Batters win you matches. Bowlers win you tournaments. That’s an old age adage in cricket. This holds good in each form of cricket. It is even more important in T20 cricket where batters dictate the course of the game. 

The Indian Premier League (IPL) being one of the biggest annual cricket spectacles has witnessed many skilled bowlers who have left an indelible mark in the tournament. To celebrate such bowling performances and the bowlers, the IPL organizing committee came up with the concept of “Purple Cap.” 

What Is Purple Cap in IPL?

The bowler who has taken the most wickets in the league (including the Playoffs) to date this season is going to wear the Purple Cap while fielding. After each team has played in at least one game, the cap is presented, and it is then transferred to a different bowler who has taken the most wickets in the league so far.

When a bowler completes this feat, he is awarded the Purple Cap. When two or more bowlers have taken the same number of wickets so far in the season, the bowler with the lowest economy rate among those in a tie will be awarded the Purple Cap.

Here is a list of the top wicket takers of IPL of each season till 2023:

Top Wicket-Takers in Each Season of IPL

Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Tanvir was the top wicket-taker of the 2008 IPL. Though he played 11 of the 16 matches his team Rajasthan Royals played in the 2008 season, Tanvir came on top of the table of the wicket-takers list. He picked up 6 for 14 in a match against Chennai Super Kings which was the best bowling spell of IPL 2008. That record remained intact until 2019 when Alzarri Joseph playing for Mumbai Indians picked up 6 for 12 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Unfortunately, there was no Pakistan player participation in the subsequent IPLs because of the strained relationship between India and Pakistan. The next two Purple Cap winners were from India. Playing for now defunct Deccan Chargers, RP Singh with 23 wickets was the highest wicket taker of IPL 2009. Incidentally, the Deccan Chargers were also the winner of the 2009 IPL. In 2010 another Deccan Chargers bowler Pragyan Ojha won the Purple Cap but his team though finished second in the league table, could not go the distance to win the trophy.

Three overseas bowlers, Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians), Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils), and Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings) were the top wicket takers of IPL 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively. Indian seamer Mohit Sharma by picking up 23 wickets, won the Purple Cap for most wickets with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2014. He played in the 2014 T20 World Cup final and the 2015 World Cup as well. 
Another CSK bowler Dwayne Bravo won the Purple Cap for most wickets with Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2015, becoming the first bowler to win the Purple Cap twice. In the following two seasons in 2016 and 2017, India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad equalled Dwayne Bravo’s record of winning the Purple Cap in consecutive years.

Though Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) finished at number 7 in the points table, KXIP bowler Andrew Tye finished as the leading wicket-taker of the 2018 IPL picking up 24 wickets in 14 matches. In the 2019 IPL season, famous for his excessive celebrations, South African spinner Imran Tahir playing for Chennai Super Kings defeated his fellow countryman Kagiso Rabada by one wicket to win the Purple Cap by picking up 26 wickets in 17 matches. Imran Tahir also became the second spinner after Pragyan Ojha to win a Purple Cap.

In the following year, Kagiso Rabada playing for Delhi Capitals bounced back to become the top wicket taker of IPL 2020. In IPL 2021 playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, the uncapped Indian pacer Harshal Patel picked up 32 wickets to win the Purple Cap. In 2022, released by RCB Yuzvendra Chahal playing for RR came back with a strong performance to become the top wicket-taker of IPL 2022. Gujarat Titans pacer Mohammad Shami won the IPL 2023 Purple Cap for picking up 28 wickets in 17 matches.