The orange cap is the reward for the batter who scores the highest runs in the IPL tournament in a season.
The carnival of India known as IPL is back with its 15th edition. This edition will be played solely in Mumbai and Pune grounds with Chennai Super Kings facing off Kolkata Knight Riders on 26th March 2022 at Wankhede Stadium.
This year 10 teams will battle it out for the IPL trophy. More team definitely means spectators will be on the edge of their seats throughout the tournament. 110 players from 10 franchises will step on the ground to prove their worth and fight for the purple cap and orange cap to stand unique from others.
Cricreads has curated a list of potential players who can win the orange cap in the IPL 2022-
1) Venkatesh Iyer
Venkatesh Iyer was the find of the IPL season 2021 for Kolkata Knight Riders. The team was struggling at the bottom of the points table before the tournament got disrupted due to covid. Once the tournament resumed, KKR introduced Venkatesh Iyer, who went on to score nearly 300 runs in 10 matches at an average above 40.
He showed great character and was one of the key reasons for KKR to reach the IPL finals. He was granted retention too from KKR for his exceptional batting. Thus, he can surely brag the orange cap if he continues his last season’s form.
2) Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad was the orange cap winner of IPL 2021. He scored 636 runs in 16 IPL matches at a 45 average. The batter continued his IPL 2020 form in the 2021 season too and went on to score his maiden IPL century.
He shows the hunger for runs and bidding on him for a consecutive orange cap will be worth it.
3) Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli’s batting graph has been going down according to his standard. King Kohli who used to score centuries like a cakewalk has been struggling to score another one for the past 2 years. However, Kohli has resigned from the Indian team as well as RCB’s captaincy role which would certainly relieve pressure from his shoulder.
Kohli had scored 973 runs in a single edition of IPL in 2016 to win the orange cap, whereas not even a single player has managed to cross the 800 runs mark in a single edition of IPL ever. That’s the supremacy of King Kohli. Without any captaincy pressure on him, we can expect fireworks from his weapon(bat).
4) KL Rahul
KL Rahul who was leading Punjab Kings in IPL 2021 scored 626 runs in merely 13 matches at a staggering average of 62 whereas Ruturaj Gaikwad won the orange cap by scoring 10 runs more than he played 16 matches in total. This defines KL Rahul’s consistency in the Punjab Kings team where he was overburdened with the responsibility in the batting department.
However, Lucknow Super Giants have quite good names like Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Manish Pandey and more who would take off the pressure from him. KL Rahul has won the orange cap in IPL 2020 season. Can we see another orange cap on his head?
5) Ishan Kishan
The pocket dynamo didn’t have a memorable IPL 2021 season where he accumulated only 241 runs in 10 matches, although he batted down the order for the majority of the matches. However, he was the highest run-scorer for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020 where he opened the innings.
In all likely circumstances, Ishan Kishan is expected to open the batting this time along with Rohit Sharma who grants him a license to go all guns blazing on the bowlers. We can expect Ishan Kishan to show his x-factor of explosive batting for his selection in the T20 World Cup team.
6) Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan is in the rough patch of his cricketing career where he is constantly in & out of the Indian team. However, the Punjabi batter proved his worth time and again with his memorable knocks.
Shikhar Dhawan has been scoring more than 400 runs since IPL 2016. Moreover, he scored two consecutive centuries in IPL 2020. Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t make it to the T20 World Cup 2021 squad, however he certainly doesn’t want to miss the opportunity 2nd time in a row.
7) Shreyas Iyer
Newly appointed Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer is on the roller coaster form. After bragging player of the series award against Sri Lanka in the T20i series where he remained not out in all three matches depicted his determination and hunger for an Indian team spot.
Shreyas Iyer’s finest performance was in IPL2020 with Delhi Capitals when he scored more than 500 runs in the season. Shreyas Iyer would eye on the world cup team spot and do wonders with the bat which makes him impossible to be ignored.
8) Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav is better known as India’s 360 player who can play all around the ground whether along the ground or in the air. He knows how to keep the scoreboard moving and with the kind of consistency he possesses, he would certainly want to bank on the opportunity to seal the orange cap in IPL 2022.
