IPL 2026 Purple Cap: Prince Yadav Ties with Anshul Kamboj

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-04-23

The IPL 2026 Purple Cap race just got a whole lot tighter. On Wednesday night in Lucknow, bowlers stole the show in a low-scoring game between the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Prince Yadav of LSG snagged two crucial wickets, pulling him level with Chennai Super Kings' Anshul Kamboj at the top of the wicket-takers list. RR won the match pretty comfortably, 159 to 119. With 16 wickets falling across the game, it was clear the pitch was helping the bowlers. That shook up the Purple Cap standings in a big way. ### Prince Yadav and Kamboj Are Neck and Neck on 13 Wickets Right now, both Prince Yadav and Anshul Kamboj have 13 wickets each this season. But here's the thing: the tie-breaker gives Prince a slight edge. His economy rate sits at 8.38, compared to Kamboj's 9.73. That puts Prince at the top of the table, even though he's bowled in one more game than Kamboj. Kamboj has been just as impressive in his six matches for CSK. His best figures this season are 3/22, and he's been rock-solid. Prince, on the other hand, has played seven games and recorded his best of 3/32. He's honestly one of the breakout stories of IPL 2026. ### Archer, Malinga, and Prasidh Krishna Are Still in the Hunt The Purple Cap race is wide open just below those top two spots. Eshan Malinga from Sunrisers Hyderabad and Prasidh Krishna from Gujarat Titans both have 12 wickets each. Malinga's done it in seven matches, while Prasidh's done it in six. They're ranked third and fourth. Jofra Archer jumped to fifth place after taking three wickets against LSG on Wednesday night. He's now got 11 wickets. The coolest thing about Archer's numbers? His economy rate of 7.96 is the best among any bowler in the top 16. His teammate Ravi Bishnoi also has 11 wickets, but his economy is a much higher 9.26, keeping him just behind Archer in the rankings. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar of RCB and Kagiso Rabada of Gujarat Titans round out the top eight with 10 wickets each in six matches. ### Orange Cap Standings Barely Budged After the LSG Game The Orange Cap didn't move much after a game where runs were tough to come by. Abhishek Sharma of SRH still leads with 323 runs, followed closely by his teammate Heinrich Klaasen with 320. Shubman Gill of GT is third with 265 runs. Here's the only real shift: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi overtook Virat Kohli for fourth place. Even though Sooryavanshi only scored 8 runs against LSG, his overall total of 254 puts him ahead of Kohli, who has 247 runs for RCB so far. ### What This Means for the Rest of the Season With the season already past the halfway point, both the Purple and Orange Cap races are heating up. It's going to be a fierce fight all the way to the last group stage matches. Every game matters now, and the bowlers are really stepping up. So, keep an eye on these standings. The competition is getting intense, and we might see some new names rise to the top before it's all over.