Kagiso Rabada leads the IPL 2026 Purple Cap standings with 29 wickets for Gujarat Titans. This updated leaderboard includes all 11 listed bowlers, complete bowling figures, three key insights, answers to the main Purple Cap questions, and the final season assessment.
Kagiso Rabada becomes the Most Wicket Taker in IPL 2026. ©BCCI-X
The IPL 2026 Purple Cap goes to the bowler who takes the most wickets across the entire season. In 2026, it belongs to Kagiso Rabada — the Gujarat Titans pace spearhead who led the bowling charts from the middle of the season all the way to the Final.
Rabada took 29 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 21.58 and a strike rate of 13.37. He bowled 64.4 overs across the season — more than any other bowler in the top 11. His 626 runs conceded across those overs reflect the toll of carrying GT’s attack in every match from powerplay to death overs.
Directly behind him sits Bhuvneshwar Kumar of RCB — the most economical bowler in the top five. Bhuvneshwar took 28 wickets in 16 matches at an economy of just 7.95. That economy rate across 63 overs of high-pressure T20 cricket is a remarkable achievement for a 34-year-old seamer.
Third is Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals with 25 wickets. Fourth and fifth are GT’s Rashid Khan and CSK’s Anshul Kamboj, both with 21 wickets. Gujarat Titans placed four bowlers in the top 10 — Rabada, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj and Jason Holder — the most of any team. That bowling depth is the primary reason GT reached the IPL 2026 Final. Check the official IPL 2026 stats for the complete season bowling data.
“The IPL 2026 Purple Cap leaderboard is not just wickets; it is a contest of skill and nerve, where every breakthrough shifts momentum and every spell carries pressure.”
📖 See how the batting race unfolded alongside the Purple Cap in the IPL 2026 Orange Cap leaderboard.
The published leaderboard contains the top 10 Purple Cap positions plus Prince Yadav in 11th, preserving every row and bowling statistic from the original post.
| Pos | Player | Team | Wkts | Mat | Inns | Ov | Runs | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 🟣 | Kagiso Rabada | GT | 29 | 17 | 17 | 64.4 | 626 | 25/3 | 21.58 | 9.68 | 13.37 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | RCB | 28 | 16 | 16 | 63.0 | 501 | 23/4 | 17.89 | 7.95 | 13.50 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Jofra Archer | RR | 25 | 16 | 16 | 60.0 | 559 | 17/3 | 22.36 | 9.31 | 14.40 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Rashid Khan | GT | 21 | 17 | 17 | 56.5 | 516 | 33/4 | 24.57 | 9.07 | 16.23 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Anshul Kamboj | CSK | 21 | 14 | 14 | 50.2 | 530 | 22/3 | 25.23 | 10.52 | 14.38 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Eshan Malinga | SRH | 20 | 15 | 15 | 54.2 | 507 | 32/4 | 25.35 | 9.33 | 16.30 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Mohammed Siraj | GT | 19 | 17 | 17 | 62.0 | 562 | 26/3 | 29.57 | 9.06 | 19.57 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Rasikh Dar | RCB | 19 | 12 | 12 | 42.5 | 405 | 24/4 | 21.31 | 9.45 | 13.52 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Kartik Tyagi | KKR | 18 | 14 | 13 | 51.0 | 498 | 22/3 | 27.66 | 9.76 | 17.00 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Jason Holder | GT | 17 | 11 | 11 | 38.2 | 290 | 24/4 | 17.05 | 7.56 | 13.52 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Prince Yadav | LSG | 16 | 14 | 14 | 52.0 | 459 | 32/3 | 28.68 | 8.82 | 19.50 | 0 | 0 |
Table: IPL 2026 Purple Cap leaderboard — 11 listed bowlers.
Kagiso Rabada won the Purple Cap with 29 wickets — one more than Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But economy tells a different story. Bhuvneshwar conceded just 7.95 runs per over across 63 overs of T20 cricket. In IPL 2026, where the average first-innings score was 193, that economy means he was giving away about 40 fewer runs than the tournament scoring rate over a full four-over spell. It was match-defining restraint in what the original analysis described as the most high-scoring IPL season ever.
