West Indies batting legend Chris Gayle has scored the most runs in T20 cricket. 

The self-proclaimed ‘Universal Boss’ has so far made 14,562 runs in 463 T20 matches while playing for as many as 28 different teams. This includes the West Indies cricket team, Team Punjab, Kolkata and Bangalore in the Indian T20 League as well as Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators from the Pakistan Super League among others.

During his illustrious career that started in 2005, the southpaw hit a whopping 22 hundreds and 88 fifties. This return is the most any player has ever managed in the shortest format. On top of that, he is also the only player to hit more than 1000 sixes in T20 cricket, having notched 1056 maximums during his career.

For someone who has maintained a strike rate of 144.75, it doesn’t come as a surprise that his best T20 score is a brilliant 66-ball 175*. This breathtaking innings came while playing for Team Bangalore in the 31st match of the 2013 Indian T20 League season.

Up against Team Pune, Gayle hit 13 fours and 17 sixes, meaning that a whopping 88 per cent of his total runs came from the boundaries alone. Riding on his unbeaten 175, Bangalore scored 263/5 which is the highest team total in the Indian T20 League history.

Following Gayle in the list for most runs in T20 cricket is Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik. The veteran cricketer has scored 13,360 runs in the shortest format since making his debut in 2005. The only thing eluding the legendary Pakistan all-rounder is a century in the format. While he has scored 83 fifties, he is yet to score a hundred.

West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard features third in the list with 12,900 runs in T20 cricket. Pollard, like his West Indies teammate Chris Gayle, has featured for a number of T20 teams around the world, playing a total of 660 matches - most by any player.

India's Virat Kohli, England's Alex Hales and David Warner of Australia complete the top six list for most T20 runs.

Most runs in T20 cricket

Player Matches Runs High score Average Strike rate 100s 50s
Chris Gayle 463 14,562 175* 36.22 144.75 22 88
Shoaib Malik 542 13,360 95* 36.40 127.56 0 83
Kieron Pollard 660 12,900 104 31.46 150.98 1 59
Virat Kohli 399 12,886 122* 41.43 134.20 9 97
Alex Hales 457 12,457 119* 29.58 145.86 6 79
David Warner 385 12,411 135* 36.61 140.07 8 104

As far as Indian players are concerned, former captain, Virat Kohli holds the record for most runs in T20 cricket for India. The top-order batter has scored 12,886 runs in the shortest format.

Kohli is followed by current captain Rohit Sharma (11,830), Shikhar Dhawan (9,797), Suresh Raina (8,654) and KL Rahul (7,586).

Most runs in T20 cricket by an Indian player

Player Matches Runs High score Average Strike rate 100s 50s
Virat Kohli 399 12,886 122* 41.43 134.20 9 97
Rohit Sharma 448 11,830 121* 30.88 134.76 8 78
Shikhar Dhawan 334 9,797 106* 32.98 125.34 2 70
Suresh Raina 336 8,654 126* 32.17 137.45 4 53
KL Rahul 226 7,586 132* 41.91 135.85 6 65

Featured photo: AFP / Alexander Joe