IPL 2017: David Warner wins Orange Cap, Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes Purple Cap

The 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked off on 5 April, with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a sizeable margin in the opening encounter of the tournament. After one-and-a-half months of gripping action, Mumbai Indians beat their neighbours Rising Pune Supergiant by the slimmest of margins to win the IPL crown for the third time. Krunal Pandya did the star turn with the bat and the bowlers defended a light-weight score to take Mumbai to victory by one run in the final at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on 21 May. Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders had dominated proceedings early on, with the two sides taking turns to occupy the top slot in the points table. MI became the first team in the ongoing tournament to make it to the play-offs after thrashing Delhi Daredevils by a record 147 runs. [caption id=“attachment_3429730” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both SRH, currently hold the Orange Cap and Purple Cap respectively. Sportzpics[/caption] DD, who boasted of a balanced side with a fearsome bowling line-up, had a disappointing campaign along with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Lions (GL). RCB’s losing streak touched the 10-match mark after their loss to KKR on 8 May, and the Virat Kohli-led side have produced one of their worst outings of all time this season, with their batting line-up getting bowled out for the lowest total in the history of the league (49 vs KKR at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata), despite the presence of superstars such as AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, aside from the captain. SRH skipper David Warner won the Orange Cap, for being the highest run-getter in the tournament, with a tally of 641 runs from 14 innings with an average of a fantastic average of 58.27. The highlight of his campaign was a 43-ball century against KKR at Hyderabad that terribly dented the confidence of the Kolkata franchise for the rest of the tournament. Warner had finished as the second-highest run-getter in the last season and continued his golden form this year, especially after suffering from a lean patch in the recent Test season for Australia. KKR captain Gautam Gambhir finished second in the race for the Orange Cap with 498 runs from 16 innings and SRH’s Shikhar Dhawan, who has had to battle injury and poor form over the past year or so, came third with a creditable 479 runs from 14 innings. While the Orange Cap had passed around on quite a few occasions this season, with the likes of Gambhir, Nitish Rana (Mumbai Indians) and Brendon McCullum (Gujarat Lions) getting a chance to wear it at some point or the other, the Purple Cap (award for the leading wicket-taker) hardly left Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s head. The India and SRH pacer finished the tournament on top with 26 wickets from 14 matches, conceding only a touch over 14 runs for every wicket he took. His best figures of 5/19 came against Kings XI Punjab at Hyderabad. Rising Pune Supergiant pacer Jayadev Unadkat finished a close second with 24 wickets from 12 matches and Mumbai’s Jasprit Bumrah was third with 20 scalps from 16 matches. Gujarat Lions’ Basil Thampi was adjudged the  Emerging Player of the Season, while Pune all-rounder Ben Stokes, who drew the highest bid of Rs 14.5 crore in the February auctions, vindicated Pune’s decision to spend big bucks on him by finishing as the Most Valuable Player of the Season.