IPL 2022: Top 5 Contenders For The Orange Cap: The 15th edition of the biggest cricket carnival is less than a fortnight away; all the eight teams have started their quarantine with some even having begun their preparatory camps.
Since the mega-auction was completed last month, fans have been speculating about which team could emerge victorious this season, as well as who could be the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker of the tournament.
With the form of the batsman and batting position in mind, we predict the top 5 contenders for the Orange Cap this season:
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has scored over 400 runs in each of the last two seasons, however, those runs have come at a strike rate of less than 125 as he looks to anchor the innings but has at times failed to provide the late impetus.
This season, though, could be different as he’d been freed from the extra burden and pressure of captaining the side. In this IPL we may see a more aggressive, more attacking Kohli right from the start of the innings. Opening for RCB, fans may even expect Kohli to have the beast-like season he had in 2016 when he ransacked 973 runs!
KL Rahul
KL Rahul has been in thunderous form since 2018 when he joined Punjab and became one of the finest T20 openers in the world, and won the Orange Cap in 2020. Rahul has scored over 550 runs in each of the last four seasons, with twice amassing more than 650.
Rahul, leading the new Lucknow franchise, is now away from the pressure of batting with a fragile Punjab middle-order, and would be asked by the management to play in his natural attacking style and plunder the bowling attacks from the first over. He is expected to be in the Orange Cap race this season as well.
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan, now part of the Punjab Kings team, has been an underrated batsman in the league in the past few years. While Dhawan has always been among runs in the IPL, his below-par strike rate has let his fans down. But, since joining the Delhi Capitals in 2019, Dhawan had added an extra gear in his innings where he takes down the bowlers from the onset of the innings.
He’s been in contention for the Orange Cap in the past three seasons – scoring over 500 in each of them – and is expected to be among the leading run-scorers this season, too, – now especially given that he has a point to prove after being dropped from India’s T20I squad.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad had his breakthrough IPL season last year when he aggregated 635 and formed a formidable opening pair with Faf du Plessis, who fell just two runs short of Gaikwad, helping CSK to their fourth IPL title. Gaikwad has been retained for 6 crore.
His batting modus operandi – start slow with taking fewer risks before exploding in the end – will keep him in good stead in the Orange Cap competition this season too.
Ishan Kishan:
Given his exploits so far, skipper Rohit Sharma has addressed that Kishan’s best position is opening the batting. Ishan Kishan is perhaps the most attacking-minded opener in the IPL 2022. For the youngster Mumbai Indians broke the bank at the mega-auction splurging 14 crore, Kishan will want to repay their faith, and also further his cause for a place in India’s T20I eleven.
Kishan struggled on the slow, turning Chennai pitch last year in the IPL, but found his mojo back on better batting surfaces in the UAE. He will certainly enjoy the much flatter and truer pitches in Mumbai and Pune where the IPL will be played. With his gung-ho approach, Kishan is certain to put up a big score if he bats through the innings.
