Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Thursday reclaimed the top spot in the IPL 2026 Purple Cap race for the highest wicket-taker this season. Bhuvneshwar returned impressive figures of 3 for 28 in four overs against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, as he (352) became only the second Indian bowler to take 350 or more T20 wickets after Yuzvendra Chahal.Bhuvneshwar now has 17 scalps from nine games at an impressive economy rate of 7.54, and has two wickets more than second-placed Eshan Malinga (15) of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Purple Cap race.Malinga had risen to the top of the standings after a disciplined outing against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, but fell behind Bhuvi again after the veteran pacer’s exploits against GT.Malinga returned figures of 1 for 29 in his four overs vs MI, maintaining an economy rate of 7.20 in a high-scoring contest. With this performance, he took his tally to 15 wickets this season, moving past a tightly packed group of bowlers who were level on 14 wickets.RR’s Jofra Archer, CSK’s Anshul Kamboj and GT’s Kagiso Rabada are tied on 14 wickets each, but are placed third, fourth and fifth respectively in the standings based on economy rate.Archer has an economy of 8.27, followed by Kamboj with 8.56 and Rabada (9.65).The competition remains intense just below the top five as well. Prince Yadav of Lucknow Super Giants occupies sixth position with 13 wickets.Further down the list, Prasidh Krishna has 12 wickets, while Ravi Bishnoi has 11. Rashid Khan and AM Ghazanfar complete the top 10 with 10 wickets each.As the league stage progresses, the Purple Cap race is shaping into a closely fought contest, with just a handful of wickets separating the leading contenders.
IPL 2026 Purple Cap standings
| Rank | Player | Wickets | Matches | Overs | Econ. | Best |
| 1 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (RCB) | 17 | 9 | 35.0 | 7.54 | 3/5 |
| 2 | Eshan Malinga (SRH) | 15 | 9 | 31.0 | 9.16 | 4/32 |
| 3 | Jofra Archer (RR) | 14 | 9 | 33.0 | 8.27 | 3/20 |
| 4 | Anshul Kamboj (CSK) | 14 | 8 | 27.4 | 8.56 | 3/22 |
| 5 | Kagiso Rabada (GT) | 14 | 9 | 35.0 | 9.65 | 3/25 |
| 6 | Prince Yadav (LSG) | 13 | 8 | 30.0 | 8.06 | 3/32 |
| 7 | Prasidh Krishna (GT) | 12 | 7 | 26.0 | 10.34 | 4/28 |
| 8 | Ravi Bishnoi (RR) | 11 | 8 | 24.0 | 9.54 | 4/41 |
| 9 | Rashid Khan (GT) | 10 | 9 | 33.0 | 8.30 | 3/17 |
| 10 | AM Ghazanfar (MI) | 10 | 6 | 20.5 | 9.40 | 2/17 |
