Image: IPL 2026 Orange Cap Leaderboard Lead By Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
The IPL 2026 Orange Cap race has rewritten the record books. It is the award given to the highest run-scorer across the entire IPL season — and in 2026, the winner is a 15-year-old playing his just the 1st full season.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals leads with 776 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 237.30. No batter in IPL history has ever sustained that rate across a full season while scoring 700-plus runs. He faced just 327 balls to get there. Every other batter in the top 10 needed at least 275 more deliveries to score fewer runs.
Behind him, the leaderboard reads like a who’s who of world batting. Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill has scored 732 runs at 45.75 — including a century in Qualifier 2 that is now the fastest hundred ever in IPL playoffs. His opening partner Sai Sudharsan sits third with 722 runs and a century of his own. GT are the only team with two batters in the top three.
Further down, Virat Kohli of RCB brings the firepower at fourth with 675 runs. At 37 years old, averaging 50 in T20 cricket is a statistical outlier that may never be repeated. Heinrich Klaasen follows at fifth with 624 runs. Most remarkably, Ishan Kishan sits sixth with 602 runs. See the full official IPL 2026 stats for complete season data.
“The IPL 2026 Orange Cap leaderboard is not just numbers, it is a battlefield of dreams, where every run defines legacy, every innings burns pressure, and only the relentless survive the season’s ruthless race onwards.”
📖 See how the Purple Cap race unfolded alongside the Orange Cap in our IPL 2026 Purple Cap leaderboard
| Pos | Player | Team | Runs | Mat | Inns | NO | HS | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 🟠 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | RR | 776 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 103 | 48.50 | 237.30 | 5 | 1 | 63 | 72 |
| 2 | Shubman Gill | GT | 732 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 104 | 45.75 | 163.02 | 6 | 1 | 74 | 33 |
| 3 | Sai Sudharsan | GT | 722 | 17 | 17 | 1 | 100 | 45.13 | 157.98 | 8 | 1 | 75 | 30 |
| 4 | Virat Kohli | RCB | 675 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 105* | 56.25 | 165.84 | 5 | 1 | 73 | 25 |
| 5 | Heinrich Klaasen | SRH | 624 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 69 | 48.00 | 160.00 | 6 | 0 | 48 | 31 |
| 6 | Ishan Kishan | SRH | 602 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 91 | 40.13 | 182.42 | 6 | 0 | 60 | 32 |
| 7 | KL Rahul | DC | 593 | 14 | 14 | 1 | 152* | 45.62 | 174.41 | 5 | 1 | 56 | 31 |
| 8 | Abhishek Sharma | SRH | 563 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 135* | 40.21 | 204.72 | 4 | 1 | 50 | 43 |
| 9 | Mitchell Marsh | LSG | 563 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 111 | 43.31 | 163.18 | 3 | 1 | 51 | 36 |
| 10 | Jos Buttler | GT | 526 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 60 | 37.57 | 152.46 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 26 |
| 11 | Dhruv Jurel | RR | 515 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 81* | 36.79 | 154.65 | 6 | 0 | 47 | 24 |
Table: IPL 2026 Orange Cap Leaderboard
Insight 1 — Sooryavanshi’s strike rate defies history.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi faced 327 balls to score 776 runs. The next highest scorer, Shubman Gill, faced 441 balls for 722 runs — 114 more deliveries for 54 fewer runs. That gap between first and second in balls faced is the widest in IPL history for the top two run-scorers of a season. Sooryavanshi did not just score the most runs. He scored them in a way no one has before.
Insight 2 — GT’s opening pair dominated as a unit.
Shubman Gill (732) and Sai Sudharsan (722) are the only opening partnership in IPL history where both openers crossed 700 runs in the same season. Their combined 1,432 league-stage runs is the highest ever by a single opening pair in one IPL season. Their 167-run stand in Qualifier 2 is the highest partnership in IPL playoff history. This was not two good batters — this was one of the greatest opening combinations in IPL history operating at the same time.
Insight 3 — Kohli’s average of 50.00 at age 37 is the real headline.
Six hundred seventy five runs at 56.25 average and a strike rate of 165.84 in T20 cricket at 37 years old. Kohli’s consistency column shows 0 innings below 20 all season. His 105 not out was his 9th IPL century — more than any batter in history. The Orange Cap belongs to Sooryavanshi’s brilliance. But the IPL 2026 story of the season, statistically, belongs equally to Kohli’s refusal to slow down.
IPL 20226 Orange Cap Leaderboard is lead by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has scored 776 Runs in IPL 2026
Virat Kohli scored 75* of 42 balls in the Final of IPL T20 2026. He was also awarded the Player of the Match for his outstanding performance.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals won the IPL 2026 Orange Cap with 776 runs in 16 innings at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30. He hit 72 sixes and 63 fours across the season — the most sixes by any batter in a single IPL season.
Virat Kohli scored 675 runs in 16 matches for RCB in IPL 2026 at an average of 56.25 and a strike rate of 165.84. His highest score was 105 not out. He finished fourth in the IPL 2026 Orange Cap standings.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had three batters in the top 10 — Heinrich Klaasen (4th, 624 runs), Ishan Kishan (5th, 602 runs), and Abhishek Sharma (8th, 563 runs). Despite this, SRH were eliminated in the Eliminator by Rajasthan Royals on May 27.
Yes. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi broke Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL season during the Eliminator against SRH on May 27, 2026. He also became the youngest batter in IPL History to amass 700+ runs in a single season.
Shubman Gill scored 732 runs in 16 matches in IPL 2026 at an average of 45.75 and a strike rate of 163.02. He hit one century — 104 off 53 balls in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals — the fastest hundred in IPL playoff history.
