No nation – not even India – has finished atop the tournament’s run-getters list more often
Aussies' dominance of IPL's Orange Cap
2008: Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab, Australia)
616 runs in 11 matches
West Australian Marsh took home the Orange Cap in the inaugural IPL season to kick-start a near-decade of dominance for Australian batsmen in the competition. The left-hander was 24 at the time and hitting the ball as well as anyone in world cricket, as highlighted by a stunning century, five fifties and 26 sixes – all of which helped take Punjab to within a game of the first-ever final.
2009: Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings, Australia)
572 runs in 12 matches
Hayden made it two in a row for Australians in the IPL when the big-hitting opener showed that, despite having called time on his international career, he plundered runs to all parts throughout a tournament-high return of 572 runs at 52, with five half-centuries. Chennai reached the finals but, like Marsh's side in '08, fell one game short of the decider.
2010: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians, India)
618 runs in 15 matches
The Little Master may have been more than 20 years into his international career but he remained the most revered figure in world cricket – and a pretty handy batsman, too. Tendulkar pipped Marsh's IPL1 mark of 618 runs to lead all comers in '10, despite only hitting three maximums throughout the season. His five half-centuries were critical in taking Mumbai all the way to the final, which they lost to Chennai.
Image Id: BA1BF48D6D44472DAC3BFB584DFCA820 Image Caption: Sachin Tendulkar claimed the cap in 2010 // Getty2011: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore, West Indies)
608 runs in 12 matches
Jamaican heavy-hitter Gayle was another to take his team to the final with a stunning streak of scoring, but where Sachin caressed and carved, the self-described 'World Boss' crashed and crunched. Gayle set a new benchmark for an IPL season in hammering not one, but two hundreds, clearing 600 runs and finishing ahead of a classy young Indian batsman named Virat Kohli.
Image Id: E4900BF74ECE4E08B4DE093102EFACDC Image Caption: Gayle has twice claimed the Orange Cap // Getty2012: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore, West Indies)
733 runs in 15 matches
It turned out that 2011 was just the warm-up for West Indian superstar Gayle, who cleared the previous IPL record by more than 100 runs with a monster '12 tournament. There was just the one hundred among those runs – a brutal 128no against Delhi – but no fewer than seven fifties, as Gayle became the first (and only) player to retain the Orange Cap, despite his side missing the finals.
2013: Michael Hussey (Chennai Super Kings, Australia)
733 in 16 matches
Having retired from Test cricket in January of the same year, 'Mr Cricket' showed his thirst for runs was as insatiable as ever as he matched Gayle's record-breaking 2012 return and ensured the Orange Cap was back on an Australian head for the first time since 2009. Chennai lost the final but Hussey had been instrumental in getting them there, averaging 52, striking at 129 and hitting six half-centuries.
Image Id: AD1088149C20438DACCB47DD07B05B3F Image Caption: Mike Hussey dominated in 2013 // Getty2014: Robin Uthappa (Kolkata Knight Riders)
660 runs in 16 matches
India 'keeper-batsman Uthappa became the first batsman to wear the Orange Cap in a championship-winning side, proving Mr Consistent for KKR in the process. Uthappa carried the batting for the title winners, scoring 259 more runs than his nearest teammate (Manish Pandey, who managed 401 runs) with 74 fours and 18 sixes along the way.
2015: David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Australia)
562 runs in 14 matches
Warner became the fourth Australian in eight seasons to earn the Orange Cap, though his return was lower than any previous winner. That said, the left-handed entertainer still managed to strike at 156, average 43 and smash 21 sixes to enhance his reputation as one of the tournament's most damaging batsmen. Sunrisers Hyderabad finished sixth, winning just half their matches, but they wouldn't have to wait long for their fortunes to change.
Image Id: FCC116DB9C2A4C0093D48170C46C20B3 Image Caption: Warner dominated in 2015 // BCCI2016: Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore, India)
973 runs in 16 matches
Virat Kohli was devastating in the ICC World T20 that proceeded this tournament and carried on that form for RCB, stringing together by far the most prolific season the IPL has ever seen. The dynamic right-hander just missed out on 1000 runs for the tournament – a figure previously unthinkable until his 2016 exploits – and hit a mind-boggling four hundreds and seven fifties in 16 trips to the middle. Bangalore were beaten in the final by Hyderabad, with Warner enjoying the second-best IPL season in history with 848 runs.