10. Umran Malik – Sunrisers Hyderabad
IPL 2022 has been an outstanding season for Umran Malik as he has picked up 15 wickets in 9 games. He is the second-highest wicket-taker for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Malik is currently leading the list for the fastest delivery during this season after bowling two balls at 154 kph. Also competing against him is Gujarat Titans pacer Lockie Ferguson, whose top delivery speed is 153.9 kph.
He is 8th on the Purple Cap list, 4 wickets away from the leader Yuzvendra Chahal, having played one fewer match. Malik has improved a lot throughout the campaign, so it will be no surprise if he takes a few more wickets.
This 22-year-old has performed exceptionally well since the start of the ongoing season. The tournament has already seen him pick up a 5-wicket haul and a 4-wicket haul. Former Protea speedster Dale Steyn is currently mentoring him at SRH's camp. Note that this is Malik's first full-time IPL season.
9. Yuzvendra Chahal – Rajasthan Royals
Yuzvendra Chahal first caught the attention of the cricketing world in 2009 when he claimed 34 wickets at the National Under-19 (U19) Cooch Behar Trophy, ultimately finishing as the tournament's leading wicket-taker.
In the same year, Chahal played his first-class debut for Haryana and signed with Mumbai Indians in 2011 to play for their IPL team.
Chahal is currently ranked first in the highest wicket-taker list. He managed another 3-wicket haul of the season, racking up a bowling figure of 3/28 in 4 overs against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
Rajasthan Royals managed to keep Kings under the 200-mark with his haul. Accordingly, the Purple Cap holder passed the 20-wicket mark this season, accumulating 22 wickets in total, and gained another feather to his cap.
Chahal became the second bowler in tournament history to accumulate 20 or more wickets on 4 different occasions in a single season. Former Sri Lankan and Mumbai Indians seamer Lasith Malinga is the only other individual to achieve this feat. Malinga currently coaches fast bowling for the Royals.
8. Kagiso Rabada – Punjab Kings
Kagiso Rabada has steadily climbed his way to being one of the best in his field. Rabada’s love for sports began with a Rugby stint in school. In the off-season for rugby, he also began playing cricket. However, at some point, he had to choose between rugby and cricket. He chose the latter and therefore, the cricket world has become richer.
Rabada played his international debut in a Twenty20 International (T20I) game against Australia in Adelaide at the age of 19. He failed to pick up any wickets on his T20I debut.
His One Day International (ODI) debut, however, was a completely different story. He shredded Bangladesh's batting line-up on their home soil, finishing with 6/16, an impressive bowling figure for a debut in ODIs.
Rabada signed with Punjab Kings in the IPL 2022 mega auction for ₹9.25 crores (roughly US $1.2 million), rendering him the squad's most expensive bowler of the season. Having taken 17 wickets in 9 matches so far, he is once again in the running for the Purple Cap.
7. Kannaur Lokesh Rahul – Lucknow Super Giants
Before the IPL 2022 auction, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) picked up Kannaur Lokesh Rahul after he left the Punjab Kings. With his second century of the season and fourth century of his career, Rahul joined David Warner, Shane Watson, and Jos Buttler on the list of most centuries in the IPL. In Match 26 of IPL 2022, he reached the milestone within 56 balls, paving the way for LSG to post a big total.
Rahul became the 7th batter in IPL history to score more than 2 centuries. The LSG's captain has scored his 3rd century in the IPL, following in the footsteps of former South Africa batter AB de Villiers and RR captain Sanju Samson who also have 3 centuries. In addition to that, he became the first batter in IPL history who scored a century in his 100th match. His first 2 centuries were marked with PBKS in 2019 and 2020.
Rahul has logged more than 3200 IPL runs. In the last four seasons, starting with the most recent, he has scored 626 points, 670 points, 593 points, and 659 points. Among Indian batsmen, he holds the record for the highest individual score in the IPL. Across all formats, he has been a key member of the Indian team. The same applies when he steps foot on the field for LSG.
6. Liam Livingstone – Punjab Kings
The English cricketer Liam Livingstone is a batting all-rounder who started his career with the Lancashire team in 2015. In 2017, he was selected for the England international team. He has played in the England ODI and T20I cricket teams continuously since then. He played his IPL debut with RR against SRH on April 9, 2019.
In IPL 2022, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder struck long sixes. The tournament has seen him striking the longest six of the season in the 48th match against Gujarat Titans (GT) off pacer Mohammed Shami.
Livingstone hit a massive six that travelled 117m during the game. He took charge against Shami’s first ball of the 16th over and hit a six which landed him at the 8th spot.
Earlier in this season, Mumbai Indians’ Dewald Brevis struck a 112m long six against PBKS. And prior to the longest six this season, Livingstone hit long sixes of 108m and 106m as well.
5. Hardik Pandya – Gujarat Titans
Hardik Pandya played his T20I debut with the India team against Australia on January 27, 2016, claiming 2 wickets.
