The Indian Premier League which was started in the year 2008 has been the best domestic T20 league in world cricket for many years now. The league has already completed its 15 years and is well on its way to the 16th season and many more.
The league also expanded its roots to 10 teams from the previous 8 in the last year as two more teams were added to the league. As you already know, Orange Cap and Purple Cap are the two most prestigious awards in the IPL along with the trophy.
Orange Cap is given to the player who scored the most runs in the season and the Purple Cap is given to the player who took the most number of wickets throughout the season. Today, we are going to talk about the top-3 players who have won the Orange Cap most number of times in the Indian Premier League history.
- David Warner (Australia, 3 Times)
This swashbuckling southpaw from Australia has won the Orange Cap most number of times ever in the Indian Premier League history (3 times). He won the award in the years 2015, 2017, and 2019 when he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). David Warner started his IPL journey in the year 2009 where he was bought by the Delhi Daredevils franchise (now Delhi Capitals).
He played for them for quite a few seasons before getting released ahead of the 2014 IPL Auction. In the 2014 auction, he was bought by the Sunrisers franchise and his IPL career changed completely. He got a taste of the Orange Cap for the first time in the 2015 season where he scored 562 runs with a strike rate of over 150 and an average of almost 43.
He had an excellent 2016 season as he scored 848 runs and even led his team to the trophy but failed to win the Orange Cap. He then won the award again in the 2017 season topping the scoring charts with 641 runs at an average of 58.27 and a strike rate of almost 140.
He was banned from playing in the 2018 season but when he came back in 2019, he showed everyone that he never left this stage and won the Orange Cap again for the record third time and being the first player ever to do so in the history of the Indian Premier League. He has a total of 5881 runs in the IPL as of now and will be eager to add more runs to this tally.
- Chris Gayle (West Indies, 2 Times)
Chris Gayle, popularly known as the Universe Boss, is one of the legends in the history of the Indian Premier League. He has lit the T20 cricket stage on fire all over the world, especially in the IPL. He has won the highest batting achievement in the IPL, the Orange Cap, two times in the years 2011 and 2012.
He is the only player in the history of the IPL to retain his Orange Cap title. He won the award playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore both years where he scored 608 and 733 runs in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In the year 2011, his batting stats were incredible as he had a strike rate of over 180 throughout the season and his average was 67.55.
Though he scored more runs in 2012, his batting stats declined a bit as his strike dropped down to 160 and average to 61 which was still far above the rest. Chris Gayle has been one of the greats to play this game, especially T20 cricket, domestic as well as international. He had played for several franchises in the Indian Premier League such as Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings (previously Kings XI Punjab) before finally withdrawing his name from the auction draft in the year 2022.
- Virat Kohli (India, 1 Time)
There were many competitors for the third place but we decided to choose Virat Kohli over others as he scored the most number of runs among all the others to win the Orange Cap. Virat Kohli won the prestigious Orange Cap in the year 2016 which was a dream season for him as he scored 973 runs in that season with a whopping average of 81 and a strike rate of almost 152.
No player ever in the history of the IPL has ever been able to break this record of The Run Machine. He scored four centuries in that season and only Jos Buttler has matched this record of four centuries in one season. Kohli has played for only one franchise throughout his IPL career and has been a truly loyal player for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
This modern great, walking work of art, the run machine also leads the most runs scored in the IPL charts by a huge margin. He has 6411 runs to his name as of now in the IPL and will look forward to crossing the 7000 runs mark in the upcoming season of the IPL.
