IPL Orange Cap 2023: Here's A Look At The Top Four Contenders

The IPL 2023 tournament has now entered into the super critical playoff & eliminator stages, and Chennai Super Kings after their impressive win against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 have secured their place in the IPL final for a record 10th time.

In the IPL eliminator which will took place on May 24, Mumbai Indians recorded a big win against LSG and booked their place in the Qualifier 2 where they will face Gujarat Titans. The winner of qualifier 2 will then face CSK in IPL 2023 Finals.

Apart from the IPL title which every remaining team is fighting for, there are some individual accolades which are also regarded highly from the overall tournament perspective.

IPL Orange Cap which is bagged by the highest run scorer of the tournament and IPL Purple Cap which is bagged by the highest wicket taker of the tournament - are the two individual prizes which quite a few players will be aiming for.

So with just four teams left in the competition lets take a look at who is the current leader in the IPL Orange Cap category and who has the chance of winning the IPL Orange Cap at the end of the tournament.

Last year, Jos Buttler had won the IPL Orange cap by accumulating 863 runs and was way ahead of the next contender KL Rahul who came second with 616 runs followed by Quinton De Cock who scored 508 runs in total.

This year the race for IPL Orange cap is far more competitive. Here are the top 15 players with the most runs in the tournament so far (prior to MI vs LSG IPL Eliminator match)

• Faf Du Plessis, captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore is the current IPL Orange cap holder with 730 runs against his name after playing 14 matches.

• He is closely followed by Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill who has amassed 722 runs in 15 matches. Shubham Gill had a golden chance against CSK to become the IPL Orange Cap holder but fell short by 9 runs.

• Virat Kohli, is third in the list with 639 runs against his name. Kohli came up the ranks after notching up back-to-back centuries but his team failed to pass the hurdle to qualify for the playoffs.

• Yashasvi Jaiswal is probably the find of the tournament especially from an Indian cricket perspective. He went on to score 625 runs in 14 matches. He also has the highest strike rate among the top 4 run getters this IPL 2023.

Realistically speaking, these are the four players who have the chance to end up as the winner of the IPL Orange Cap at the end of the IPL 2023 tournament.

• Faf Du Plessis

• Shubman Gill

• Devon Conway

• Suryakumar Yadav

Lets take a look at the number of matches left for each of these contenders.

• Faf has zero matches left to play.

• Gill can play upto two matches (Qualifier 2 and Final).

• Conway has one match left to play (final).

• SKY can play upto two matches (Qualifier 2 and Final).

RCB captain Faf Du Plessis and his team might be out of the reckoning as far as IPL 2023 is concerned but he still can end with the IPL Orange cap. Here are the scenarios.

• Gill scores less than 8 runs in total (out of the possible two matches).

• In the IPL 2023 final, Devon Conway scores less than 105 runs.

• Suryakumar Yadav scores less than 186 runs in total (out of the possible two matches combined)

The GT opener probably has the most realistic chance of knocking over Faf and securing the IPL Orange Cap.

Here are the scenarios

• Gill needs to score 9 runs or more (out of the possible two matches).

• Gill scores minimum 9 runs and Conway scores maximum 105 runs in IPL Final.

• Gill scores minimum 9 runs and Suryakumar Yadav scores maximum 186 runs in total (out of the possible 2 matches)

With CSK into the final, Conway is left with just a single 'bite at the cherry'. But he can still secure the IPL Orange Cap.

Here are the scenarios

• Conway hits a century and scores more than 105 runs, And Gill scores less than 8 runs (out of the possible 2 matches)

• Conway hits a century and scores more than 105 runs, And Suryakumar Yadav scores maximum 186 runs in total (out of the possible 2 matches)

SKY along with Gill is the other player left in the race for the Orange Cap who can play upto 2 matches - Qualifier 2 against GT (May 26) and IPL Final against With CSK (May 28). Hence despite the run difference he can still secure the IPL Orange Cap.

Here are the scenarios

• Suryakumar Yadav scores minimum 187 runs (out of the possible 2 matches), And Gill scores less than 8 runs (out of the possible 2 matches)

• Suryakumar Yadav scores minimum 187 runs (out of the possible 2 matches), And Conway scores maximum 105 runs in IPL Final.

So with just two matches to go any of these four batsmen can end up winning the coveted IPL Orange Cap.