The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has been running since 2008, is the premier T20 cricket competition in the world.
The IPL Purple Cap, presented to the bowler who finishes a season as the highest wicket-taker, is one of the top individual honours in the tournament alongside the Orange Cap awarded to the highest run-getter..
Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir, playing for Rajasthan Royals, won the Purple Cap in the inaugural season in 2008. He took 22 wickets in 11 matches to help the Royals become first-ever IPL winners.
Tanvir registered best figures of 6 for 14 against Chennai Super Kings that season and it remained the best bowling figures in the IPL for over a decade before it was broken by Mumbai Indians’ West Indian pacer Alzarri Joseph in 2019.
Indian bowlers from Deccan Chargers won the Purple Cap in the following two seasons. RP Singh won in 2009, the year that Chargers became IPL champions while his spin-bowling compatriot Pragyan Ojha followed suit in 2010.
Sri Lankan fast-bowling legend Lasith Malinga won the Purple Cap in 2011 after picking up 28 wickets from 16 games. At that point, it was the best haul ever registered in a single season of the IPL.
However, Malinga’s record would only last a couple of seasons before being broken by Dwayne Bravo.
The Windies star all-rounder picked up 32 wickets from 18 matches in IPL 2013. Bravo’s record remained untouched for eight seasons before it was equalled by India’s Harshal Patel, who also picked up 32 wickets, but from 15 games, to win the Purple Cap winners in IPL 2021.
Bravo became the first bowler in IPL history to win multiple Purple Caps when he finished as the highest wicket-taker once again in 2015 with 26 scalps.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar soon joined Bravo in the club with back-to-back Purple Cap wins in 2016 and 2017. The pacer secured 23 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and was instrumental in their maiden title victory.
Harshal Patel, meanwhile, is the only player who has won the IPL Purple Cap for two different teams. After his exploits with RCB in 2021, he picked of 24 wickets in 14 matches for Punjab Kings in IPL 2024.
In 2019, South African Imran Tahir became the first spin bowler since Pragyan Ojha to take the Purple Cap. Tahir’s Chennai Super Kings finished runners-up to Mumbai Indians that season.Besides Patel and Bravo, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada is the only other bowler to touch the 30-wicket mark. The pacer accomplished this feat for Delhi Capitals and won the IPL Purple Cap winners in 2020.
Here is the season-wise list of IPL Purple Cap winners in details
| Season | Player | Matches | Wickets |
| 2008 | Sohail Tanvir (RR) | 11 | 22 |
| 2009 | RP Singh (DC) | 16 | 23 |
| 2010 | Pragyan Ojha (DC) | 16 | 21 |
| 2011 | Lasith Malinga (MI) | 16 | 28 |
| 2012 | Morne Morkel (DD) | 16 | 25 |
| 2013 | Dwayne Bravo (CSK) | 18 | 32 |
| 2014 | Mohit Sharma (CSK) | 16 | 23 |
| 2015 | Dwayne Bravo (CSK) | 16 | 26 |
| 2016 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 17 | 23 |
| 2017 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 14 | 26 |
| 2018 | Andrew Tye (KXIP) | 14 | 24 |
| 2019 | Imran Tahir (CSK) | 17 | 26 |
| 2020 | Kagiso Rabada (DC) | 17 | 30 |
| 2021 | Harshal Patel (RCB) | 15 | 32 |
| 2022 | Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) | 17 | 27 |
| 2023 | Mohammed Shami (GT) | 17 | 28 |
| 2024 | Harshal Patel (PBKS) | 14 | 24 |
