Fantastic 4 Who Have Played Every IPL

IPL 2026 -- the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League -- is set to kick off on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

A total of 250 players will be seen in action in IPL 2026, as all the 10 teams fielding the maximum squad size of 25 players each.

Interestingly, since the inaugural IPL in 2008, more than 1,000 players have featured in the T20 league but only four cricketers have played a match in all 18 edition of IPL.

The elite list includes legends Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma along with Manish Pandey, the first Indian to score a century in the IPL.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Dhoni, 44, is set to become the oldest player in the IPL when he plays his 19th straight season of the T20 league.

Dhoni was a key factor behind the IPL achieving a cult status.

After he captained India to the World T20 title in 2007, T20 became a huge rage in India. Not surprising that the in-demand Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter was signed by Chennai Super Kings for a then record $1.5 million at the IPL 2008 auction.

Dhoni made an immediate impact as he guided CSK to the final of the inaugural IPL in 2008, where they lost to Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals. They reached the semi-finals next year before winning their maiden IPL title in 2010.

Dhoni's CSK repeated that feat when they claimed their second title next season in 2011 -- becoming the first team to successfully defend the IPL title.

CSK continued to their amazing consistency, as they finished runners up in three of the next four seasons before they received a shock two-year suspension from the league in 2015.

In CSK's absence, Dhoni switched to the Rising Pune Supergiants for the next two seasons, after being signed for a hefty Rs 12.5 crore.

He returned to CSK after the franchise was reinstated and immediately guided them to the IPL 2018 title. CSK went on to lift another two titles in the next five years.

Now in his 40s and with IPL his only competitive cricket through the year, questions have been arising over Dhoni's form and fitness. However, CSK has stood by their legend. Despite his diminishing returns with the bat, he continues to be a towering presence for the franchise on and off the field.

Dhoni is the fifth highest run-getter in the IPL with 5,528 runs from 278 matches, averaging 38.30 at a strike rate of 137.45, with 24 fifties.

Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's talisman is the only player in IPL history to have played all 18 seasons for a single team.

The 37 year old continues to be a major force with the bat in the IPL. Last year, he played a starring role in ending RCB's long wait for an IPL title, smashing 657 runs in 15 matches, averaging 54.75 at a strike rate of 144.71, with eight fifties.

Kohli was first signed for RCB by Vijay Mallya for $30,000 during the players' draft for Under-19 players in 2008. Shockingly, Delhi Daredevils, who had the first pick at the draft ignoreD Kohli and opted for left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan.

That proved to be the only time that Kohli was available at an IPL auction, as RCB has retained him since.

Ahead of the 2011 IPL Auction, he was the only player retained by RCB while they released greats Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.

He also enjoy a long captaincy stint at RCB from 2011 to 2023, leading the team in 140 games.

Kohli has made it clear that he will end his career at RCB despite strong interest from other franchises, including his hometown team Delhi Capitals.

He dominates the run-scoring charts in the IPL with 8,661 runs in 267 matches at a strike rate of 132.86, with eight centuries and 63 fifties. He is the only batter to have gone past the 8,000 run mark in the IPL.

He also holds the record for the most runs in a single edition when he piled up a huge 973 runs in 16 innings in IPL 2016, at a staggering average of 81.08, including a record four centuries and seven fifties.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit made an immediate impression after he was signed by the Deccan Chargers for $750,000 at the IPL 2008 auction.

He scored 404 runs in 13 matches in his first season at a strike rate of 147.98 with four fifties and continued the same form next season with 362 runs in 16 games to play a role in Deccan Chargers' title triumph in 2009 in South Africa.

After three seasons at DC, Rohit was signed by his hometown team Mumbai Indians for $2 million at the IPL 2011 auction -- then their biggest signing at an IPL auction.

Rohit's arrival brought about a huge change in MI's fortunes. After going trophyless in the first five seasons despite a star-studded squad, Rohit steered MI to their first ever IPL title after he took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting, who stepped down from the role mid season following a poor run with the bat.

Rohit led from the front with the bat in MI's triumph in 2013, hitting 538 runs in 19 matches at a strike rate of 131.54 with four fifties.

That first title sparked a golden era for MI as they went to win four more titles in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 and thereby became the first team to win five titles.

In a shocking move, Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as the MI captain ahead of IPL 2024. Pandya made a comeback to MI in a mega transfer deal worth Rs 15 crore from the Gujarat Titans.

There were rumours that Rohit was looking for a new team after getting axed as the captain but he dismissed all conspiracy theories by extending his stay with MI.

Rohit is the second highest run-getter in the IPL with 7,046 runs in 272 matches at a strike rate of 132.10 with two centuries and 47 fifties. With 302 sixes, he is only the second batter after Chris Gayle (357 sixes) to hit 300-plus sixes in the IPL.

Rohit holds the record for the most titles won by an IPL player, including five with MI and one with DC -- a record he holds jointly with Ambati Rayudu, who won three titles each with MI and CSK.

Manish Pandey

Karnataka batter Manish Pandey is a surprise name in this elite four-man list, to have played at least one match in all 18 IPL seasons.

Pandey, 36, has represented as many as seven teams across his long IPL career of 174 matches, scoring 3,942 runs at a strike rate of 121.51, with 22 fifties and one century.

In the inaugural 2008 IPL auction, Pandey was signed by Mumbai Indians for his base price of $30,000. He played only three matches in the first season, scoring three runs before he switched to Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of IPL 2009.

Pandey made a good start to his stint at RCB as he became the first Indian batter to score a century in the IPL. Pandey then 19, stroked 114 not out off 73 balls against Deccan Chargers in Centurion, South Africa.

After two seasons with RCB, Pandey signed up for the new franchise Pune Warriors India where he played three seasons from 2011 to 2013.

Kolkata Knight Riders became his fourth team after they signed him for Rs 1.7 crore ahead of IPL 2014. He played an integral part in KKR's title triumph in 2014, smashing a match-winning 94 from 50 balls in the final against Punjab Kings as they chased down a huge 200 for victory.

That would be a dream season for Pandey, who amassed 401 runs from 16 matches at a strike rate of 117.94 with two fifties.

After four seasons with KKR, Pandey entered the 2018 IPL auction where he was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a hefty Rs 11 crore -- the third most expensive purchase at that auction.

The move to SRH paid off for Pandey, who became a vital cog of the batting line-up. He excelled with the bat for SRH with 344 runs in IPL 2019 and 425 runs in IPL 2020 -- his best runs tally in a single season.

After another four-year stint at KKR, Pandey was snapped up by newcomers Lucknow Super Giants at the IPL 2022 auction for Rs 4.6 crore but a below-par season of 88 runs from six matches saw him getting released after just one season.

Journeyman Pandey soon signed up for his seventh team Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2023 auction after he was signed for Rs 2.4 crore. However, he failed to make an impact with the bat and was subsequently released after playing 10 matches in the season, scoring 160 runs at a strike rate of 109.58.

He would reunite with former captain Gautam Gambhir, who was then the mentor at KKR ahead of IPL 2024, after being bought for his base price of Rs 50 lakh. Even though he played just one match in IPL 2024 he turned out to be KKR's lucky charm as they went on to win their third IPL title.

Pandey was retained for the next season but got to play just three matches in IPL 2025. He has managed to keep his place at KKR for IPL 2026 and will join the other three greats in playing 19 IPL seasons in a row.

Photographs: ANI

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