total of 235/1, which proved too much for Mumbai Indians to handle despite scoring a fairly respectable 196 — with Kieran Pollard giving a glimmer of hope with his 24-ball 49.
Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul – 2022
A match that saw 418 runs being scored, de Kock and Rahul powered an unbeaten first-wicket stand of 210 runs. But, the match is often remembered for a memorable chase by Kolkata Knight Riders, who almost took an improbable win thanks to Shreyas Iyer’s 29-ball 50 and Rinku Singh’s late 15-ball 40. Eventually, Lucknow Supergiants won by two runs.
Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh – 2011
Gilchrist, a legend of cricket known for his destructive batting, hit RCB out of the park with a 55-ball 106. March supported ably, with a 49-ball 79. The Punjab team eventually won the match by a massive 111-run margin.
Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli – 2012
Despite scoring a 53-ball 73, Kohli interestingly played second fiddle to Chris Gayle, who was absolutely unstoppable on his day. And, day it was, for Gayle smashed 13 sixes on his way to a 62-ball 128, at a strike rate of over 200. A 26-ball 55 from Ross Taylor for Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) could do nothing to overcome this mountain of a target.
David Warner and Naman Ojha – 2012
The first in the list for a team batting second, Warner scored a stunning 54-ball 109 at a strike rate of over 200, powering the Delhi team to a nine-wicket victory, with 20 balls to spare. This, after facing a target of 187 runs. The Aussie was ably supported by Naman Ojha, who anchored the innings ably.
Jonny Bairstow and David Warner – 2019
Coming out to bat, Bairstow was in a thunderous mood as he pummeled the RCB bowlers. He was eventually dismissed at the end of the innings, scoring a 56-ball 114. Warner also got his ton, scoring an unbeaten 100 runs in 55 balls — leading up to a total of 231/2. SRH won the match by 118 runs, capping an all-round display against a hapless RCB.
Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn – 2017
A rare instance where the chasing team wins by 10 wickets — KKR brought down GL’s fairly pliant 183/4 with more than five overs to spare — a rarity in T20 cricket! Chris Lynn, who is particularly famous for his boundary-line one-handed catch, hit eight sixes on his way to an unbeaten 93 off 41 balls, making it one of the most memorable innings of IPL.
Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul – 2020
An outlier when the record-setting partnership was not enough to lead the team to victory — the match saw Mayank Agarwal hit 106 runs off 50 balls as part of one of the highest first-wicket partnerships in IPL history. Even KL Rahul chipped in for Punjab with 69 off 54 balls. But, neither were enough as Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia came together to chase down the steep target of 223 runs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway – 2022
A fantastic partnership that led CSK to a total of 202/2, Gaikwad batted fantastically, but missed his century by one run. Conway supported ably, striking a 55-ball 85 and leading the Chennai outfit to a 13-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Also Read: Fastest Ball in IPL: Top 10 Quickest Balls Ever Recorded in IPL History
List of Highest Partnerships in IPL by Wicket
| Wicket | Players | Runs | Team | Opposition | Year |
| 1st | Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul | 210 | LSG | KKR | 2022 |
| 2nd | Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers | 229 | RCB | GL | 2016 |
| 3rd | Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube | 165 | CSK | RCB | 2022 |
| 4th | Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Singh Maan | 144 | RCB | SRH | 2019 |
| 5th | Shakib al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan | 134* | KKR | GL | 2016 |
| 6th | Ambati Rayudu and Kieran Pollard | 122* | MI | RCB | 2012 |
| 7th | J Suchith and Harbhajan Singh | 100 | MI | PBKS | 2015 |
| 8th | Brad Hodge and James Faulkner | 69 | RR | MI | 2014 |
| 9th | Sam Curran and Imran Tahir | 43 | CSK | MI | 2020 |
| 10th | Shikhar Dhawan and Mohit Rathee | 55* | PBKS | SRH | 2023 |
Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul – 2022
The de Kock-Rahul knock in the famous Punjab-Kolkata encounter from last year remains the highest first-wicket partnership in IPL history.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – 2016
The highest partnership in IPL history is also the record-setting partnership for the second wicket in IPL.
