New Delhi: Ishan Malinga continued his impressive run in IPL 2026, topping the Purple Cap standings after Sunrisers Hyderabad’s disciplined performance against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.The young fast bowler returned figures of 1 for 29 in his four overs, maintaining an economy rate of 7.20 in a high-scoring contest where Mumbai collapsed to 243/5, thanks to Ryan Rickleton’s unbeaten 123. Malinga’s only success – the valuable wicket of Surya Kumar Yadav – proved crucial, helping him move into the race for the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.With this performance, Malinga took his wicket tally to 15 this season, surpassing a formidable group of bowlers who were tied for 14 wickets apiece. He beat Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Anshul Kamboj to claim the top position.Bhuvneshwar is currently second, thanks to a high economy rate of 7.61 between the trio for 14 wickets. Archer is third with an economy of 8.27, while Kamboj is fourth with 8.56.Competition is fierce just below the top four. Lucknow Supergiants’ Prince Yadav is fifth with 13 wickets, overtaking Kagiso Rabada on the basis of a better economy rate — 8.06 against Rabada’s 9.48.Further down the list, Rabada’s partner Prasad Krishna has 12 wickets, while Ravi Bishnoi has 11 wickets. Mohsin Khan and Krunal Pandya are among the top 10 with nine wickets each.As the league stage progresses, the race for the Purple Cap is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with only a few wickets separating the leading contenders.
Latest IPL 2026 Purple Cap Standings
| Rank | the player | Wickets | Matches | Overs | Econ | The best |
| 1 | Ishan Malinga (SRH) | 15 | 9 | 31.0 | 9.16 | 4/32 |
| 2 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (RCB) | 14 | 8 | 31.0 | 7.61 | 3/5 |
| 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 | Prince Yadav (LSG) | 13 | 8 | 30.0 | 8.06 | 3/32 |
| 6 | Kagiso Rabada (GT) | 13 | 8 | 31.0 | 9.48 | 3/25 |
| 7 | Prasad Krishna (GT) | 12 | 7 | 26.0 | 10.34 | 4/28 |
| 8 | Ravi Bishnoi (RR) | 11 | 8 | 24.0 | 9.54 | 4/41 |
| 9 | Mohsin Khan (LSG) | 9 | 4 | 16.0 | 6.37 | 5/23 |
| 10 | Krunal Pandya (RCB) | 9 | 8 | 27.0 | 8.85 | 2/30 |
