KL Rahul steps up a spot to No. 2 on the Orange Cap table
DC opener has 477 runs from 12 innings at a strike rate of 177.98
ESPNcricinfo staff
Published: May 12, 2026, 1:47 AM (2 hrs ago)
Only minor gains were made after Monday’s game on the Orange and Purple Cap tables at IPL 2026. Here’s a quick look.
Delhi Capitals registered a much-needed victory over Punjab Kings, keeping their chances of making the playoffs alive. And although KL Rahul didn’t contribute as much as he would’ve liked to a chase of 211, his 9 off 8 balls did push him from No. 3 to No. 2 on the list of highest run-getters for the season. He has 477 from 12 innings at a strike rate of 177.98.
With Sunrisers Hyderabad taking on Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, Rahul’s position isn’t secure. Long-time best friends Abhishek Sharma (475) and Shubman Gill (462) are hot on his heels. Heinrich Klaasen, who is on top of the charts with 494 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 157.32 also has a chance to push on.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Purple Cap winner back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, he has clearly not lost any of his expertise despite being 36 and almost invisible for the best part of the year. And he is getting better and better, it would seem. The 4 for 23 against Mumbai Indians (MI), in what ended up in a dramatic win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), was his sixth three-for this season – though the first four-for – and took his tally up to 21.
He needed something special to stay at the head of the race after Kagiso Rabada got to 18 wickets on Saturday and, earlier on Sunday in the day game, Anshul Kamboj took two wickets for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to get to 19 for the season and, temporarily, the top spot.
