Eshan Malinga (Pic credit: IPL) NEW DELHI: Eshan Malinga continued his impressive run in IPL 2026 to top the Purple Cap standings after Sunrisers Hyderabad’s disciplined performance against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.The young pacer returned figures of 1 for 29 in his four overs, maintaining an economy rate of 7.20 in a high-scoring contest where Mumbai amassed 243/5, powered by an unbeaten 123 from Ryan Rickelton. Malinga’s only breakthrough – the prized wicket of Suryakumar Yadav – proved to be significant and helped him gain an edge in the race for the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.With this performance, Malinga took 15 wickets this season and went past a tightly packed group of bowlers who were on par with 14 wickets. He leapfrogged Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Anshul Kamboj to claim the top spot.Bhuvneshwar is currently in second place thanks to an excellent economy rate of 7.61 between the trio sharing 14 wickets. Archer follows in third place with an economy of 8.27, while Kamboj is fourth with 8.56.Competition remains strong just below the top four. Lucknow Super Giants’ Prince Yadav occupies the fifth position with 13 wickets, surpassing Kagiso Rabada on the basis of a better economy rate — 8.06 compared to Rabada’s 9.48.Further in the list, Rabada’s teammate Prasidh Krishna has 12 wickets while Ravi Bishnoi has 11. Mohsin Khan and Krunal Pandya complete the top 10 with nine wickets.As the league stage progresses, the Purple Cap race is shaping up to be a close contest, with just a handful of wickets separating the leading contenders.
Latest IPL 2026 Purple Cap Standings
RankPlayerWicketsMatchesOversEcon.Best1Eshan Malinga (SRH)15931.09.164/322Bhuvneshwar Kumar (RCB)14831.07.613/53Jofra Archer (RR)14933.08.273/204Anshul (CSK)14827.48.563/225Prince Yadav (LSG)13830.08.063/326Kagiso Rabada (GT)13831.09.483/257Prasidh Krishna (GT)12726.010.344/28 (RR)11824.09.544/419Mohsin Khan (LSG)9416.06.375/2310Krunal Pandya (RCB)9827.08.852/30
