IPL 2026 Orange Cap and Purple Cap: Complete Race Tracker, History and Predictions

Among the many compelling storylines that make up an IPL season, few capture the imagination of cricket fans quite like the Orange Cap and Purple Cap races. These two individual awards — presented to the highest run-scorer and the leading wicket-taker across the entire tournament — add a personal dimension to the team-based competition, giving fans an additional layer of engagement as they track their favourite batsmen and bowlers week by week, match by match, ball by ball.

The Orange Cap holder wears their distinctive orange headwear during matches, making them immediately identifiable to television viewers and stadium crowds. The visual presence of the cap creates a daily story — who holds it today, can they keep it tomorrow, who is closing in on their lead? The same visual storytelling applies to the Purple Cap and its bowling champion. CrickViews is your definitive source for IPL 2026 Orange Cap and Purple Cap tracking, with updated standings after every single match throughout the tournament.

What is the IPL Orange Cap?

The IPL Orange Cap is awarded to the batsman who has scored the most runs in the current edition of the Indian Premier League. It was introduced in the very first IPL season in 2008 and has been one of the competition’s signature individual awards ever since. The cap changes hands throughout the tournament as different batsmen take the lead, creating an evolving narrative that mirrors the broader season story.

The current holder of the Orange Cap wears it during their team’s next match, providing a visible symbol of their batting supremacy at that point in the season. This tradition has produced numerous memorable moments — players receiving the cap just before their most important innings, holders wearing it under immense pressure at crucial points of the tournament, and the final handover when the season’s ultimate run-scorer is confirmed.

Importantly, the Orange Cap is awarded for the entire tournament including the playoffs, which means players who participate in four playoff matches have additional opportunities to accumulate runs and overtake rivals who may have been eliminated earlier. This has created dramatic late-season movements in the Orange Cap standings on multiple occasions.

IPL Orange Cap Winners: Complete History

The history of the IPL Orange Cap is a roll call of T20 batting greatness. Each winner represents the pinnacle of batting achievement over a full two-month tournament campaign:

• 2008: Shaun Marsh (KXIP) — 616 runs
• 2009: Matthew Hayden (CSK) — 572 runs
• 2010: Sachin Tendulkar (MI) — 618 runs
• 2011: Chris Gayle (RCB) — 608 runs
• 2012: Chris Gayle (RCB) — 733 runs
• 2013: Michael Hussey (CSK) — 733 runs
• 2014: Robin Uthappa (KKR) — 660 runs
• 2015: David Warner (SRH) — 562 runs
• 2016: Virat Kohli (RCB) — 973 runs (all-time record)
• 2017: David Warner (SRH) — 641 runs
• 2018: Kane Williamson (SRH) — 735 runs
• 2019: David Warner (SRH) — 692 runs
• 2020: KL Rahul (KXIP) — 670 runs
• 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) — 635 runs
• 2022: Jos Buttler (RR) — 863 runs
• 2023: Shubman Gill (GT) — 890 runs
• 2024: Virat Kohli (RCB) — 741 runs
• 2025: To be confirmed

Several patterns emerge from this list. Three-time winner David Warner is the most successful Orange Cap holder in history. Virat Kohli’s 973-run season in 2016 remains so far ahead of every other single-season total that it appears almost unassailable. Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill both mounted serious challenges against that record in 2022 and 2023 respectively but fell short.

Virat Kohli’s 2016 Season: The Orange Cap Benchmark

No discussion of the IPL Orange Cap is complete without a proper examination of Virat Kohli’s extraordinary 2016 season — the single greatest individual batting performance in IPL history and arguably in all of T20 cricket history. In 16 innings across the season, Kohli scored 973 runs at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03. He hit four centuries and seven fifties. He was out for less than 25 in only two innings.

What makes this record even more remarkable is the context in which it was achieved. RCB were fighting for their first IPL title, and Kohli was effectively carrying the batting lineup single-handedly in the early part of the season. The pressure of being the sole reliable run-scorer, on pitches that varied from the flat track of Chinnaswamy to more challenging surfaces on the road, makes the consistency of his output even more extraordinary.

For IPL 2026, the question that fascinates cricket analysts is whether Kohli himself — or any of the current generation of exceptional batsmen — can mount a genuine challenge to that 973-run record. With Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Travis Head all capable of extraordinary scoring rates, the potential for a major Orange Cap season is very much present.

