The inaugural edition of IPL, in 2008, also marked Shaun Marsh‘s rise to fame. Virtually unheard-of till then, Marsh claimed the Orange Cap, the award for most runs scored in a single edition of the tournament. Marsh set a pattern that Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, and David Warner (twice) followed: indeed, five of the Orange Caps have gone to the Australians.
Apart from Warner, Chris Gayle is the only other won to have won the award twice, while Virat Kohli‘s staggering 973 runs in 2016 remain a record for any batsman in a single season.
Here is a list of all IPL Orange Cap winners:
Player | Season | Team | R | SR | 4s | 6s |
Shaun Marsh | 2008 | KXIP | 616 | 140 | 59 | 26 |
Matthew Hayden | 2009 | CSK | 572 | 145 | 60 | 22 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 2010 | MI | 618 | 133 | 86 | 3 |
Chris Gayle | 2011 | RCB | 608 | 183 | 57 | 44 |
Chris Gayle | 2012 | RCB | 733 | 161 | 46 | 59 |
Michael Hussey | 2013 | CSK | 733 | 130 | 81 | 17 |
Robin Uthappa | 2014 | KKR | 660 | 138 | 74 | 18 |
David Warner | 2015 | SRH | 562 | 157 | 65 | 21 |
Virat Kohli | 2016 | RCB | 973 | 152 | 83 | 38 |
David Warner | 2017 | SRH | 641 | 142 | 63 | 26 |
Kane Williamson | 2018 | SRH | 735 | 142 | 64 | 28 |
The all-time list is obviously dominated by Indians, none of whom had international commitments during IPL, and had a greater chance of being picked in the XI than their overseas counterparts.
Interestingly, five of the top seven, including highest run-getter Suresh Raina, have never won the Orange Cap.
Warner is the only overseas cricketer to have scored 4,000 runs, of which here is a list:
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 4s | 6s |
Suresh Raina | CSK, GL | 4,985 | 34.37 | 138 | 448 | 185 |
Virat Kohli | RCB | 4,948 | 38.35 | 131 | 434 | 177 |
Rohit Sharma | DCh, MI | 4,493 | 31.86 | 131 | 379 | 184 |
Gautam Gambhir | DD, KKR | 4,217 | 31.00 | 124 | 492 | 59 |
Robin Uthappa | KKR, MI, PWI, RCB | 4,129 | 28.67 | 132 | 401 | 146 |
Shikhar Dhawan | DCh, DD, MI, SRH | 4,058 | 33.26 | 124 | 460 | 85 |
MS Dhoni | CSK, RPS | 4,016 | 40.16 | 138 | 275 | 186 |
David Warner | DD, SRH | 4,014 | 40.54 | 142 | 401 | 160 |
In the above list, only two men – Dhoni and Warner – average over 40. Here is a list of batsmen with 500 or more runs with an average in excess of 40.
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 4s | 6s |
Hashim Amla | KXIP | 577 | 44.38 | 142 | 60 | 21 |
Kane Williamson | SRH | 1,146 | 42.44 | 137 | 98 | 39 |
Chris Gayle | KXIP, KKR, RCB | 3,994 | 41.17 | 151 | 323 | 292 |
David Warner | DD, SRH | 4,014 | 40.54 | 142 | 401 | 160 |
MS Dhoni | CSK, RPS | 4,016 | 40.16 | 138 | 275 | 186 |
The list completely changes when one sorts by strike rates. As is evident, there are a number of big-hitting all-rounders in the list of batsmen with over 500 and runs and a strike rate of 150:
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 4s | 6s |
Andre Russell | DD, KKR | 890 | 26.96 | 177 | 65 | 68 |
Sunil Narine | KKR | 628 | 17.44 | 169 | 76 | 35 |
Rishabh Pant | DD | 1,248 | 35.65 | 163 | 115 | 67 |
Glenn Maxwell | DD, KXIP, MI | 1,397 | 22.90 | 161 | 109 | 91 |
Virender Sehwag | DD, KXIP | 2,728 | 27.55 | 155 | 334 | 106 |
Krunal Pandya | MI | 708 | 30.78 | 154 | 68 | 30 |
AB de Villiers | DD, RCB | 3,953 | 39.53 | 151 | 326 | 187 |
Chris Gayle | KXIP, KKR, RCB | 3,994 | 41.17 | 151 | 323 | 292 |
Jos Buttler | MI, RR | 1,075 | 34.67 | 151 | 102 | 47 |
Only five men have scored 3 or more IPL hundreds. Of them, Gayle is 2 clear of anyone else.
