Virat Kohli (Source: AFP)
The history of IPL has a lot of stories about the loyalty of a player to a single franchise or vice versa. There have been some IPL greats who proved their loyalty to one team, be it serving as a player for a long time or moving into the coaching role for the same franchise team.
Meanwhile, playing more than 150 matches for a franchise in IPL history is a credential that speaks volumes about the strong association between a player and a franchise.
Therefore, in this article, we’ll have a look at the 5 players with most matches for one franchise in IPL history.
5 Players with most matches for one franchise in IPL history
5. Kieron Pollard - 189
The Caribbean great, Kieron Pollard, had been one of the vital cogs in the wheel for the Mumbai Indians in their five IPL title wins. He featured for MI in 189 games, contributing brilliantly both with the bat and ball.
He scored 3412 runs in 171 innings at an average of 28.67 and a strike rate of 147.32, hitting 16 half-centuries. Besides that, he bagged 69 wickets in 107 innings, including a four-wicket haul. Pollard is ranked fifth among the top five players with most matches for one franchise in IPL history.
4. Sunil Narine - 189 Matches for KKR
The Caribbean stalwart, Sunil Narine, started his IPL career with the Kolkata Knight Riders 14 years back in 2012. It was also the season when KKR lifted their maiden title. Notably, Narine has been part of KKR’s IPL-winning teams on all three occasions: 2012, 2014, and 2024.
The spin wizard is also the player with the most matches for KKR in IPL history, alongside being fourth in the list of the top five players with the most matches for one franchise in the tournament.
3. Rohit Sharma - 227 Matches for Mumbai Indians
Ex-Mumbai Indians skipper and batting stalwart Rohit Sharma is one of only two players to win the most IPL titles as a player, alongside Ex-CSK batter Ambati Rayudu. Rohit and Rayudu have won six titles each as players in the tournament’s history. Rohit’s six titles include one with the Deccan Chargers Hyderabad as vice-captain and five with the Mumbai Indians as captain.
Apart from that, Rohit is third in the list of the top five players with the most matches for a single franchise in the tournament’s history. He has represented the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians, in 227 IPL games, accumulating 5876 runs in 223 innings.
Notably, the 38-year-old is also the second leading run-scorer of all time in IPL history, following RCB’s Virat Kohli.
2. MS Dhoni - 248 Matches for CSK
CSK’s five-time IPL-winning former captain and legendary wicketkeeper-batter, MS Dhoni, is one of the two captains with the most titles in the tournament’s history, alongside the former Mumbai Indians skipper, Rohit Sharma.
Under his captaincy, CSK became the joint-most successful team in the league, alongside Mumbai Indians. Besides that, he is placed at the second spot in the list of players with the most matches for one franchise in the league.
He has represented the yellow outfits in 248 matches, aggregating 4865 runs in 215 innings at an average of 39.23, hitting 22 half-centuries. He is also the leading run-scorer for his side in the tournament’s history.
1. Virat Kohli - 267 Matches for RCB
Former RCB captain and IPL-winning batter, Virat Kohli, has established himself as the best example of player-franchise loyalty. He is the only player in the entire IPL history who has played all of his IPL career games for a single franchise.
Kohli’s IPL journey with RCB began in the tournament’s inaugural season in 2008, when he was just 19. Since then, he has represented RCB in 267 matches throughout all the IPL editions so far, scoring 8661 runs in 259 innings.
He has scored these runs at a brilliant batting average of 39.54, hitting eight centuries and 63 half-centuries. He ranks first in the list of players with the most matches for a single franchise in the tournament’s history.
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