On 26th April, 2026, Sanju Samson recorded his milestone of scoring 5,000 career runs in the IPL, along with being one of only several players to reach this achievement in IPL history at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, when he scored 4 runs off Kagiso Rabada’s second delivery of the second over.
The match also marked the 37th game of the season. Sanju’s feat places him among other legendary batsmen who have reached this accomplishment, such as MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers.
Sanju Samson reaches 5,000 IPL runs in 180 innings
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The achievement made by Sanju Samson took place in his 180th innings of 185 made during his time in the IPL’s first season of 2026. Within those 180 innings, he has had many great contributions for the Rajasthan Royals, previously referred to as the Delhi Daredevils (now called Delhi Capitals) and has also played with the Chennai Super Kings – to say nothing of all the different teams he has played for since then.
With that achievement, Samson is now the third player to achieve 5,000 runs in IPL history by using the smallest number of balls. Only remaining ahead of him in the race to 5,000 balls in IPL history are AB de Villiers and David Warner.
List of players who scored 5000 runs fastest in the IPL (by balls)
1. AB de Villiers – 3288 balls
2. David Warner – 3554 balls
3. Sanju Samson – 3555 balls
4. Suresh Raina – 3620 balls
5. KL Rahul – 3688 balls
6. MS Dhoni – 3691 balls
Sanju Samson becomes the 10th batsman to score 5000 runs in the IPL
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In its ten seasons of existence, IPL batsman Sanju Samson has passed the threshold of 5,000 runs and becomes only the tenth player in this league’s history to have reached this milestone, joining the ranks of well-known players such as Virat Kohli (6 850 runs), Rohit Sharma (6 616), Shikhar Dhawan (6 225), David Warner (6 169), KL Rahul (5 748), Suresh Raina (5 473), MS Dhoni (5 220), Ajinkya Rahane (5 610) and AB de Villiers (5 258).
List of batters with 5,000 runs in the IPL
1. Virat Kohli – 8989 runs
2. Rohit Sharma – 7183 runs
3. Shikhar Dhawan – 6769 runs
4. David Warner – 6565 runs
5. KL Rahul – 5579 runs
6. Suresh Raina – 5528 runs
7. MS Dhoni – 5439 runs
8. Ajinkya Rahane – 5184 runs
9. AB de Villiers – 5162 runs
10. Sanju Samson – 5008 runs
(Note- Stats are updated till 26th April, 2026)
ALSO READ: Top 7 Most Successful Run Chases In IPL History: Punjab Kings Top the List
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