In domestic cricket, Pandya played a significant role in Baroda cricket team taking home the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the 2013-14 season. He then made his MI debut in 2015 and played for them for 7 years. Pandya played a major role in MI winning 4 titles during that period. He scored 1476 runs and took 42 wickets for the squad.
Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill were drafted by the Gujarat Titans prior to the IPL 2022 auction. Among all players in the team, Pandya is the only one who consistently delivered every time he walks into the game.
His immense self-belief sets him apart from other young cricketers. He never lets pressure hinder his performance. Instead, he thrives on it.
4. Wanindu Hasaranga – Royal Challengers Bangalore
Wanindu Hasaranga began his career as a batsman who was skilled at throwing aggressive leg-breaks. Following his recognition as a prodigy, Hasaranga earned a spot in Sri Lanka's U19 teams both in 2015 and 2016.
With Ports Authority Cricket Club, he made an impressive 87 on his first-class debut. In the 2017 Premier League Tournament for Colombo Cricket Club, he scored 586 runs at an average of 39.06 and a strike rate of 93.
Prior to the IPL 2022, Hasaranga had 57 wickets at a strike rate of 12.9 in his T20I career. He has the third-best average and second-best strike rate with a 40-wicket cut-off, whereas his economy is fourth among bowlers who have bowled 100 overs.
3. Umesh Yadav – Kolkata Knight Riders
Umesh Yadav was not among the most sought-after players entering the IPL mega auction. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) acquired the Indian pacer for a base price of ₹2 crores (roughly US $259,000). Fans questioned the team’s decision to spend so much money on the veteran fast bowler.
Yadav’s outstanding performances this season have proven his critics wrong. So far, he has taken 15 wickets in 10 outings at an average of 19.06. He has a tendency to concede a bit too many runs, but he has kept the economic rate under control.
More often than not, Yadav's new ball wickets have helped his team to get off to a great start. As the eighth-highest wicket-taker this season, he hopes to end the season on a high note, given that KKR is unlikely to make the playoffs.
2. Andre Russell – Kolkata Knight Riders
Andre Russell joined KKR in 2014 from the Delhi franchise and has since proven to be a valuable member of the team. The West Indian power-hitter has scored 1869 runs in just 87 games for KKR. He has been a game-changer on numerous occasions in both international and franchise cricket.
Russell leads the race for the highest strike rate in T20 cricket with a minimum of 2000 runs, at a strike rate of 169.47. This made him one of the most sought-after players in the format. He became the third bowler in T20 history to pick up 4 or more wickets in the 20th over, and also the first player to take 4 wickets in the last over of an innings.
The IPL 2022 has seen Russell pick up 12 wickets in 10 innings at an average of 15.75 so far. With a strike rate of 183.78, he scored 272 runs in 9 innings including 27 sixes and 15 fours. He is the second-best batsman in his team behind Shreyas Iyer and the second-best bowler behind Umesh Yadav.
1. Jos Buttler – Rajasthan Royals
Jos Buttler was acquired by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the 2022 season. He added another major accomplishment to his already impressive record in the IPL 2022. The Royals star has been a consistent performer for the team with over 300 runs in 2019 and 2020 and 3 centuries in 2022, making him by far the top performer on the team.
The wicketkeeper-batsman made history as the first RR batsman ever to reach 600 runs in a single season against Punjab Kings on May 7, 2022. Despite scoring just 30 runs, it was enough to keep him on the list of top run-scorers in the tournament.
With 618 runs from 11 matches in the tournament, Buttler has exceeded Ajinkya Rahane to become the top-scoring player for RR in a season. Rahane finished the 2012 season with 560 runs, while Butler took the second spot in the 2018 edition with 543 runs.
Best 10 IPL Cricket Players
|
Pos
|
Player
|
Matches
|
Points
|
Wickets
|
Dot Balls
|
4s
|
6s
|
Catches
|
Run outs
|
|
1
|
Jos Buttler
|
11
|
282
|
0
|
0
|
55
|
37
|
6
|
0
|
|
2
|
Andre Russell
|
11
|
217.5
|
12
|
37
|
15
|
27
|
2
|
1.5
|
|
3
|
Umesh Yadav
|
10
|
212
|
15
|
123
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
0
|
|
4
|
Wanindu Hasaranga
|
12
|
200.5
|
21
|
108
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
5
|
Hardik Pandya
|
10
|
188
|
4
|
45
|
36
|
8
|
2
|
6
|
|
6
|
Liam Livingstone
|
11
|
187.5
|
3
|
22
|
22
|
25
|
5
|
0
|
|
7
|
Lokesh Rahul
|
11
|
184
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
20
|
7
|
1.5
|
|
8
|
Kagiso Rabada
|
10
|
184
|
18
|
100
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
|
9
|
Yuzvendra Chahal
|
11
|
179
|
22
|
99
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
10
|
Umran Malik
|
11
|
179
|
15
|
114
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
