Cricket has long moved on from ‘catches win matches’. In Twenty20 cricket, a handful of runs in the PowerPlay provides a solid headstart to the batting team.
Gone are the days of slow and steady starts. It is during the first six overs that opening batters exploit the fielding restrictions - only two fielders are allowed outside the ring - to look to register as many boundaries as possible.
Some have mastered the art. Like Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper Faf du Plessis and talisman Virat Kohli. The duo, scoring at an average of 67.07, have also had three century stands this season. Their best of 172 came in an eight-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Chennai Super Kings’ Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad and Gujarat Titans’ Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill also have 100-run-plus opening stands this season.
Here are the top five opening combinations of IPL 2023 updated till May 24, 2023:
| Serial No. | Opening batters | Innings | Runs | Average | 50 | 100 | Highest |
| 1 | Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis | 14 | 939 | 67.07 | 5 | 3 | 172 |
| 2 | Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad | 14 | 775 | 55.35 | 4 | 2 | 141 |
| 3 | Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal | 13 | 550 | 42.30 | 6 | 0 | 98 |
| 4. | Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma | 14 | 504 | 36.00 | 5 | 0 | 90 |
| 5 | Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill | 15 | 469 | 31.26 | 1 | 1 | 142 |
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