With India’s biggest domestic fray almost at our doorsteps, speculations of the likeliest contenders to pick up the Orange Cap are doing vehement rounds. With a few favourite names already topping the chart, this year’s IPL may see new monikers that can make it to the ace.
We will look at the five top players who are currently doing the rounds to be the highest scorer of the tournament.
1. David Warner
Already a winner of the Orange Cap for a staggering three times, the Australian opener will be the most advanced competitor amongst all to be eyeing the crown.
Known for his prolific hitting ability, he will lead the Sunrisers batting force, and given his early arrival to the crease, it gives him ample time to shape his innings accordingly.
The fact that he will join forces with a dynamic Johnny Bairstow at the top, gives him the leeway to go for the kill early as the English man can take off a lot of weight from his partner’s shoulder with hard-hitting of his own.
2. Virat Kohli
This man has always been in the hunt for this award right since his emergence in the cricketing roster.
A master of expressive and exquisite strokeplay, Kohli’s best comes out when subjected to inhuman pressure. The Indian skipper has carried his franchise single-handedly when the others failed to claw the surface.
Given his remarkable season where he amassed 973 runs to become the only batsman to score more than 900 runs in a single season, it is said that the run-machine will be targeting the 1000-run mark in this edition of the fray. If he manages to pull off this insane record, it will be needless to say that he will walk away with the Orange Cap.
3. Rohit Sharma
The Mumbai Indians captain, Sharma has struggled for the past two seasons. However, his dalliance with those brilliant strokes has underlined the fact that when the Indian vice-captain remains stifled for a while, he unleashes the beast in himself.
A merciless hitter of the ball will be coming out either at number three or probably be the opening partner of Quinton De Kock. With a knack for those titanic leg-side shots, he will go after the bowlers early in the innings. Though he hasn’t won the Orange Cap once, he still remains to be the franchise’s highest scorer till date.
It won’t be surprising to see him going in with a new approach to topple a few records for the imminent season.
4. KL Rahul
This may sound a bit outrageous but the young Indian opener has proven himself to be a ruthless aggressor when it comes to opening the innings.
He will be sharing the opening stand with the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League.
A perfect blend of hard-hitting and accurate timing and placements, Rahul can easily steer the tide around in his team’s favour. More importantly, to underline his belligerence, the fastest half-century of IPL is still next to his name.
5. Shubman Gil
Another rebellious moniker in the slew of giants, Shubman Gil left an impressive mark in the previous edition of IPL. He was not able to gather enough time as he was being used pretty low down the order.
Once promoted to the opening slot, he brought out the tactical monster in him to show it to the world that he is built if a rare metal.
Possessing a wide array of shots in his arsenal, he can be a real game-changer, if he can keep his head calm and his nerves untouched.
