The purple cap is the manifest of the highest wicket-taking bowler in the Indian Premier League season. The two-time winners of Purple cap are Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dwayne Bravo. Both of them are also among the list of highest wicket-takers in the history of IPL. People who can take more wickets in IPL consistently usually have a greater chance of playing for their respective Nation for a long time. IPL is the only platform or cricketing league mainly used for gauging the performance of players in almost all countries.
You can find here the list of purple cap winners since the inception of the tournament here.
The reason is simply the high-level competition and top-notch quality of the tournament, allowing players to groom their skills naturally. The advent of IPL has provided a different kind of machinery to the Indian domestic structure. Indian cricket has been getting a plethora of raw talent for the international circuit, which is the most predominant cause behind the ruling of Indian cricket in the world. The players like Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are pure products of the Indian Premier League. Here is the list of the top 5 players who could win the purple cap this season.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah (MI)
The Kingpin Jasprit Bumrah has been fabulous throughout all seasons of IPL, in which he appeared from the side of Mumbai Indians. He recently got the Vice captaincy of the Indian team due to his wizard and dextrous performance throughout his career. He had played 106 matches in IPL and picked up 130 wickets in it with a fabulous economy of 7.42. He loves to play with challenges and adversities, though he is unsuccessful in getting a purple cap. But in this season, it is the most probable thing to happen. Have you ever wondered how Bumrah is so efficient with this weird bowling style? Check our in-focused analysis here.
#2 Rashid Khan (GT)
Rashid Khan has also never picked a Purple Cap at the end of the season. He has taken 93 wickets in 76 matches, but the problem was the image of Rashid Khan, which stopped him from taking more wickets. Batsmen always take a defensive nod against Rashid Khan and whenever they face his bowling. Rashid is the only guy who has failed on two occasions to finish the season as a purple cap winner. Hopefully, this edition will end his cap drought in the IPL.
#3 Harshal Patel (RCB)
Harshal Patel holds the record of taking the most wickets in a single season of the Indian Premier League. His name had been added to the list with golden words. Dwayne Bravo also had the same number of wickets, but he took it in 18 matches. Harshal had taken 32 wickets in only 15 encounters of the league. The kind of form which he is in that could again take him to another purple cap victory. So, though he comes at no 4 in the list, he is not any way behind anyone in the complete list.
#4 Ravichandran Ashwin (RR)
In my opinion, Ravichandran Ashwin is the mightiest bowler among all the athletes on the list. Though his wickets in the Indian Premier League are not even upto the mark (167 matches – 145 wickets), he has made tremendous improvement in the T20 bowling. This season, he has entered into his 3rd franchise of IPL, i.e., Rajasthan Royals. Ashwin is gradually becoming a perfect T20 bowler along with Test and One-day. The biggest challenge before him would be pitch reading; that is where he failed each time. He also has the most significant opportunity to capitalize on the spin-friendly conditions of India and conquer the purple cap.
#5 Kagiso Rabada (PBKS)
One of our 5 pacers to look out for in this season, Kagiso Rabada won the purple cap of season 2020. He had picked up 30 wickets in 17 matches of that edition. He made his IPL debut in the year 2017 for Delhi Capitals. Where he picked 2 wickets in a very first match, he always performs consistently for his franchises in all seasons. He has a strong chance of picking up plenty of wickets in the season and, in the end, gets honored with a purple cap on his head. So fingers crossed for Kagiso Rabada and also for his new franchise Punjab Kings.
Read here: Insane Cricketing Records of Kagiso Rabada
