T20 World Cup
The IPL 2026 season produced two outstanding individual performers, with Rajasthan Royals batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi winning the Orange Cap and Gujarat Titans fast bowler Kagiso Rabada securing the Purple Cap.
While Royal Challengers Bengaluru successfully defended their IPL title by defeating Gujarat Titans in the final, Sooryavanshi and Rabada finished the season as the tournament’s leading run-scorer and wicket-taker respectively.
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi created history by becoming the youngest player ever to win the Orange Cap. At just 15 years and 65 days old, the Rajasthan Royals star shattered the previous record held by Gujarat Titans batter Sai Sudharsan.
The Bihar-born youngster enjoyed a dream campaign, scoring 776 runs in 16 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 237.31. His fearless batting style made him one of the biggest attractions of the tournament.
Sooryavanshi also rewrote the IPL record books by smashing 72 sixes during the season, breaking Chris Gayle’s long-standing record of 59 sixes in a single edition of the competition.
His season included a century and several near misses. The teenager was dismissed in the nineties three times, scoring 93 against Lucknow Super Giants, 97 in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad and 96 in Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans.
Another major achievement came when Sooryavanshi became the fastest batter to reach 1,000 IPL runs in terms of balls faced. He reached the milestone in just 440 deliveries and became the second-fastest player to the landmark in terms of innings, taking only 23 innings.
The race for the Orange Cap effectively ended during the IPL 2026 final when Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan were dismissed cheaply. Gill scored just 10 runs, while Sudharsan managed 12, allowing Sooryavanshi to comfortably finish at the top of the run-scoring charts.
On the bowling front, Kagiso Rabada once again proved why he is regarded as one of the most dangerous T20 bowlers in world cricket. The Gujarat Titans pace spearhead claimed 29 wickets in 17 matches to secure the Purple Cap for the second time in his IPL career.
Rabada previously won the Purple Cap in IPL 2020 while representing Delhi Capitals, when he finished the season with 30 wickets.
With his latest triumph, the South African became only the fourth bowler in IPL history to win the Purple Cap multiple times. He joined an elite group consisting of Dwayne Bravo, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel.
Rabada’s consistency throughout the season helped Gujarat Titans reach the final, where they eventually lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He finished IPL 2026 with an economy rate of 9.68 while leading the wicket-taking charts.
RCB veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished a close second in the Purple Cap race with 28 wickets in 16 matches. The experienced seamer also recorded the best economy rate among the top five wicket-takers, conceding just 7.95 runs per over and playing a major role in RCB’s title-winning campaign.
Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer completed the top three wicket-takers list with 25 wickets in 16 matches, continuing his impressive return to form.
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