Cricket
Crowning the Kings of Wickets: A Complete List of IPL Purple Cap Winners (2008-2024)
With some of the world’s top bowlers calling the Indian Premier League home, SportsBoom has looked at the Purple Cap holders history and who could claim the award at the end of the 2025 season In the Indian Premier League, the Purple Cap is one of the two most important individual awards and denotes the season’s top wicket-taker. Reaching the top of the dismissal charts is far from simple, thanks to a bevy of international stars and local heroes in the batting line-ups.
MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo/Getty Images
The T20 cricket format is also said to favour batsmen, meaning that the IPL’s top bowler is the one who shows sheer grit with the ball in hand.
SportsBoom has looked at the IPL top wicket-takers from 2008 to 2024, and has also analysed who could win the Purple Cap prize in 2025.
What is the IPL Purple Cap?
The Purple Cap is one of two dynamic IPL awards, presented to the top wicket-taker during the season.
The cap changes hands, sometimes from match to match, to reflect the most prolific bowler at the time.At the end of the season, the Purple Cap is formally awarded to the player with the most wickets that year.
The Elite Fraternity: IPL Purple Cap Winners (2008-2024)
Each season, bowlers outfox batsmen and top the charts to claim the prestigious Purple Cap.SportsBoom has compiled the table below to highlight the season-by-season list of winners:
| Season | Player | Matches | Wickets |
| 2008 | Sohail Tanvir (RR) | 11 | 22 |
| 2009 | R. P. Singh (DCH) | 16 | 23 |
| 2010 | Pragyan Ojha (DCH) | 16 | 21 |
| 2011 | Lasith Malinga (MI) | 16 | 28 |
| 2012 | Morne Morkel (DD) | 16 | 25 |
| 2013 | Dwayne Bravo (CSK) | 18 | 32 |
| 2014 | Mohit Sharma (CSK) | 16 | 23 |
| 2015 | Dwayne Bravo (CSK) | 16 | 26 |
| 2016 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 17 | 23 |
| 2017 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) | 14 | 26 |
| 2018 | Andrew Tye (KXIP) | 14 | 24 |
| 2019 | Imran Tahir (CSK) | 17 | 26 |
| 2020 | Kagiso Rabada (DC) | 17 | 30 |
| 2021 | Harshal Patel (RCB) | 15 | 32 |
| 2022 | Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) | 17 | 27 |
| 2023 | Mohammed Shami (GT) | 17 | 28 |
| 2024 | Harshal Patel (PBKS) | 14 | 24 |
Most Wickets IPL Season: Spotlight on Key Purple Cap Winners & Trends
Multiple Winners
Only three bowlers have won the Purple Cap twice, namely Dwayne Bravo, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel.Patel is the only player to have won the prize with two different teams: Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Each of these multiple award-winners embodies a different style, showcasing how success can have many moving parts.
Bravo, for instance, functioned as a seam bowler but utilised many variations and notably excelled in death overs.Kumar, by comparison, is a lethal swing bowler and his ability to get ball movement both ways has made him an icon.
Patel is also a reliable pace bowler but his accuracy and near-unplayable slower balls have helped build his legacy.
Record-Holders
In addition, two players are also joint-holders of the record for the most wickets in a single Indian Premier League season, with 32 dismissals, respectively.
Dwayne Bravo’s Purple Cap 2013 season saw Chennai Super Kings reach the final, where they lost to Mumbai Indians despite his contribution of four wickets.
Harshal Patel’s Purple Cap 2021 season saw Royal Challengers advance to the Eliminator, where he added two more in the loss to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Variety of Bowlers
It is also worth mentioning that there is no distinction between pace and spin bowlers when it comes to success in the IPL’s Purple Cap race.
Fast bowlers like Lasith Malinga, Mohit Sharma and Morne Morkel have as much success as spinners like Imran Tahir and Yuzvendra Chahal.
This serves to prove that domination in T20 bowling, particularly the IPL, comes down to pure wicket-taking ability and the bowler’s discipline.
Overseas vs Indian Winners
Given its status as a competition attracting international talent, the IPL has also seen a mix of overseas and local players win the Purple Cap.
Since the first winner, Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir, the prize has alternated between Indian bowlers and global names bought by their franchises.
As of the 2024 edition, eight international stars and eight Indian talents have been awarded the Purple cap in the 16 seasons of the league
Impact of Winning Teams
When considering the IPL bowling records season, top wicket-takers often represent teams that reach the playoffs of the Indian Premier League.
Sohail Tanvir’s Purple Cap 2008 season saw his franchise, Rajasthan Royals, winning the inaugural trophy against Chennai Super Kings.
RP Singh enjoyed similar success with his team, Deccan Chargers, who lifted the 2009 IPL title after defeating Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
This trend has been prevalent in the list of Purple Cap winners all seasons since, with most of the teams with top bowlers reaching the playoffs.
In terms of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s IPL wicket success, he helped Sunrisers Hyderabad reach the final in 2016 and the Eliminator in 2017.
Looking Ahead: The Race for the IPL 2025 Purple Cap
With the Indian Premier League playoffs already taking shape, anticipation is also building for the individual prizes for batting and bowling.
The Purple Cap race has been particularly close this season, with only a few dismissals separating the top five wicket-takers in 2025.Rising stars and veteran players are contesting the prize, with international fixtures set to play a defining role in which bowler claims the glory.
At the time of filing this report, Prasidh Krishna of Gujarat Titans is leading with 21 wickets, ahead of CSK’s Noor Ahmad with 20 so far.Third place is jointly held by Mumbai Indians’ Trent Boult and RCB’s Josh Hazlewood on 18, although the Australian’s season has ended.
Varun Chakravarthy of Kolkata Knight Riders is fifth with 17 dismissals, although several bowlers are battling to also reach the top five.
Conclusion
The Purple Cap is among the IPL’s top accolades, recognising those bowlers who have reaped success as destructive wicket-takers.
The names on the list of previous winners are a testament to the award’s legacy, with multiple-time winners standing alone.
With focus now shifting to the playoffs and which team will join the top three, attention has also turned to the impact of the bowlers.
Will one of the current top five be crowned the Purple Cap winner this season, or are there more twists in store for the bowling crown?
The race for the Purple Cap is a season-long narrative; a bowler's form in this race significantly impacts their 'Top Team Bowler' and 'Player of the Match' market appeal.
Bruce Douglas has more than 12 years of experience in local news media. He has worked at all levels of print and online publication, from crime and politics to photography, newspaper layout, proofreading, mentoring, sub-editing, and leading a newsroom. He played numerous sports at the school level and enjoys keeping up to date.