In which is undoubtedly which is one of the most prestigious cricket leagues in the World. The Orange cap is an award which is awarded to the highest run-getter of the league at the end of that particular season. With plenty at stake the competition for the cap has been getting tougher with years.
It is surprising to know that the league in the last 12 years has only featured three Indian orange cap winners, namely- Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa and Virat Kohli. The Australians have dominated the orange cap award, winning six of them, with David Warner winning it three times.
With this season featuring many stars from all around the World. The competition could be really tough. With the Indian Premier League to begin in a few weeks, Cricwizz takes a look at the top 5 players who could win the Orange cap this season.
1) K.L Rahul
The Indian opener who is part of the KXlP tops our list solely for his form. He is one of the most reliable batsmen for Team India currently and was also the third highest run-scorer in the T20I last year. The 28-year old finished as the second highest run-getter in the 2019 season with 593 runs to his name. He could be looking forward to better than this time around and given that he is in spectacular form.
The Right-Hander has played 67 matches in the IPL and is just 23 runs short of the 2000 run-mark. He averages an excellent 42 and strike-rate of 138 with 16 half-centuries and one century to his name.
2) David Warner
The three times Orange cap winner is no stranger to scoring runs and he is in a very position to make the tally to 4. The Australian won the orange cap every alternate year ever since he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and won the orange cap in the last season scoring 692 runs. He is currently the highest foreign run-scorer in IPL with 4706 runs to his name and has been the backbone of the Sunrisers team.
The 33-year old Left-hander has played 126 matches in the IPL scoring 4706 runs at a magnificent average of 43.17 and strike-rate of 142.39. He has 44 half-centuries and 4 centuries with a high-score of 126 to his name.
3) Virat Kohli
The current Indian and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain is a must-go in this list. The right- hander had a quiet season to his standards in 2019 with 464 runs and would be looking to better that this time around. RCB though have been very unfortunate as the team has not yet been able to get over the line despite having the big names in the line-up. This time around they will be looking to rewrite it and it is no doubt the captain will have to replicate his performance of 2016.
The 31-year old has played 177 matches in the league and has 5412 runs to his name at an average of 37.85 and strike-rate of 131.61. He has 36 half-centuries and 5 centuries, with a high-score of 113 to his name.
Kohli also holds the record for the highest runs scored in a single season with 973 runs in 16 innings he played in the 2016 season. He is also currently the highest run- getter in the IPL with 5412 runs.
4) Rohit Sharma
The Mumbai Indians captain is definitely a contender for the orange cup given his current form. The most successful captain in IPL will be eyeing the cap this around as he has been close on several occasions. He indeed had a quiet season according to his standards last year with 405 runs to his name but his captaincy was doing all the talking as the team ended as the title winners. He could very well be the top contender for the cap this season along with KL Rahul.
The 33-year old has played 188 matches in the IPL scoring 4898 runs at an average of 32 and strike-rate of 131. He has 36 half-centuries and 1 century, with a high-score of 109 to his name.
Rohit is currently the 3rd highest run-getter in the IPL and also ranks 4th in the list of most sixes with 194.
5) Jonny Bairstow
With several players in contention, the English Opener makes the list solely for his last IPL season. The Wicket-keeper Batsman is relatively new to IPL with just 10 matches to his name but averages a spectacular 55.62 and strike-rate of 158, his average is currently the highest for a batsman in IPL. He was able to notch 445 runs in the mere 10 matches he played. He left midway of the tournament as for his International duties. It would have been really interesting to see where he would have ended up on the list had he played the entire tournament.
GIven that he is not included in the squad for the test series against Sri Lanka and that he bats as the Opener for SRH. It would not be a surprise to see him end up with the orange cup.
Cover Credits: CricketCountry
