The seventh match of IPL 2025, held on March 27 at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, shook up the Orange and Purple Cap standings as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) played against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Rishabh Pant led LSG to their first victory of the season, but it was Shardul Thakur who stole the spotlight with a four-wicket haul for 34 runs against SRH. His match-winning spell not only earned him the Player of the Match award but also got him to the top of the Purple Cap leaderboard.
Noor Ahmad holds the second spot, followed by Krunal Pandya, Khaleel Ahmed, and Varun Chakravarthy. The Purple Cap will be awarded to the top wicket-taker in the season.
The Orange Cap leaderboard is also taken over by LSG, with Nicholas Pooran leading it. His 76 runs off 26 balls in yesterday’s match helped him gain the top spot. Mitchell Marsh sits in the second spot, while Travis Head is in third place. Ishan Kishan has slipped to fourth, and Dhruv Jurel holds the fifth spot. The Orange Cap will be awarded to the tournament’s leading run-scorer.
Shardul Thakur – Purple Cap
Shardul Thakur wasn’t even part of IPL 2025 until a few days ago. The 33-year-old was brought in as an injury replacement for Mohsin Khan. Yet, in less than a week, he has already claimed the Purple Cap leaderboard. In his first IPL match of this season, he clinched two wickets for 19 runs, though the team fell short against the Delhi Capitals (DC). In yesterday’s match, he dismantled SRH’s batting lineup, sending four players – Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Abhinav Manohar, and Mohammed Shami – back to the pavilion.
Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir won the Purple Cap in the inaugural IPL season in 2008. Since then, only three players have won the prestigious title twice. Dwayne Bravo (2013, 2015), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2016, 2017), and Harshal Patel (2021, 2024).
Nicholas Pooran – Orange Cap
Nicholas Pooran has emerged as LSG’s boundary-hitting machine. Against SRH, he smashed six fours and six sixes, following up on his performance against DC, where he struck six fours and seven sixes. In a recent interview with ESPN, the 29-year-old batter revealed that he “doesn’t plan to hit sixes” but simply focuses on “timing the ball”.
Australian cricketer Shaun Marsh won the Orange Cap in IPL’s debut season in 2008. However, David Warner holds the record for the most Orange Caps, having won it three times (2015, 2017, 2019). Chris Gayle (2011, 2012) and Virat Kohli (2016, 2024) have both claimed the title.