Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season?

Virat Kohli's 973 runs in IPL 2016 stands as a monumental record. Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season?

Snigdha HalderMay 20, 2025 at 10:54 AM4 min read
Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season?
Virat Kohli's 973 runs in IPL 2016 stands as a monumental record. Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season?

Breaking records is what IPL is all about and Virat Kohli's record of 973 runs in IPL 2016 is unmatched for 9 years. IPL 2025 can be the record-breaking year, as GT's opening pair is having an incredible season with the bat, shuffling the orange cap with every match.

As we are heading towards the end of the tournament, it will be a major thing to keep an eye on.

Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season? Or maybe it is truly unbreakable.

How big is Virat Kohli's 973-run record?

Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season? | sportzpoint.com
Virat Kohli celebrating his 3rd century of IPL 2016 season. Image | ESPNcricinfo 

Virat Kohli set the batting standards up in IPL 2016 that everyone talks about till date. He scored 973 runs in 16 matches with an 80+ average.

He scored 4 centuries and 7 half-centuries for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, bagging the Orange cap in that season.

This is the phenomenal record of most runs in a single IPL season that no one could break since 2016.

Shubman Gill aims for the TOP

Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudharsan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season? | sportzpoint.com
Shubman Gill in action for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025. Image | TOI

The only player who ever came to Kohli's record is Shubman Gill, with his 890-run season in IPL 2023. He is having another successful one in IPL 2025 and has already surpassed the 600-run mark.

The way Gill is firing this season for Gujarat Titans, he might just break the record and get in top. He scored 601 runs in 12 matches with 6 half-centuries to his name so far.

Calculating the remaining target for Shubham Gill 

With potentially 5 innings left (2 league matches + playoffs), the race is heating up. This is subject to GT to lose Qualifier 1 and get an extra innings to go play for the IPL title.

  • Required: 974-601 = 373 runs more (to break Kohli's record)
  • Required Avg for next 5 innings: 74.6 runs per inning
  • Required Avg if they get 4 innings to play: 93.25 runs per inning

Read Also: Most Fifty Plus Scores in IPL by an Opener Since Gill's Debut

Sai Sudharsan's rising form

Can Shubman Gill or Sai Sudarshan break Kohli's record of most IPL runs in a single season? | sportzpoint.com
Sai Sudharsan in action for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025. Image | Instagram 

Sai Sudharsan is currently the leading run-scorer in the race for Orange Cap in IPL 2025. He scored 617 runs in 12 matches, with 1 century and 5 fifties to his name.

This rising star has remarkable potential to with the kind of explosive form he has right now.

Calculating the remaining target for Sai Sudharsan

As for GT, Sudharsan also gets the same number of innings as Gill. It is either 2 league matches and 2 playoff matches, or a loss in Qualifier 1 to get an extra innings, making it 5 innings in total.

  • Required: 974-617 = 357 runs more (to break Kohli's record)
  • Required Avg for next 5 innings: 71.4 runs per inning
  • Required Avg if they get 4 innings to play: 89.25 runs per inning

Read Also: Highest individual scores by players in IPL playoffs

A look at IPL 2025 Top 5 run-scorers

Virat Kohli stands at the top 5 race for orange cap in IPL 2025. The battle will be intense to see if someone finally breaks the mountain of runs.

Or will the king himself come closest to surpassing his own legacy?

Position Player Runs Matches Innings Highest Avg SR 100 50 4s 6s
1 Sai Sudharsan  617 12 12 108* 56.09 156.99 1 5 68 20
2 Shubham Gill 601 12 12 93* 60.10 155.69 0 6 54 23
3 Yashasvi Jaiswal 523 13 13 75 43.58 158.00 0 6 55 26
4 Surya Kumar Yadav 510 12 12 68* 63.75 170.56 0 3 51 26
5 Virat Kohli 505 11 11 73* 63.13 143.46 0 7 44 18

Snigdha Halder

Snigdha is an intern at Sportzpoint who is passionate about cricket. Snigdha dedicatedly enjoys the game and staying on top of all news.

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