New Delhi: We are almost halfway through the league phase of IPL 2026, with 33 of the total 70 matches played and the dust to settle. Slowly but surely, in-form players are emerging from the pool of cricketers participating in this highly competitive tournament.The race for the season’s highest run-scorer and top wicket-taker — the Orange Cap and the Purple Cap — is making for exciting and exciting contests.
Between ‘El Clasico’ after IPL Mumbai Indians And Chennai Super Kings — two five-time champions — On Thursday, CSK pacer Anshul Kamboj regained the Purple Cap with 14 scalps in seven games. The young pacer, who returned figures of 1/10, is now one wicket ahead of second-placed Prince Yadav, the Lucknow Supergiants pacer, who has 13 wickets in seven matches.CSK won the ‘El Clasico’ by 103 runs thanks to a stunning unbeaten century from the player of the match, a massive total of 207/6. Sanju Samson (101 off 54 balls*). After scoring an unbeaten 115 against Delhi Capitals at home in Chennai, it was the new CSK recruit’s second century in IPL 2026.With two centuries, Samson has jumped straight into the race for the Orange Cap and is now third with 293 runs from seven matches. There are currently two batsmen from Sunrisers Hyderabad in this list. Abhishek Sharma (323 runs in seven matches) and Heinrich Klassen (320 runs in seven matches).
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Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill (fourth with 265 runs), and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli (sixth with 247 runs) will have a chance to move up the Orange Cap standings as the two teams meet in Bengaluru on Friday.Among the bowlers to feature in today’s RCB vs GT clash, Gujarat Titans pacer Prasad 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 a chance to feature in the PP clash.
Here are the current top 5 in the Orange Cap and Purple Cap races.
IPL 2026 Orange Cap:
| Rank | the player | runs | H.S | SR | 100/50 |
| 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 Gul (GT) | 265 | 86 | 151.42 | 0/3 |
| 5 | Vaibhu Suryavanshi (RR) | 254 | 78 | 220.86 | 0/2 |
IPL 2026 Purple Cap:
| Rank | the player | Wickets | The best | Econ |
| 1 | Anshul Kamboj (CSK) | 14 | 3/22 | 8.95 |
| 2 | Prince Yadav (LSG) | 13 | 3/32 | 8.38 |
| 3 | Ishan Malinga (SRH) | 12 | 4/32 | 9.43 |
| 4 | Prasad Krishna (GT) | 12 | 4/28 | 9.91 |
| 5 | Jofra Archer (RR) | 11 | 3/20 | 7.96 |
