IPL Orange Cap Holders

Orange Cap, an Indian Premier League (IPL) award, has been presented every year to the Highest-Scoring Batsman of a season, since 1st June 2008. The contribution of a batsman in IPL is significant. The idea for the award was put forth, for the first time, on 25th April 2008. Batsmen who score the most, when the tournament is ongoing, get to wear the Cap. As the season ends, the Orange Cap is presented to the player who has scored the highest runs. In case of a tie, the batsman with the Highest Strike Rate gets the prestigious IPL Orange Cap.

International batsmen from countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, Australia, and West Indies participate in the IPL along with their Indian counterparts, which makes the competition tough for the Orange Cap. Enthusiasts from all around the world wait for the IPL Orange Cap announcement at the end of an IPL season, and this year too, fans have already started predicting who could win the Orange Cap in IPL 2020. Most are pointing towards Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain David Warner or Rajasthan Royals' top batsman Jos Buttler to be the Orange Cap holder in IPL 2020.

IPL Orange Cap – a rundown of the winners

There have been 9 IPL Orange Cap winners, from 2008 to 2019, with some batsmen receiving the Cap multiple times.

1. The first batsman to win the Orange Cap after the very first IPL tournament was Shaun Marsh, scoring 616 runs in 11 matches while playing for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Kings XI, however, couldn't qualify for the finals that year. He went on to play for KXIP until 2017, which was also his last year in IPL. His consistent batting made him an essential part of the team and led to him earning a place in Cricinfo's all-time IPL XI, on IPL's 10th anniversary.
2. Fellow Australian Matthew Hayden won the Orange Cap the second time around, in 2009, playing 12 matches and scoring 572 runs in an IPL season. His team, Chennai Super Kings, unfortunately, lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets and failed to qualify for the IPL final. He continued to play with Chennai Super Kings, and in IPL, from 2008 to 2010. The left-handed batsman has had a successful career in and outside IPL and is deemed as one of the best openers to have ever played the game.
3. Mumbai Indians' captain Sachin Tendulkar got the Orange Cap in 2010 scoring 618 runs in 15 matches. But his team lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final game of the IPL season in 2010. Sachin was the captain of Mumbai Indians throughout his IPL career, which was from 2008 to 2013. In his last IPL match, in 2013, he was declared as the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL's history, scoring 2,334 runs in 78 IPL matches.
4. West Indies all-rounder from Jamaica Chris Gayle got to wear the Orange Cap in 2011 and 2012 consecutively, scoring 608 and 733 runs in 12 and 15 matches, respectively, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore both the times. He went on to play for RCB till 2017. In 2013, he made a century in just 30 balls, setting a record for the fastest century by a cricketer in all formats of cricket. In 2018, he joined Kings XI Punjab and will continue to play with them in IPL 2020 as well.
5. In 2013, Australian Michael Hussey was presented with the Orange Cap. He played with Chennai Super Kings and scored 733 runs in  16 matches. Chennai Super Kings, unfortunately, lost to Mumbai Indians in the 2013 IPL finale. He was the second batsman to score a century in IPL, since its inception. In 2011, he was positioned fifth for scoring the most runs in all IPL matches. He played in the IPL and for CSK till 2015. In 2018, he became Chennai Super Kings' batting coach.
6. Kolkata Knight Riders' Robin Uthappa got to wear the Orange Cap in 2014 playing 16 matches and scoring 660 runs, contributing to his team's victory that IPL season. The same year, he set a Twenty20 record of scoring runs above 40 in 8 consecutive matches. The year 2014 was his first year with Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to play with them till 2019. In IPL 2020, however, Robin will play for Rajasthan Royals. For his successful run in IPL so far, he was mentioned in Cricinfo's all-time IPL XI.
7. Australian David Warner won the IPL Orange Cap thrice, in 2015, 2017, and 2019 playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad all three times and scored 562 in 14 matches, 641 in 14 games, and 692 in 12 games, respectively. He captained Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2014 to 2018 and will resume his role as a captain for the same team in IPL 2020.
8. Virat Kohli, the current captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), won the Orange Cap in 2016, recording an all-time high score in an IPL season, with 973 runs in 16 matches. RCB, however, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2016 IPL finale. Kohli became the vice-captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011 and the official captain of the team in 2013. In 2016, he announced that he would permanently be a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL. Thanks to his performance on the IPL T20 pitch, he was included in Cricinfo's all-time IPL XI.
9. Kane Stuart Williamson, captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad during that year, was presented with the IPL Orange Cap in 2018, scoring 735 runs in 17 matches. His team, unfortunately, lost to the 2018 defending champion Chennai Super Kings in the IPL finale. He will continue to play with Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2020 as well, a team he has been a part of since 2015.

Not only is Sunrisers Hyderabad's David Warner the current Orange Cap holder but also the only batsman of all the Orange Cap holders to get awarded the IPL Orange Cap three times. Warner has been the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2014 and was also the vice-captain of the Australian team for ODI and Test cricket from 2015 to 2018. He has also been awarded Alan Border Medal thrice, which is given to the most outstanding male cricketers in Australia.