Who Is The First-Ever IPL Orange Cap Winner?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) first came into existence in 2008 and a big reason for its introduction was because of India's sensational victory in the inaugural edition of ICC T20 World Cup 2007. Not many knew then, that this T20 competition will become one of the biggest sporting events in the comings years across the entire globe. There have been a number of games so far in the IPL history, where both the India as well as overseas cricketers have showed their talent and gotten opportunities at the international level by performing excellently well at the grandest stage of all. Incidentally, it was former Australian batsman Shaun Marsh who won the Orange cap in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. 

2008 IPL Orange Cap List

While playing for the Kings XI Punjab (now known as Punjab Kings), former Australian cricketer Shaun Marsh topped the charts as most runs in a single IPL season in 2008. The stylish left-handed batsman composed a wonderful tally of 616 runs from a total of 11 matches. He had an impressive strike-rate of close to 140 and an excellent average of 68.44 in the Indian Premier League 2008 season. The former Australian batsman notched up as many as 5 half-centuries and 1 hundred. However, despite Marsh's fabulous performance in the first-ever IPL season, the Kings XI Punjab ended up losing the semi-final at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by a comprehensive margin of 9 wickets. 

Talking about his IPL career, Shaun Marsh has scored a total of 2477 runs from as many as 71 IPL matches at a strike-rate of 132.74. At an average of close to 40, the southpaw batsman has smashed 20 half-centuries and 1 hundred. He made his IPL debut against the Deccan Chargers in 2008 while his last game in the T20 tournament came against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017. While talking about his present scenario, Marsh became viral in the cricket news having announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 17 January, 2024 during the 2023-23 Big Bash League. 

He has notched up an exceptional tally of 2265 runs from as many as 38 Test matches at an average of 34.32 that includes 10 half-centuries and 6 hundreds. Marsh has scored 2773 runs in 73 ODI games at an average of more than 40, smacking 15 fifties and 7 hundreds. He is still renowned as the first-ever holder of the IPL Orange cap in 2008 and the likes of Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Capitals), Sanath Jayasuriya (Mumbai Indians), Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals) and Graeme Smith (Rajasthan Royals) were the other members in the leading run-scorers tally of the season. 

While talking about the Orange cap winners in the Indian Premier League history, it was another Australian left-hander Matthew Hayden who topped the charts in 2009. During 2009, the IPL was hosted in South Africa and the left-hander scored 572 runs in 12 matches at an average of 52. Hayden smashed a total of 5 half-centuries and had a fine strike-rate of more than 144. Former India legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar won the IPL Orange Cap in 2010 while playing for the Mumbai Indians where he scored 618 runs from 15 matches at an average of 47.53. 

It was West Indies big-hitting opening batsman Chris Gayle who scored the most number of runs in the Indian Premier League 2011 and 2012 seasons. He went on to smack 608 and 733 runs respectively in IPL 2011 and 2012. While talking about the IPL 2013 season, legendary Aussie batter Michael Hussey was at the top of the list with 733 runs from as many as 17 games. 

Interestingly, Robin Uthappa became the first-ever Orange Cap winner in the history of the tournament to even win the IPL trophy in the same season in 2014. The right-hander scored 660 runs while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 16 matches. Australia's David Warner holds the record for winning the most number of IPL Orange caps in the history of the Indian Premier League, having finished thrice as the leading run-getter in 2015, 2017 and 2019. 

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli broke all the cricket records in the IPL history in 2016 having scored a magnificent tally of 973 runs which is still the most runs scored in a single season of the IPL. He notched up as many as four centuries. Kane Williamson won the Orange Cap in IPL 2018 as he smashed 735 runs from 17 games. KL Rahul scored 670 runs from 14 games in IPL 2020 held in the UAE while current Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad won the Orange Cap in 2021. 

Jos Buttler went on to smash 863 runs from 17 matches in the IPL 2022 as the Rajasthan Royals finished as the runners-up. Shubman Gill scored 890 runs in the IPL 2023 to lead the charts. While talking about the ongoing IPL 2024 season, Virat Kohli is once again at the top of the IPL orange cap list.