The Indian Premier League is just a day away and once again, cricketers from all corners of India would rub shoulders with international stars to provide unfiltered cricketing entertainment for two months straight. The Orange Cap, as already known to all, is awarded to the player with the most number of runs scored in a season. Over the years, this cap has been exchanged between some big names in the game, both from India as well as international cricket and this time, the story would be the same too with most batters having set their eyes on the prize. Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad had won the Orange Cap last season as his side won the title, their fourth in total.  IPL 2022 Live Streaming Online on Disney+ Hotstar: Get Free Telecast Details Of Indian Premier League Season 15 On TV In India

Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab)'s Shaun Marsh was the first-ever winner of the Orange Cap as he scored the maximum number of runs (616) in the 2008 IPL, the first-ever season of the tournament. Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in IPL history and interestingly, also holds the record for the most number of runs scored in one single season. The right-hander was at his absolute best in 2016, where he racked up a whopping 973 runs in 16 games with four hundreds and seven fifties. Too bad, he could not lead his side, Royal Challengers Bangalore to the title as they fell short in the final. Kohli's idol, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar was the first Indian to win the Orange Cap when he won it for Mumbai Indians in 2010. David Warner, who would turn out for Delhi Capitals this season, has won the Orange Cap for the most number of times (3).

IPL's Orange Cap Winners' List

Year Player Team Matches Innings Runs
2008 Shaun Marsh Punjab Kings/Kings XI Punjab 11 11 616
2009 Matthew Hayden Chennai Super Kings 12 12 572
2010 Sachin Tendulkar Mumbai Indians 15 15 618
2011 Chris Gayle Royal Challengers Bangalore 12 12 608
2012 Chris Gayle Royal Challengers Bangalore 15 14 733
2013 Michael Hussey Chennai Super Kings 17 17 733
2014 Robin Uthappa Kolkata Knight Riders 16 16 660
2015 David Warner Sunrisers Hyderabad 14 14 562
2016 Virat Kohli Royal Challengers Bangalore 16 16 973
2017 David Warner Sunrisers Hyderabad 14 14 641
2018 Kane Williamson Sunrisers Hyderabad 17 17 735
2019 David Warner Sunrisers Hyderabad 12 12 692
2020 KL Rahul Punjab Kings 14 14 670
2021 Ruturaj Gaikwad Chennai Super Kings 16 16 635

Gaikwad, who had won the Orange Cap last year, is definitely a favourite to bag the award this time too. But he would face some stiff competition from the likes of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, former teammate Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma among other names.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2022 05:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).