Purple Cap competition, like the Orange Cap (Batsman), is as popular as the Indian Premier League (IPL) competition itself. The Top wicket takers in IPL take around 22-28 wickets to be part of this elite competition.

Introduction

Cricket is a game of bat and ball, but many believe that batting wins you cricket games, but bowling wins you championships. This article will explore the top 5 potential bowlers who may be amongst the top wicket takers in the 2026 IPL tournament. The winner who finally takes the most wickets in the competition earns the Purple Cap.

While the Indian Premier League (IPL) is about runs, franchises look to strengthen their bowling side as an attacking option to curtail the run flow by taking wickets through their bowlers.

Based on the current form and after the recently concluded World T20 championship we at SuperSports360 have shortlisted 5 bowlers who are likely to be possible IPL 2026 Purple Cap winner.

Jasprit Bumrah – MI – Purple Cap Potential Players

One of the Top bowlers of the T20 World Cup.
Currently in the best form of his career.
Specialist in death bowling and in the powerplay period.
He is extremely economical, and batsmen play cautiously.

Varun Chakravarthy – KKR – Purple Cap Potential Players

Had 2-3 bad games in the T20 World Cup and will be eager to come back in form
Genuine wicket-taker due to the mystery angle
Highly effective in the middle overs.
Takes wickets in clusters

Kuldeep Yadav – DC – Purple Cap Potential Players

Left-arm chinaman is a rare breed.
He hardly got to play in the World Cup and will want to stamp his authority in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He has excellent control over his flight and spin.
Batsmen do not read him well and tend to lose wickets.

Noor Ahmed – CSK – Purple Cap Potential Players

He was the second-highest wicket-taker in the last season
He is a key bowler in the CSK Squad
Batsman has not figured out his bowling, and this makes him a genuine wicket-taker
He can deliver in high-pressure games

Prasidh Krishna – GT – Purple Cap Potential Players

Last season’s Purple cap winner.
He gets the advantage to get some cheap wickets in the end of the innings when batsmen are looking to score boundaries.
The extra bounce he generates help him to take lots of wickets due to mistimed shots.

What makes a bowler a potential Purple cap winner

Potential to bowl all 4 overs in all matches.
Bowlers bowling in powerplay and in the death have the most potential.
Pitch conditions which suite the bowlers bowling style help. For eg . spinner will tend to take more wickets in Kolkata and Chennai.

Some Dark Horses – Potential Purple cap winners

Arshdeep Singh
- India’s death bowling specialist.

Mohamed Shami
- Making a Comeback and had a good domestic season.

Mohamed Siraj
- Trying to make a comeback in Indian playing eleven.

Yuzvendra Chahal
- Most successful bowler in IPL history.

Purple Cap winner will be a player who is taking wickets in all conditions and is bowling the crucial overs for his team . His contribution typically are match winning performances which ultimately leads his team close to the championship.

Year	Player	Franchise	No of Wickets
2008	Sohail Tanvir	Rajasthan Royals	22
2009	RP Singh	Deccan Chargers	23
2010	Pragyan Ojha	Deccan Chargers	21
2011	Lasith Malinga	Mumbai Indians	28
2012	Morne Morkel	Delhi Daredevils	25
2013	Dwayne Bravo	Chennai Super Kings	32
2014	Mohit Sharma	Chennai Super Kings	23
2015	Dwayne Bravo	Chennai Super Kings	26
2016	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	23
2017	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	26
2018	Andrew Tye	Kings XI Punjab	24
2019	Imran Tahir	Chennai Super Kings	26
2020	Kagiso Rabada	Delhi Capitals	30
2021	Harshal Patel	Royal Challengers Bangalore	32
2022	Yuzvendra Chahal	Rajasthan Royals	27
2023	Mohammed Shami	Gujarat Titans	28
2024	Harshal Patel	Punjab Kings	24
2025	Prasidh Krishna	Gujarat Titans	25