Rabada (1st, 29 wickets), Rashid Khan (4th, 21), Mohammed Siraj (7th, 19), and Jason Holder (10th, 17) gave Gujarat Titans four bowlers in the top 10. Their combined 86 wickets from four bowlers were described in the original post as the highest contribution by a single team’s bowling group in IPL history. This depth was the structural reason GT made the Final despite losing Qualifier 1 by 92 runs: their attack could defend and strike through different phases of an innings.
Jason Holder finished 10th despite playing only 11 matches. His economy of 7.56 was the best among all 11 bowlers listed, while his 17 wickets came at an average of 17.05 in 38.2 overs. He played fewer games than any other top-10 bowler and still recorded the best economy and second-best average in the table.
The IPL 2026 Purple Cap leaderboard is led by Kagiso Rabada with 29 wickets, followed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 28 and Jofra Archer with 25. Rashid Khan and Anshul Kamboj complete the top five with 21 wickets each. The table below also includes the next-ranked bowler after the top 10 so the published 11-player dataset remains complete.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 28 wickets from 16 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He finished second in the Purple Cap standings with an average of 17.89, an economy of 7.95, a strike rate of 13.50 and best figures of 23/4.
📖 See how the batting race unfolded alongside the Purple Cap in the IPL 2026 Orange Cap leaderboard.
Kagiso Rabada of Gujarat Titans won the IPL 2026 Purple Cap with 29 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 21.58 and an economy of 9.68. He bowled 64.4 overs across the season.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 28 wickets in 16 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru at an economy of 7.95. His best figures were 23/4, and he finished second in the IPL 2026 Purple Cap standings.
Gujarat Titans had four bowlers in the top 10: Kagiso Rabada (1st, 29 wickets), Rashid Khan (4th, 21), Mohammed Siraj (7th, 19), and Jason Holder (10th, 17). No other team placed more than two bowlers in the top 10.
Jason Holder of Gujarat Titans had the best economy rate among the 11 listed bowlers at 7.56 runs per over across 38.2 overs in 11 matches. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was next at 7.95. Both were significantly below the tournament average economy of 9.50-plus cited in the original analysis.
No bowler in this 11-player Purple Cap table recorded a five-wicket haul. Rashid Khan’s 33/4 was the best individual return in the table. Five bowlers — Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Eshan Malinga, Rasikh Dar and Jason Holder — each recorded one four-wicket haul.
Kagiso Rabada finished first with 29 wickets, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was second with 28, and Jofra Archer placed third with 25 wickets.
The IPL 2026 Purple Cap race was dominated by pace throughout the season. Rabada’s 29 wickets for GT, Bhuvneshwar’s 28 for RCB and Archer’s 25 for RR formed the three most impactful bowling seasons in this leaderboard. What makes the table unique is Gujarat Titans’ dominance: four bowlers in the top 10 gave Shubman Gill a bowling arsenal that the original verdict argued no other captain could match. The combined role of Rabada, Rashid, Siraj and Holder on the biggest night remains central to the final assessment. Rabada finished with the cap, but Bhuvneshwar’s control and Holder’s economy ensure the table tells a broader story than wickets alone.
AB Ankit is Editor-in-chief of CricPage.
Winner, runner-up and leading economy.
All 11 published bowling rows and statistics.
Economy, Gujarat Titans depth and Holder analysis.
Top wicket-takers and the top-five order.
His 28-wicket season and complete figures.
Jump to the related batting leaderboard.
Six corrected answers about the standings.
The concluding assessment of the race.
The corresponding IPL 2026 batting leaderboard.
Current team and player ranking pages.
29 wickets in 17 matches for Gujarat Titans.
Positions, wickets, averages, economy rates and strike rates.
Four GT bowlers finished in the top 10.
Why wickets alone do not tell the complete story.