Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: We are almost halfway through the league stage of IPL 2026, with 33 out of a total of 70 matches done and dusted. Slowly but surely, players in form are beginning to emerge from the horde of cricketers competing in this highly competitive tournament.The race for the top run-scorer and leading wicket-taker of the season — the Orange Cap and the Purple Cap — is throwing up exciting and interesting contests.After the IPL ‘El Clasico’ between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — two five-time champions — on Thursday, CSK pacer Anshul Kamboj has reclaimed the Purple Cap with 14 scalps from seven games. The young pacer, who returned figures of 1/10, is now one wicket ahead of second-placed Prince Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants pacer, who has 13 wickets from seven matches.CSK won the ‘El Clasico’ by a massive 103 runs, thanks to a formidable total of 207/6, powered by a superb unbeaten century from Player of the Match Sanju Samson (101* off 54 balls). It was the new CSK recruit’s second hundred of IPL 2026, after his unbeaten 115 against Delhi Capitals at home in Chennai.With two centuries, Samson has jumped straight into the Orange Cap race and is now placed third with 293 runs from seven games. The list is currently led by two Sunrisers Hyderabad batters — Abhishek Sharma (323 runs from seven games) and Heinrich Klaasen (320 runs in seven games).Shubman Gill (fourth with 265 runs), skipper of Gujarat Titans, and Virat Kohli (sixth with 247 runs) of Royal Challengers Bengaluru will have the opportunity to move up in the Orange Cap standings as the two teams meet on Friday in Bengaluru.Among the bowlers featuring in today’s RCB vs GT clash, Gujarat Titans pacer Prasidh Krishna (fourth with 12 wickets), RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar (seventh with 10 wickets) and GT’s Kagiso Rabada (eighth with 10 wickets) will also have the chance to climb up the Purple Cap standings.
Here are the current Top 5 in the Orange Cap and Purple Cap races
IPL 2026 Orange Cap:
| Rank | Player | Runs | HS | SR | 100s/50s |
| 1 | Abhishek Sharma (SRH) | 323 | 135* | 215.33 | 1/2 |
| 2 | Heinrich Klaasen (SRH) | 320 | 62 | 153.11 | 0/3 |
| 3 | Sanju Samson (CSK) | 293 | 115* | 178.65 | 2/0 |
| 4 | Shubman Gill (GT) | 265 | 86 | 151.42 | 0/3 |
| 5 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR) | 254 | 78 | 220.86 | 0/2 |
IPL 2026 Purple Cap:
| Rank | Player | Wickets | Best | Econ |
| 1 | Anshul Kamboj (CSK) | 14 | 3/22 | 8.95 |
| 2 | Prince Yadav (LSG) | 13 | 3/32 | 8.38 |
| 3 | Eshan Malinga (SRH) | 12 | 4/32 | 9.43 |
| 4 | Prasidh Krishna (GT) | 12 | 4/28 | 9.91 |
| 5 | Jofra Archer (RR) | 11 | 3/20 | 7.96 |
