IPL: 3 Indian batsmen who have won the Orange Cap in tournament history
Orange Cap is one of the most prestigious awards in the IPL as the batsman with the highest runs in a particular season wins the award. Over the years, Australian players have dominated the batting section in IPL as six of the 12 Orange Cap awards have been won by Australian cricketers.
Australia's David Warner has won three Orange Caps, while Chris Gayle of West Indies has two Orange Caps to his name. Although some of the greatest Indian batsmen have taken part in this elite T20 competition, only three Indian batsmen have managed to win the Orange Cap. Out of the three winners, only one could help his team to the championship in the same year.
Here's a look at the 3 Indian batsmen who have won the Orange Cap in IPL history.
#3 Sachin Tendulkar - IPL 2010
Hailed by many as the God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar became the first Indian batsman to win the Orange Cap award when he aggregated 618 runs in 15 matches for his home franchise - the Mumbai Indians - in 2010. The right-handed batsman played a key role in his team's journey to the final. However, Mumbai Indians could not win the trophy as they were beaten by the Chennai Super Kings in the final.
Tendulkar hit five half-centuries in that season, with his batting average being 47.53. His highest score was 89*, while his strike rate was 132.61. Interestingly, he hit only three sixes in IPL 2010. He retired in 2013, winning the IPL trophy with a win against Chennai Super Kings in the final.
#2 Robin Uthappa - 2014
Robin Uthappa played a pivotal role in the success of Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL 2014. He became the second Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar to win the prestigious Orange Cap award. Unlike Tendulkar, Uthappa finished on the winning side in IPL 2014 as KKR defeated Kings XI Punjab in a nail-biting finale.
Talking about his numbers in that tournament, the right-handed batsman scored 660 runs in 16 matches. His highest score was 83*, and that was the only occasion where he remained unbeaten in an innings in IPL 2014. His batting average was 44.00, while his strike rate of 137.78 shows that he dominated the bowlers that year. Besides, Uthappa even took one catch and executed seven stumpings behind the stumps.
#1 Virat Kohli - 2016
Indian skipper Virat Kohli shattered all records in IPL 2016 when he scored 973 runs for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in just 16 matches. Kohli did not have a single T20 century to his name prior to IPL 2016 but by the time the tournament ended, the right-handed batsman had registered 4 T20 hundreds.
His brilliance took RCB to their third IPL final. However, the Bangalore-based franchise fell short against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the title clash. Kohli got a consolation in the form of an Orange Cap for his extraordinary performances that season. The RCB skipper had an unbelievable average of 81.08 in 2016, whereas, his strike rate was above 150. He struck 83 fours and 38 sixes to decimate the opposition bowling attacks in IPL 2016.