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 100s |
Chris Gayle | KXIP, KKR, RCB | 3,994 | 41.17 | 151 | 6 |
Virat Kohli | RCB | 4,948 | 38.35 | 131 | 4 |
Shane Watson | CSK, RR, RCB | 3,177 | 32.41 | 141 | 4 |
David Warner | DD, SRH | 4,014 | 40.54 | 142 | 3 |
AB de Villiers | DD, RCB | 3,953 | 39.53 | 151 | 3 |
When it comes to 50+ scores, however, the list is headed by Warner. Gayle appears low on this list, but that has to do with his initial dry years for KKR.
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 100s | 50s | 50+ |
David Warner | DD, SRH | 4,014 | 40.54 | 142 | 3 | 36 | 39 |
Virat Kohli | RCB | 4,948 | 38.35 | 131 | 4 | 34 | 38 |
Suresh Raina | CSK, GL | 4,985 | 34.37 | 138 | 1 | 35 | 36 |
G Gambhir | DD, KKR | 4,217 | 31.00 | 124 | 0 | 36 | 36 |
Rohit Sharma | DCh, MI | 4,493 | 31.86 | 131 | 1 | 34 | 35 |
S Dhawan | DCh, DD, MI, SRH | 4,058 | 33.26 | 124 | 0 | 32 | 32 |
AB de Villiers | DD, RCB | 3,953 | 39.53 | 151 | 3 | 28 | 31 |
Chris Gayle | KXIP, KKR, RCB | 3,994 | 41.17 | 151 | 6 | 24 | 30 |
Only six men have hit over 400 fours in IPL history. Of them, only three – Raina, Kohli, and Warner – have also hit 150 sixes.
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 4s | 6s |
Gautam Gambhir | DD, KKR | 4,217 | 31.00 | 124 | 492 | 59 |
Shikhar Dhawan | DCh, DD, MI, SRH | 4,058 | 33.26 | 124 | 460 | 85 |
Suresh Raina | CSK, GL | 4,985 | 34.37 | 138 | 448 | 185 |
Virat Kohli | RCB | 4,948 | 38.35 | 131 | 434 | 177 |
Robin Uthappa | KKR, MI, PWI, RCB | 4,129 | 28.67 | 132 | 401 | 146 |
David Warner | DD, SRH | 4,014 | 40.54 | 142 | 401 | 160 |
Gayle stands head and shoulders above anyone on the sixes list. His 6:4 ratio makes incredible reading:
Player | Teams | R | Ave | SR | 4s | 6s |
Chris Gayle | KXIP, KKR, RCB | 3,994 | 41.17 | 151 | 323 | 292 |
AB de Villiers | DD, RCB | 3,953 | 39.53 | 151 | 326 | 187 |
MS Dhoni | CSK, RPS | 4,016 | 40.16 | 138 | 275 | 186 |
Suresh Raina | CSK, GL | 4,985 | 34.37 | 138 | 448 | 185 |
Rohit Sharma | DCh, MI | 4,493 | 31.86 | 131 | 379 | 184 |
Virat Kohli | RCB | 4,948 | 38.35 | 131 | 434 | 177 |
The RCB dominance is clear when it comes to highest individual scores. They occupy four of the top five positions.
Player | Team | Against | H/A | Season | Score | SR | 4s | 6s |
Gayle | RCB | PWI | Blore | 2013 | 175* | 265 | 13 | 17 |
McCullum | KKR | RCB | Blore | 2008 | 158* | 216 | 10 | 13 |
de Villiers | RCB | MI | Mumbai | 2015 | 133* | 225 | 19 | 4 |
de Villiers | RCB | GL | Blore | 2016 | 129* | 248 | 10 | 12 |
Gayle | RCB | DD | Delhi | 2012 | 128* | 206 | 7 | 13 |
Pant | DD | SRH | Delhi | 2018 | 128* | 203 | 11 | 7 |
Vijay | CSK | RR | Chennai | 2010 | 127 | 227 | 8 | 11 |
Warner | SRH | KKR | Hyd | 2017 | 126 | 214 | 10 | 8 |
Do note that all men have had strike rates of over 200. Gayle’s 175* is the highest score in T20 history, a record once held by McCullum.