IPL 2026 Orange Cap Contenders: Detailed Analysis

1. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)

The three-time Orange Cap winner (though Warner has technically won it three times too) and all-time record holder, Kohli enters IPL 2026 with the motivation of a man who has tasted title success and wants more. His technical excellence — the ability to play the moving ball, the bouncer, and the turning ball with equal facility — makes him the most complete T20 batsman in terms of consistency. At Chinnaswamy, with the crowd on their feet for every ball he faces, Kohli regularly transcends his already extraordinary baseline performance.

Kohli’s preparation for IPL seasons has always been exemplary, and he arrives at every tournament in peak physical condition. His off-field discipline — the diet, the training, the mental preparation — gives him an edge in sustaining performance over a 60-day tournament that younger, less disciplined players sometimes struggle to maintain. At an age when many cricketers begin to slow down, Kohli’s standards show no signs of declining.

2. Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals)

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the most exciting young batting talent in Indian cricket and a genuine Orange Cap contender every time he picks up a bat. His Test cricket emergence — scoring centuries in South Africa and scoring more than 700 runs against England in the home series — has confirmed what IPL watchers already knew: this is a special player with the temperament, technique, and aggression to succeed at the very highest level of any format.

In T20 cricket, Jaiswal’s left-handed batting creates natural advantages — his sweep and slog-sweep are devastating against off-spin, his pull shot is exceptional against the short ball, and his ability to hit inside-out over extra cover is a stroke that few batsmen possess at his level of reliability. Jaiswal’s powerplay hitting in particular — regularly scoring 40-60 runs in the first six overs — sets the foundation for massive RR totals that other batsmen can build upon.

3. Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

If the Orange Cap were awarded solely for powerplay performances, Travis Head would be the runaway winner every season. His ability to score at 190+ strike rate in the first six overs while maintaining a batting average above 40 makes him the most devastating T20 opener in the world right now. Head’s left-handed batting creates angles and scoring opportunities that right-handers simply cannot access — his drives through extra cover off good-length deliveries, his pull shots over mid-wicket, and his ability to slog-sweep quality spinners make him a nightmare to bowl to.

The question for Head’s Orange Cap chances is whether SRH’s matches provide enough close contests that require him to bat through full innings, or whether their dominating totals mean he often gets out in the 15-18 over range having already done the damage. High strike rate can sometimes work against an Orange Cap challenge if it results in shorter innings — consistency and volume of runs rather than just strike rate is what wins the individual award.

4. Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans)

The 2023 Orange Cap winner with 890 runs, Shubman Gill has established himself as one of the premier T20 batsmen in the world. His elegant batting style — technically correct yet capable of explosive improvisation when required — makes him equally effective against pace and spin, in the powerplay and in the death overs. As GT’s captain, Gill carries additional responsibility that could either enhance his performance through additional motivation or impose pressure that affects his natural game.

Gill’s advantages include batting at an extremely bat-friendly home venue in Narendra Modi Stadium, exceptional form across all formats of cricket, and the experience of having already won the Orange Cap to guide his approach to a sustained scoring campaign. He is consistently one of the first names picked in fantasy cricket lineups and for good reason.

5. Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

The 2022 Orange Cap holder with 863 runs — the second-highest single-season total in IPL history — Jos Buttler remains one of the most dangerous T20 batsmen in the world when he finds his rhythm. His 2022 season was a masterclass in sustained T20 excellence, with four centuries including a hundred in the final that won RR the match. When Buttler is in form, he is essentially unstoppable — his power hitting, his ability to play late, and his helicopter shot that clears long-on even off good-length deliveries make him a threat against any bowling attack.

What is the IPL Purple Cap?

The IPL Purple Cap is the bowling equivalent of the Orange Cap — it is awarded to the bowler who has taken the most wickets in the current edition of the tournament. Like the Orange Cap, the Purple Cap holder wears their distinctive headwear during matches, providing a visual indicator of their bowling supremacy at that point in the season.

The Purple Cap is awarded across all bowling disciplines — pace bowlers and spinners compete equally for the honour, meaning the holders across IPL history represent the full spectrum of T20 bowling artistry.

