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West Indies’ legendary batter Chris Gayle scripted history in T20 cricket in the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), he scored an unbeaten 175 off just 66 balls against now-defunct Pune Warriors India. More than a decade later, the record for highest T20 individual score still remains unbroken. The closest anyone got to the record is former Australia captain Aaron Finch who scored 172 against Zimbabwe in 2016. Ahead of the T20 Asia Cup 2025, Gayle was asked to pick batters who can break his colossal record. He picked three Indian batters – Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma – and retired West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran who continues to play T20 franchise cricket.
“I think it will happen in the IPL because these youngsters are savage these days. You look at the scoring rate as well, how these guys are scoring. Nicholas Pooran, I think, even Shubman Gill can do that as well because he’s a very, very good player. And once you get going, Yashasvi Jaiswal. Well, I like Jaiswal as well. This other guy from SRH, Abhishek Sharma,” Gayle told Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube show.
Abhishek, Jaiswal, Gill and Pooran’s T20 best
Abhishek holds the record for highest score in the IPL for an India. In IPL 2025, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener scored 151 runs from just 55 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the successful run chase of 246. In T20Is, he scored 135 from just 54 balls against England at Wankhede Stadium earlier this year.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Jaiswal's high score in T20s is 124 runs from 62 balls which came in IPL 2023 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium.
Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Gill's highest T20 score is 129 off 60 balls which came against MI in IPL 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. He scored an unbeaten 126 off 63 balls against New Zealand in 2023 at the same venue. He scored 126 for Punjab against Karnataka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022.
However, Pooran is yet to register a huge T20 knock. He has four centuries in T20s but his high score in the format is 108 not out. In the IPL, he is yet to score a century. LSG wicketkeeper-batter's high score in the IPL is 87 not out.
For India, the record for highest score belongs to Tilak Varma. He scored 151 runs from 67 balls for Hyderabad against Meghalaya in SMAT 2024.
When Gaylestorm hit Pune!
Gayle missed a double century, courtesy Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Luke Wright who conceded 23 and 26 runs from their quota of four overs respectively. He hit 13 fours and 17 sixes in his knock, helping RCB post 263/5, the highest score at the time.
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