IPL 2026: Scored a lot of runs last season, will these 5 legends be able to do wonders this time too?

The bugle for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been sounded. IPL 2026 is going to start from March 28. This season is expected to be more explosive than the last season. The opening match itself is likely to be a blockbuster, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad facing off. Both these teams have an army of explosive batsmen.

SRH has big hitters like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen, while RCB has big hitters like Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Romario Shepherd and Tim David. Considering the fire power of both the teams, there may be rain of fours and sixes in the opener of IPL 2026. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at those 5 batsmen who had scored more than 500 runs last season but this time there may be a decline in their performance.

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Suryakumar Yadav

35 year old Suryakumar Yadav has recently made Team India the World Champion of T20 under his captaincy. Now he will play for Mumbai Indians under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. Surya was the second highest run scorer in the last IPL season. He scored 717 runs in 16 matches at an average of 65.18 and strike rate of 167.91. During this period, he scored 5 half-centuries. It is difficult for Surya to repeat this performance, as his recent form has been nothing special. He was able to score only 242 runs in 9 matches in the T20 World Cup. His strike rate was also 136.72.

Virat Kohli

RCB’s veteran batsman Virat Kohli has retired from T20 International. Now he is seen playing only IPL in T20 format. He played an important role in making RCB the champion for the first time by scoring 657 runs in 15 innings in IPL 2025. Kohli had scored these runs at a strike rate of 144.71. His recent form is tremendous. He has scored 3 centuries and 3 half-centuries in the last 7 innings in One Day Internationals but the long distance from T20 format may affect his performance.

Mitchell Marsh

Australia’s Mitchell Marshan, playing for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), scored 627 runs in 13 innings last season at a strike rate of 163.70. Marsh could not play the initial matches of T20 World Cup 2026 due to injury, due to which Australia had to be eliminated from the group stage. He scored half-centuries in the two matches he played, but one of these innings came against a team like Oman. Marsh continues to struggle with fitness problems. Even if he plays the entire season, it will not be easy to perform like IPL 2025.

Also read: Harshit Rana may be out of IPL 2026, who will replace him in KKR?

        जोस बटलर

England’s legendary batsman Jos Buttler was seen struggling with form throughout the T20 World Cup. Butler could score only 87 runs in 8 innings. He did not touch the figure of 30 even once. His best score was 26, while his strike rate was only 116. Butler had scored 538 runs in 13 innings for Gujarat Titans in the last IPL season, but there is very little hope of a similar story this time.

nicholas puran

Caribbean batsman Nicholas Pooran has retired from international cricket. Now he is seen playing in T20 leagues around the world. Puran scored 524 runs in 14 innings for LSG in IPL 2025 at a strike rate of 196.25. His strike rate was the best among batsmen who scored more than 260 runs last season. However, if we look at his recent form, the story seems completely different. This year he has scored only 112 runs in 7 innings. Whereas the strike rate remained only 123.07.