Robin Uthappa and Shivam Dube – 2022
With 88 from Uthappa and 95 from Dube, the top third wicket IPL partnership took CSK to 201/3 in the 19th over — up from a meagre 36/2 in the 7th over. The stand saw CSK add 165 runs in the 3rd wicket.
Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Singh Maan – 2019
With Parthiv Patel and the menacing Kohli-de Villiers duo back in the pavilion by the 4th over and the score teetering on the verge of a collapse at 20/3, Hetmyer and Gurkeerat drove RCB to victory with a 144-run partnership.
Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan – 2016
One for the losing cause, Shakib and Yusuf Pathan’s unbeaten 134-run stand drove KKR to a respectable total of 158/4, after a horrific start that saw the team collapse to 24/4 in 6 overs.
Ambati Rayudu and Kieran Pollard – 2012
Chasing a strong target of 172, Rayudu and Pollard’s unbeaten 122-run stand took Mumbai to victory after falling to 51/5 in 9 overs — with two balls to spare.
J Suchith and Harbhajan Singh – 2015
Yet another Mumbai surge but this time for a losing cause, Harbhajan’s incredible 64 off 24 balls gave Mumbai a glimmer of hope despite receding to 59/6 in 14 overs. They eventually lost to Punjab by 18 runs, adding 100 runs for the 7th wicket.
Brad Hodge and James Faulkner – 2014
A similar story as the highest 7th-wicket stand, Hodge and Faulkner drove Rajasthan Royals close to a target of 179 set by Mumbai Indians by putting together 69 runs in this 8th-wicket stand.
Sam Curran and Imran Tahir – 2020
Despite adding 43 runs in the penultimate wicket, CSK could only muster 114 runs after 20 overs. Most of this came courtesy of Sam Curran, who was the sole saving grace for CSK with 52 runs off 47 balls.
Shikhar Dhawan and Mohit Rathee – 2023
The first in the IPL record books from this year’s ongoing edition, the top last-wicket partnership stood out for the 37-year-old Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s sheer resilience. A legend of Indian cricket, Dhawan’s unbeaten 66-ball 99 saw him single-handedly take the team to a respectable 143, from 88/9. They eventually lost.
FAQs
1. How many teams are participating at IPL 2023?
There are 10 teams participating in IPL this year, spread across two groups. Group A comprises Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Supergiants, while Group B features Chennai Super Kings, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans.
2. Who is the reigning champion of IPL?
The present title holder is Gujarat Titans, who won their maiden trophy last year.
3. Which team has won the most trophies?
Both Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have lifted the title four times each, after 15 editions.
4. Who are the top five run scorers in IPL history?
The top five run-scorers are:
- Virat Kohli: 6,727 runs
- Shikhar Dhawan: 6,469 runs
- David Warner: 6,039 runs
- Rohit Sharma: 5,901 runs
- Suresh Raina: 5,528 runs
5. Who are the top five wicket-takers in IPL history?
The top five wicket-takers are:
- Dwayne Bravo: 183 wickets
- Yuzvendra Chahal: 174 wickets*
- Lasith Malinga: 170 wickets
- Amit Mishra: 168 wickets
- Ravichandran Ashwin: 161 wickets*
*Players still active in IPL
6. Which are the key players to watch at IPL 2023?
Some of the top players to look out for at the 16th edition of IPL, or IPL 2023, are:
- Jofra Archer, MI
- Cameron Green, MI
- Sam Curran, PK
- Virat Kohli, RCB
- Nicholas Pooran, LSG
- Suryakumar Yadav, MI
- Ben Stokes, CSK
- Hardik Pandya, GT
- Harry Brook, SRH
- Shubman Gill, GT
