Top 4 Contenders for Orange Cap and Purple Cap in IPL 2025

Legendary West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards, now a Parimatch sport analyst, has praised these rising stars, adding valuable insights to IPL 2025 coverage.

The 2025 Indian Premier League has been like a breath of fresh air with new captains, new players, new support staff, and new fans helping the league continue its tradition of unearthing new gems every year.

The likes of Ayush Mhatre, Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Abhishek Porel have redefined how youngsters play at the top level, while the resurgence of stars like Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Jitesh Sharma, and Prabhsimran Singh has impressed one and all across the cricketing world. Legendary West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards, now a Parimatch sport analyst, has praised these rising stars, adding valuable insights to IPL 2025 coverage.

Favorites for Orange Cap

The Orange Cap battle is being fought for by several ex-Indian cricket team, current Indian cricket team, and future Indian cricket team stalwarts as top-order batters are slight favorites to win the Orange Cap as they get more balls to smash the runs. Here are our top four picks for the Orange Cap Winner:

#1 Sai Sudharsan (Gujarat Titans)

The cricketer from the state of Tamil Nadu rose to fame courtesy of the TNPL and has steadily forced his name into the conversation of potential opening batters for the national team ahead of the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup at home.

Sudharsan has scored 504 runs in 10 matches at an average of 50.4 and a strike rate of almost 155, leading the league in fours scored as he has smacked 55 fours and 16 maximums as well.

The youngster has made a name for himself as an accumulator of runs at a modest enough strike rate that just about qualifies as decent for the current high standards of the league and T20 cricket. The trio of Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (He’s one of my favourite and certainly I’d love to see him among the top of the list), and Jos Buttler have ensured that their franchise leads the way in terms of the fewest dot balls played in the season.

#2 Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)

Virat Kohli will be one of the favorites to win the Orange Cap

Two-time Orange Cap winner Virat Kohli is on a mission to become the first batter since David Warner to bag the Orange Cap in three different editions of the cash-rich league. This is the first season for Kohli in the IPL after his retirement, and many of the batter’s admirers would be wondering why exactly the batting maestro called time on his international career in the format.

The former RCB and Indian skipper started the season on a perfect note as he remained unbeaten in the run-chase against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and the chase-master has done that several more times, playing the anchor in a batting order full of power-hitters like Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, and Romario Shepherd.

The 36-year old batter has scored 505 runs in 11 matches in the ongoing season at an average of 63.13 and a strike rate of 143.46, and the Royal Challengers would be hoping that their key player maintains his form for the rest of the season.

#3 Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans)

Shubman Gill had a tough season in 2024 but has successfully bounced back as the Gujarat Titans skipper has scored 465 runs in 10 matches at an average of 51.67 and a strike rate of 160+, allowing Sudharshan to settle in at the other end.

IPL 2023 Orange Cap winner Gill has added more shots to his arsenal as he displayed maturity over the last 12 months and is balancing the act of being a skipper and bona fide opening batter quite well, except for a couple of instances with the umpires.

While Sudharsan and Buttler were powering the Titans’ juggernaut early on in the season, Gill has risen to the occasion with the playoffs fast approaching for the side currently sitting in the Top 4 positions of the league standings. The GT skipper for the ODI format has scored 250 runs in the last three matches while facing only 143 balls.

#4 Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians)

The Indian national team skipper for T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav, has found his batting touch yet again as he has been freed of his duties as captain in the Mumbai Indians franchise, with Hardik Pandya leading the way for the five-time champions.

The batter who usually comes out to bat at No.3 or No.4 has scored 465 runs in 11 matches at an impressive strike rate of 172.72, helping MI score faster in the middle overs and thus benefit in the longer run. The Indian captain is the only player to feature in the Top 5 of Most Runs in IPL 2025 and the list of Top 5 batters with the highest strike rate in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league.

With MI preferring to bat with a flexible batting order, as three batters in Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, and Tilak Varma have alternated as the team’s No.3, Suryakumar’s presence offers the batters above him to go hard at the bowlers early in the innings.

Favorites for Purple Cap

The modern game is dominated by batters, especially in T20s, which in turn, increases the value of world-class bowlers who can deliver for their franchise irrespective of the pitch or the ground conditions. The 2025 IPL season has seen coaches like Aashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan field an all-Indian pace attack and reap rewards for the same. Here are our top four picks for the Purple Cap Winner:

#1 Prasidh Krishna (Gujarat Titans)

The resurgence of Prasidh Krishna has been the talk of the town as the fast bowler donned the whites for India in the New Year Test against Australia during the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy. After modest returns in his only Test in the series, Krishna joined Nehra & co. for the 2025 IPL season.

Krishna had a torrid start to the campaign as the Punjab Kings batter mauled the fast bowler all across the park, but he bounced back well with figures of 2/18 against the Mumbai Indians in the next match. Since then, the Bengaluru-born seamer hasn’t looked back, delivering economical spells game after game while chipping away crucial wickets every now and then during the season.

So far, Krishna has struck 19 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 7.49, delivering multiple match-winning performances as he kept his economy rate in check while seamers like Mohammed Shami and Pat Cummins went for huge runs on the same wicket in the same match.

#2 Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)

Josh Hazlewood might be passed fit for the next match

Josh Hazlewood has proven to be the difference for Royal Challengers Bengaluru this season as the tall Australian fast bowler has put a stop on the runs and also sits in the second position in the Purple Cap leaderboard. The lanky bowler from the southern hemisphere has proven why disciplined bowling is the ultimate solution to bowling on a tough surface like the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Hazlewood currently has 18 wickets in 10 matches and missed the ‘Southern Battle’ against Chennai Super Kings due to a shoulder niggle which might prevent him to play a couple more matches for the RCB and hurt his chances of winning the Purple Cap.

#3 Noor Ahmad (Chennai Super Kings)

Despite the Chennai Super Kings flopping as a unit in IPL 2025, new signing Noor Ahmad was the shining star for MS Dhoni’s men. The young Afghan spinner has taken 16 wickets in 11 matches, and while he would only play for three more matches, Noor does have the ability to strike multiple wickets in a single match if the pitch is providing assistance to the slower bowlers.

With Ravindra Jadeja contributing more with the bat than the ball and Ravichandran Ashwin’s homecoming not really going to plan, Noor’s economical and wicket-taking spells were the reason that the Super Kings were still in contention of reaching the playoffs in the last week of April.

#4 Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians)

Trent Boult returned to the Mumbai Indians in the mega-auction, and the presence of the New Zealand speedster became even more crucial as Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the first few matches of IPL 2025. In the absence of Bumrah, skipper Pandya shared the death bowling duties with Boult, and the pair partnered well to help MI get their first few points of the season.

Boult has taken 16 wickets in 11 matches, and with the Pandya-led side sitting at the perch of the league standings, Boult could strike a few more wickets in the next three matches and the playoff matches which would require the left-arm seamer to be at his best if MI wants to lift a sixth IPL title.

Comment by Sir: For MI, the team who didn't start well in the tournament has started gaining momentum and started showing progress which gives them a good chance to make it to the Play-offs.