Most Fours in IPL Overall (2025 Updated)

The Indian Premier League has never been known for their amazing battin g, edge-of-the-seat finishes, and powerful six-hitting performances. But in all that glitter and performance of throwing massive sixes, there is a completely different performance that showcases class and techniques in a Twenty20 match, which is scoring boundaries through fours. A player who has the knack of getting into that gap, playing proper shots, and then scoring along the ground shows class that needs no mighty performances. That particular record of “most fours in IPL” has taken on a lot of significance in India, a country where cricket lovers see proper stroke play. With our entry into the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League, this particular record of most fours, both in total and per season, provides a lot of clues into how batting techniques have been changing over time.

Most Fours in IPL Overall (2025 Updated)

He employs many traditional forms of batting, and with that, he has become an unrivalled imposition on the entire IPL, so much so that his ability to hit fours is unrivalled. The amount of time he has been a constant performer in cricket has been more than a decade.

There is no doubt that Shikhar Dhawan has taken advantage of his left-handed to remain at the top of the all-time greats list in this category.

As mentioned above, while Shikhar Dhawan has consistently produced good numbers of fours by virtue of his physical strength, he has also developed the ability to find space in the middle of the field to be able to convert balls that would otherwise be impossible to hit into fours.

Indian player Virat Kohli, a close follower of Dhawan, has proven to be a complete batsman in his own right in the Indian Premier League with his classical stroke-making coupled with precise placement. While many players depend on powerful hitting for their boundaries, Kohli’s expertise has been in how he has used wrist flicks, straight drives, and punched cover drives to alter field placements. This, along with his long innings in this league as well as batting as an opener, has been a contributing factor to his current massive fours count. This has been a factor in Kohli being one of the highest run-scorers in every season of the league.

David Warner, known as one of the most successful foreign players in Indian Premier League history, is also a world-class boundary hitter. His aggressive opens, square-cutting, and fearlessness against pace bowlers turned him into a four-hitting machine, especially when he was playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he used to command powerplay sessions with his grounded shots. Warner’s batting has totally changed how foreign players contribute in Indian conditions.

Other notable ones would be Suresh Raina, known as “Mr IPL” for his cover-driven shots and his acumen for quickly reacting to opportunities on the offside, thereby resulting in numerous fours. Also, Rohit Sharma, with his effortless stroke play and perfect pull shots, has been scoring fours for his Mumbai Indians with great consistency over the years. These players are a representation of how boundary hitting has become a norm in the India-Pakistan league.

Season-Wise Most Fours in IPL:

The names of players who topped the list of boundaries in respective editions of the Indian Premier League series unveil various batting periods and also various batting styles. Every season has seen a player who has dominated bowlers with sublime stroke play as well as perfect boundaries striking. One among the initial seasons that showcased class was the Indian Premier League 2012, where Gautam Gambhir showed aggressive yet anchor batting with class boundaries, leading the Kolkata Knight Riders. Gautam has been playing a smart role as an opener. He has been using placement rather than brute force.

Michael Hussey, who played in IPL 2013, also displayed precision batting, as in international cricket. Hussey is known for playing most of his shots along the ground. His impeccable footwork and his early identification of the bowlers allowed him to hit a large number of fours, which also depicts that cricket in a Twenty20 format has a lot to do with classical batting.

The period that followed witnessed Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, and then Virat Kohli taking centre stage with their batting. Ajinkya Rahane, especially in 2015 and 2016 for Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant, showed timing that was so elegant, with classical shots that turned even good deliveries into boundaries. His batting was among the cleanest ground-stroke strikers of the format.

The 2016 season will always be remembered for Virat Kohli’s incredible performance, where he scored boundaries with ease. Although it will be remembered for Kohli scoring four tons and hammering sixes, it should also be remembered for scoring boundaries. His straight drives, square-leg shots, and cuts with point were a class above.

More recently, with IPL seasons like 2021, 2022, and 2023, a fresh lot of boundary-smashing hitters has been produced in the likes of Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Jos Buttler. Gill, with his elegant stroke play, was seen picking the-ball-clear-of-the-in-field in a very elegant manner, with cover drives that left many in awe. Gaikwad’s timing and poise brought back reminiscences of Indian batting legends, with him hitting many grounded boundaries even against world-class bowlers. While Gaikwad would rather hit huge sixes, Buttler has also topped the fours list as he has been able to hit gaps early in his innings.