IPL Purple Cap Winners: Complete History

• 2008: Sohail Tanvir (KXIP) — 22 wickets
• 2009: RP Singh (DC) — 23 wickets
• 2010: Pragyan Ojha (DC) — 21 wickets
• 2011: Lasith Malinga (MI) — 28 wickets
• 2012: Morne Morkel (DC) — 25 wickets
• 2013: Dwayne Bravo (CSK) — 32 wickets
• 2014: Mohit Sharma (CSK) — 23 wickets
• 2015: Dwayne Bravo (CSK) — 26 wickets
• 2016: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) — 23 wickets
• 2017: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) — 26 wickets
• 2018: Andrew Tye (KXIP) — 24 wickets
• 2019: Imran Tahir (CSK) — 26 wickets
• 2020: Kagiso Rabada (DC) — 30 wickets
• 2021: Harshal Patel (RCB) — 32 wickets (joint record)
• 2022: Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) — 27 wickets
• 2023: Mohammed Shami (GT) — 28 wickets
• 2024: To be confirmed

Yuzvendra Chahal’s total wickets in IPL history make him the all-time leading wicket-taker in the competition, having surpassed Dwayne Bravo’s previous record. His consistency across seasons — rarely having a poor IPL campaign regardless of which franchise he represents — is remarkable.

IPL 2026 Purple Cap Contenders

1. Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

When fit, Bumrah is in a different category to every other bowler in the IPL. His unique action, his range of deliveries, and his ability to execute under pressure make him the most valuable bowling asset in T20 cricket. His death bowling economy rate is the best of any regular death bowler in IPL history. His wicket-taking rate in the powerplay is exceptional. His career IPL statistics tell the story of a bowler who has been consistently outstanding across many seasons.

The critical qualifier is fitness. Bumrah’s injury history means that a full, injury-free IPL 2026 season is not guaranteed. If he plays all 14 league stage matches plus four playoff games, he will likely take 25-30 wickets and win the Purple Cap comfortably. If he misses matches through injury or load management, his wicket tally will be reduced and rivals will have the opportunity to close the gap.

2. Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans)

Rashid Khan’s IPL record is one of the most impressive in the competition’s history. His economy rate — consistently below 7.0 across multiple seasons — combined with his wicket-taking rate makes him one of the most valuable bowlers in T20 cricket. His leg-spin, wrong’un, and topspinner bamboozle batsmen across the world, and on Indian pitches that offer even minimal help to wrist spin, he is virtually unplayable.

Rashid’s fielding adds extra value — he is a brilliant fielder who takes catches in the deep that other spinners would not even attempt. His batting capability in the final overs has also developed significantly, making him an all-round asset that justifies his status as one of the first names in any fantasy cricket lineup.

3. Yuzvendra Chahal

The all-time leading wicket-taker in IPL history, Chahal brings a pedigree of consistent excellence that no other bowler can match. His leg-spin and googly have deceived the best T20 batsmen in the world across eighteen seasons of IPL cricket, and his experience reading batsmen and adjusting his plans mid-innings is unmatched. At 35, Chahal’s body of work in the IPL is extraordinary and his hunger for wickets shows no sign of diminishing.

4. Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Australia’s Test captain has shown in recent seasons that he is equally effective in T20 cricket. His bowling intelligence — the ability to vary pace and length cleverly, to use the bouncer as a wicket-taking delivery, and to bowl tight lines under pressure — makes him a consistent threat throughout the innings. As SRH’s captain, Cummins often bowls crucial spells that change the course of matches.

How CrickViews Tracks the Orange Cap and Purple Cap Races

Throughout IPL 2026, CrickViews will update the Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings after every single match. Our tracker shows not just the current leader but the complete top ten in both races, making it easy to follow the entire field of contenders rather than just the headline holders. We also provide contextual analysis — explaining why a player has moved up or down the standings, what they need to do to retake the lead, and which upcoming fixtures give current holders or challengers the best opportunities to score heavily or take wickets.

Conclusion

The IPL 2026 Orange Cap and Purple Cap races are among the competition’s most compelling ongoing narratives. They provide a personal dimension to a team tournament, giving individual players something to chase beyond team success and giving fans something to track daily throughout the two-month season. CrickViews will be your complete guide to both races — bookmark our tracker page and come back after every match for the latest standings, analysis, and predictions as the individual awards races play out in parallel with the team competition for the IPL 2026 title.