Indian Premier League: Sai Sudharsan Eyeing Back-to-Back Orange Cap Awards
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
IPL Orange Cap To Change Hands In KRR vs GT Today?
The 2026 Indian Premier League season is now into the final stretch, and the scramble for Playoff places is heating up, with eight teams still mathematically in contention to finish in the top four and secure a spot in the knockout stage of the competition.
However, that could change this afternoon, when KKR take on GT at Eden Gardens. Our experts are leaning toward a victory for the Titans according to our Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans prediction, a result that would end the Knight Riders’ Playoff hopes.
Beyond the league standings, the battle for the leading run-scorer in the competition is also red-hot, with just seven runs separating current Orange Cap holder Heinrich Klaasen (508 runs) and second-placed Sai Sudharsan (501), with the latter set to face KKR this afternoon.
Sudharsan was last year’s Orange Cap winner with 759 runs in 15 innings, and the India international enters today’s matchup off the back of three consecutive half-centuries, including a stunning 61 runs off just 44 deliveries in GT’s demolition of the Sunrisers Hyderabad last week.
In terms of the biggest movers in recent days, Mitchell Marsh propelled himself to sixth place in the standings after his incredible 90-run knock off 38 balls against the Chennai Super Kings, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has slipped to ninth after a couple of disappointing outings lately.
IPL 2026: Orange Cap Standings After 60 Matches
| Pos | Player | Runs | Mat | Inns | NO | HS | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heinrich Klaasen | 508 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 69 | 50.80 | 153.93 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 23 |
| 2 | Sai Sudharsan | 501 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 100 | 41.75 | 155.10 | 1 | 5 | 49 | 22 |
| 3 | Virat Kohli | 484 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 105* | 53.78 | 165.75 | 1 | 3 | 53 | 18 |
| 4 | Abhishek Sharma | 481 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 135* | 43.73 | 209.13 | 1 | 3 | 43 | 37 |
| 5 | K L Rahul | 477 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 152* | 43.36 | 177.98 | 1 | 3 | 50 | 24 |
| 6 | Mitchell Marsh | 467 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 111 | 38.92 | 162.15 | 1 | 2 | 40 | 31 |
| 7 | Shubman Gill | 467 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 86 | 42.45 | 158.30 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 20 |
| 8 | Sanju Samson | 450 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 115* | 50.00 | 164.23 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 23 |
| 9 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 440 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 103 | 40.00 | 236.55 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 40 |
| 10 | Prabhsimran Singh | 439 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 80* | 43.90 | 170.15 | 0 | 5 | 48 | 21 |
Rabada Fancied To Claim Purple Cap Against KKR
The Gujarat Titans have undoubtedly been the most improved team over the second half of the 2026 IPL campaign, now on a five-match win streak after beating SRH, and they will go two points clear at the top of the table with a victory over KKR this afternoon.
While the like of Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have played their part with the bat, it has arguably been GT’s bowling unit that has shone brightest, with Kagiso Rabada leading the charge, now on 21 wickets in 12 games, just one shy of current leading wicket-taker Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The South African speedster was almost unplayable at times against SRH last week, finishing with 3/28 and the Player of the Match award. He is averaging 20.04 and has an economy rate of 9.15 - a couple of wickets today will see him take the Purple Cap.
However, beyond Rabada, GT have received several standout performances, with Rashid Khan now fourth in the Purple Cap standings with 16 wickets, while Prasidh Krishna (14 wickets), Jason Holder (13), and Mohammed Siraj (13) are in 10th to 12th place, respectively.
IPL 2026: Purple Cap Standings After 60 Matches
| Pos | Player | Wkts | Mat | Inns | Ov | Runs | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 22 | 12 | 12 | 47 | 355 | 23/4 | 16.13 | 7.55 | 12.81 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Kagiso Rabada | 21 | 12 | 12 | 46 | 421 | 25/3 | 20.04 | 9.15 | 13.14 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Anshul Kamboj | 19 | 12 | 12 | 42.2 | 428 | 22/3 | 22.52 | 10.11 | 13.36 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Rashid Khan | 16 | 12 | 12 | 41.5 | 342 | 33/4 | 21.37 | 8.17 | 15.68 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Prince Yadav | 16 | 12 | 12 | 45 | 384 | 32/3 | 24.00 | 8.53 | 16.87 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Kartik Tyagi | 16 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 347 | 22/3 | 21.68 | 8.89 | 14.62 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Eshan Malinga | 16 | 12 | 12 | 42.2 | 408 | 32/4 | 25.50 | 9.63 | 15.87 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Jofra Archer | 15 | 11 | 11 | 40 | 365 | 20/3 | 24.33 | 9.12 | 16.00 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Jamie Overton | 14 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 249 | 18/4 | 17.78 | 8.89 | 12.00 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Prasidh Krishna | 14 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 292 | 28/4 | 20.85 | 10.06 | 12.42 | 1 | 0 |
