The 2019 IPL is underway and two familiar names are already dominating proceedings. Chris Gayle got his season up and running with a typically belligerent fifty against Rajasthan Royals while Andre Russell has played two superb cameos, powering KKR to explosive finishes and two wins in their opening matches.

Russell and Gayle are arguably two of the most powerful batsmen to ever play in the IPL. Using CricViz data we can examine and compare their attacking strength more closely.

Among batsmen to have played 100 attacking shots in the IPL, no players score at a faster rate than Gayle and Russell. Gayle just edges this particular battle with a strike rate of 235.5 - one run ahead of Russell with 234.5.

Their proficiency with attacking shots translates into both men having exceptional boundary percentages with Russell ranked second and Gayle ranked fifth among IPL players to have scored 500 runs.

Both men are most destructive in the death over phase of the innings with Gayle just edging ahead of Russell by this measure but both players still mixing with the game’s elite.

The attacking dominance of both men translates into them having exceptional head-to-head records against a number of different bowlers. In the list of best head to head strike rates Gayle and Russell feature twice each with Russell’s run rate of 19.63 runs per over against Shami being the most dominant in IPL history.

While deciding between Russell and Gayle may be difficult one thing is certain: no nation has contributed such destructive hitting to the league as the Windies. Players from the Windies score at a strike rate of 205 with attacking shots - they are the only country whose players score at more than 200 with attacking shots.

Analysis produced by CricViz