4 unexpected players who have the highest average in IPL history

The race between Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to be the highest ever run scorer in IPL is on. Both the batsmen are performing well and are looking to reach the 5000-run mark as soon as possible.

There are no surprise appearances in the list of highest run-getters in IPL. But the highest averages list springs up quite a few surprises.

Here are the four unexpected players who top the batting averages list in IPL history:

---

#4 Iqbal Abdulla - 44.00

Iqbal Adulla (R)

Iqbal Abdulla, the left arm orthodox spinner who has been part of three different franchises, has played a total of 49 matches in IPL over a span of 10 years. His longest stint was with the Kolkata Knight Riders, with whom he spent 6 long years from 2008 to 2013.

Abdulla later moved to Rajasthan Royals for one season in 2014, before moving to Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons, i.e. 2015 to 2017. At a base price of Rs. 30 lakh, he went unsold in the recent auction of 2018.

Being a lower order batsman, he got the chance to bat only 13 times in the 49 matches that he played. In those 13 innings, he scored 88 runs and was out only twice.

Abdulla's highest score of 33 (25)* came in one of the most important matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was the Qualifier 1 of 2016, and Abdulla came to bat when the score was 68 for 6 in the 10th over. He ably assisted AB de Villiers in reaching the target of 159 without any further loss of wickets and helped his side reach the finals for the third time.

Matches: 49

Innings: 13

Runs scored: 88

Average: 44.00

Strike Rate: 104.76

#3 Hashim Amla - 44.38

Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla is not the quintessential T20 player known for his big shots, which makes him an unexpected name to lead a T20 batting chart.

Amla has never been bought by a team in the auction. He was signed by Kings XI Punjab as an injury replacement to Shaun Marsh in 2016. He was part of the KXIP setup for 2 years and has scored two centuries for the franchise.

Amla has an impeccable record playing for the Punjab based franchise. In 2016, he scored 157 runs in 6 matches and his highest score was 96. He bettered his record in the 2017 edition with a total of 420 runs from 10 innings.

In his second year in the IPL, Amla scored two half-centuries in addition to the two centuries. His overall average in the two is 44.38, the best for any batsman with 500+ runs.

Matches: 16

Innings: 16

Runs scored: 577

Average: 44.38

Strike Rate: 141.76

#2 Adam Voges - 45.25

Adam Voges

Adam Voges, the Australian batsman with some of the greatest numbers in all forms of cricket, had a dream start to his IPL campaign.

After losing their first three matches in the 2010 season, Rajasthan Royals included Adam Voges for the first time in the starting XI. In his first two matches, he scored 37*(22) and 45*(24) against Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab respectively. His strike rate for the first two matches was 178.26.

But things took a quick turnaround for him as his strike dipped drastically in the next five innings that he played. He scored 99 runs off 97 balls at a strike rate of 102.06 after those first two top knocks.

The dip in strike rate might be the reason for him not playing another season of IPL in spite of having a good average.

Matches: 9

Innings: 7

Runs scored: 181

Average: 45.25

Strike Rate: 126.57

#1 Jagadeesha Suchith - 48.00

Jagadeesha Suchith (Source: BCCI)

Suchith was part of the Mumbai Indians set up for three years. He played a total of 14 matches, of which 14 were in 2015.

Suchith is a left-arm orthodox bowler who bats down the order. He got a chance to bat only in 2016, and in the six innings that he played he got out only once. In those innings, he made 48 runs for the Mumbai-based franchise with a strike rate of 150.00.

In the 14 matches that Suchith played, he took 10 wickets for the Mumbai Indians. He has an economy rate of 8.97 and a strike rate of 24.60 with the ball. He was a useful bowler for the Mumbai Indians but was left unsold in the recent auction in 2018.

Matches: 14

Innings: 6

Runs scored: 48

Average: 48.00

Strike Rate: 150.00