Indian Premier League has provided immense entertainment to its fans from the very start and acts as a source of joy and excitement for them. Though its a general thinking that everyone wants to see fours and sixes hit in the league, the importance of bowlers can’t be written off. In fact, it has been found that teams who possess better bowling attacks have been more successful in the cash-rich league. Every year, the bowler who takes the most wickets is awarded the coveted purple cap.
In the very first season in 2008, Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir took the most wickets (22) and became the first winner of the Purple cap. He picked up 22 wickets in the inaugural season which included phenomenal figures of 6/14 in one of the innings. His brilliant run in the season meant Rajasthan Royals could clinch the title that year.
Next year, it was RP Singh who won the purple cap with 23 wickets in 16 matches while playing for Deccan Chargers. For the second time in the row, the player winning the purple cap also became part of the Champion side as Deccan Chargers defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.
In 2010, it was again an Indian in form of Pragyan Ojha who was the highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps in 16 matches. He bowled at an economy of 7.29 and an average of 16.8 while playing for the Hyderabad franchise. Lasith Malinga and Morne Morkel were the next two winners of the purple cap in the 2011 and 2012 season.
Dwayne Bravo won the purple cap while playing for CSK in 2013 and 2015. He picked up 32 wickets in 2013 which is still the record for most wickets in a single season. In 2014 also, it was a CSK bowler in form of Mohit Sharma who finished as the highest wicket-taker with 23 scalps in 16 games.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar holds the record for winning a purple cap in two consecutive seasons. He picked up 23 wickets in the 2016 season and was a vital cog in the successful campaign of SRH that year. Next year he picked up 26 wickets in 17 games.
In IPL 2018, Andrew Tye took 24 wickets while playing for Punjab and became the first player from Australia to win the purple cap. Two players from South Africa Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada have been the best bowlers for their teams in recent years. Tahir was the purple cap winner in IPL 2019 where CSK reached the finals, while Rabada also was part of the finals in IPL 2020 along with being the highest wicket-taker (30) in the tournament.
IPL purple cap winners list
| Season | Player | Team | Matches | Wickets |
| 2008 | Sohail Tanveer | 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 |
