IPL explosive finisher R Shepherd has become the league’s go-to six-hitting all-rounder for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2025. Across four IPL seasons with four different franchises—RCB, Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad—Shepherd has muscled 185 runs at a jaw-dropping strike-rate of 212, clearing the ropes 17 times and finding the fence on 12 other occasions. His lone half-century, a 28-ball 53, showcased his ability to turn games in the death overs. While batting remains his headline act, Shepherd’s right-arm medium has quietly chipped in with 10 wickets from 15 bowling innings. Operating at an economy of 11.66 and a strike-rate of 21, he has twice returned with two-wicket bursts, providing crucial breakthroughs when captains need a momentum shift. From Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022 to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2025, Shepherd’s journey underlines a player trusted for his big-hitting prowess and handy overs—a modern T20 utility who can win matches with both bat and ball.

Chris Gayle IPL story: 13 seasons, 4 965 runs, 357 sixes and one unforgettable 175. The self-styled “Universe Boss” walked into IPL 2009 with Kolkata Knight Riders, but it was at Royal Challengers Bengaluru from 2011-2017 that he became a global T20 icon—belting 404 fours and 357 sixes overall at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 148. In 141 innings he cleared the rope once every 9.3 balls and produced 31 half-centuries plus six blistering hundreds, the most famous being his record 175* off 66 balls at the Chinnaswamy in 2013. After his Bengaluru fireworks, Gayle took his power game to Punjab Kings, turning up in orange from 2018 to 2021 and continuing to pepper boundaries with the same ruthless ease. While he rolled his arm over occasionally—18 wickets in 38 bowling innings—his narrative is written in soaring sixes and match-winning hundreds that re-defined T20 batting forever.

Note: This overview is partially generated using AI and is based on statistical data. Please verify with official sources for complete accuracy.