Thus, a season-wise analysis of performances would reveal that the art of hitting boundaries has progressed from the “Cautious Aggression” of Gambhir and Hussey to “Fearless but Stylish” strokeplay of Gill and Gaikwad. Every year brings a hero who expresses his own definition of hitting fours.

Effect of IPL Conditions on Boundary Hitting

Indian conditions are quite varied, which has a huge say in the fours scored in every season of the Indian Premier League. On batting-friendly wickets like in Bengaluru, Mumbai, for example, it becomes easy for the bat to meet the ball, and as a result, players get tempted to play straight and score boundaries. Such wickets like Wankhede are known to provide boundaries in the initial overs due to their large outfields and small boundaries.

Then there are wickets like in Chennai, where it becomes difficult for a batsman to counter, as it becomes a slow wicket with many spin actions. Here, it becomes challenging for a batsman to play boundaries as he needs to rely on placement rather than powerful shots. However, a superior boundary hitter has no restrictions in this matter. This explains how players like Dhawan and Kohli are able to score boundaries on all wickets with ease.

Contribution of Technique in High Boundary Counts

When attempting to create a high boundary count, scoring fours in cricket requires a lot of quality, along with undeniable technique. A major reason for this is that most of the most successful players in hitting fours possess exemplary technique, including their head stillness, crease balance, wrist usage, and step execution. Examples of this adaptation of techniques to Twenty20 cricket would be either Shikhar Dhawan’s cover drive, Kohli’s athleticism to reach for the delivery, Warner’s backfoot punches, and Gill’s follow-through.

In addition, fours often involve reading a bowler’s length early. Players who are dominant in fours are typically adept at playing late, either cutting it past extra cover or third-man, or playing a straight shot. In a format where bowlers bowl with a lot of variation, including slower deliveries and cutters, players with good timing and soft hands are usually among the top in boundaries.

Fours vs Sixes: Where Boundary Management Trumps Public Perception

Though sixes take centre stage, fours form the basis of most substantial innings. A batsman who can maintain fours consistently will trouble the bowler, sustain a rapid strike rate without taking many risks, and make a field change that turns opportune for getting singles and doubles later. A lot of coaches also believe that a well-rounded batsman should know how to hit sixes when needed, but needs to know how to play ground shots to continue with momentum.

This also explains why the top run-getters in the history of the Indian Premier League, Kohli, Dhawan, Warner, and Rohit, are also among the top ones in boundaries. Their knack for scoring fours indicates their control, which covers all bases of playing in the Indian Premier League.

Development of Boundary Play over Seasons

With advancements in strategies for T20, patterns in boundary hitting also changed. The initial eras of IPL were primarily dependent on traditional cricket shots. Batters of the 2008-2013 era based their performance predominantly on ground-based shots that were typically derived from calculated risks. In the years 2014-2018, the evolution of a new hybrid style began when players such as David Warner, AB De Villiers, and Suresh Raina ushered in a more elegant form of batting combined with aggressive forms of batting. The last 2-3 years, since 2019, have ushered in a new breed of players who possess an attitude of fearlessness and physical capabilities to be fit enough to compete in the league. Young batsmen such as Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shubman Gill exhibit remarkable hand/eye coordination and have the potential to clear the boundary with both pace and spin bowling. As a result, there has been a tremendous increase in the total number of boundaries recorded in a season, thus increasing the difficulty of competition in the IPL.

The list of most fours in IPL, be it all-time or season-wise, represents the significance of technique, timing, and cricket smarts in holding a high-quality batting unit in a T20 format match. Although sixes help in winning a match, fours are the key winners of a match, and cricket diamonds are henceforth named on their batting capabilities, which are proven by fours. Players like Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and David Warner are setting a milestone for all generations ahead of them to accomplish.

With the coming of the new era of the IPL in 2025, with new and emerging talent, innovations, and aggression in batting, fans can look forward to even more awe-inspiring fours, beautiful strokes, and emerging “boundary kings” from India and around the world. Thank you for your company, and I look forward to sharing further insights into batting records in the IPL and the increasing brilliance of cricket.