Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has signed off his IPL 2026 with 776 runs at a frankly ridiculous strike-rate of 237.30, a tally that keeps him in front for the Orange Cap – at least for now. Gujarat Titans’ Shubman Gill remains the only realistic challenger after a clean, measured 104 from 53 balls in Friday’s Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals. Gill moves to 722 runs, 54 adrift, and – crucially – he still has Sunday’s final to come.
That, in a nutshell, is the story at the top of this season’s batting table. Everything else, including Sai Sudharsan’s latest half-century and Kagiso Rabada’s late burst for the Purple Cap, sits just behind it.
Orange Cap check-in
The night began with three of the competition’s form batters – Sooryavanshi, Sai Sudharsan and Gill – all on show in New Chandigarh. Sooryavanshi, still fizzing from that 29-ball 97 earlier in the week, was a touch more restrained but still brutal enough for 96 off 47. He missed a second hundred by a whisker but walked off with the season’s highest aggregate safely banked.
Gill, though, had the loudest say. The right-hander – “I just tried to bat long and stay calm,” he told the host broadcaster at the break – anchored a 167-run opening stand with Sai Sudharsan and finished the chase with an over to spare. His driving down the ground looked in particularly decent nick, and the 104 was his third three-figure score in all T20 cricket this year.
Sai Sudharsan again looked at home in the powerplay, clipping 58 from 32 before, for the second game running, treading on his own stumps. It was clumsy but hardly disastrous: his season’s tally is now 710, also within sight of Sooryavanshi should things get silly in the final.
Virat Kohli, meanwhile, sits on 600 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Even two more classic Kohli innings would leave him shy, so the Orange Cap looks a straight shoot-out between the two Titans openers.
Purple Cap update
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had kept the wicket-takers’ chart warm for most of the tournament, yet Kagiso Rabada’s two for 34 – Dhruv Jurel nicked off early, Sooryavanshi heaved to long-on late – have nudged the South African to 28 wickets, two clear. “Small margins in T20, mate,” Rabada shrugged in his post-match media slot, acknowledging he may still need another burst with Bhuvneshwar waiting in Sunday’s opposite dressing-room.
Jofra Archer’s late-season surge halted with figures of one for 45, leaving him parked on 25 wickets. Jason Holder, tidy amid Sooryavanshi’s charge, returned two for 27 and sits a little further back.
What next?
Sooryavanshi’s season is over; Gill and Sai Sudharsan have one last go. Rabada and Bhuvneshwar square off for two more overs apiece, give or take. Beyond the personal awards, though, lies the small matter of an IPL trophy. Gujarat Titans chase a second title in three years; Royal Challengers, as ever, hunt their first.
Key numbers at a glance
Runs: Sooryavanshi 776, Gill 722, Sai Sudharsan 710, Kohli 600
Wickets: Rabada 28, Bhuvneshwar 26, Archer 25
Strike-rate (min 200 runs): Sooryavanshi 237.30, Glenn Phillips 207.10
Economy (min 20 overs): Mohammad Nabi 6.25, Holder 6.48
Sunday evening in Chennai should settle the rest. For now, Sooryavanshi holds the cap, Rabada holds the ball, and everyone else prepares for one last push.
