IPL 2026 Purple Cap: Eshan Malinga overtakes Bhuvneshwar Kumar to go top

NEW DELHI: Eshan Malinga continued his impressive run in IPL 2026, rising to the top of the Purple Cap standings after a disciplined outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad 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 piled up 243/5, powered by an unbeaten 123 from Ryan Rickelton. Malinga’s lone breakthrough — the prized wicket of Suryakumar Yadav — proved significant, helping him edge ahead in the race for the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.With this performance, Malinga took his tally to 15 wickets this season, moving past a tightly packed group of bowlers who were level on 14 wickets. He leapfrogged Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer and Anshul Kamboj to claim the top spot.Bhuvneshwar currently sits second, thanks to a superior economy rate of 7.61 among the trio tied on 14 wickets. Archer follows in third place with an economy of 8.27, while Kamboj is fourth with 8.56.The competition remains intense just below the top four. Prince Yadav of Lucknow Super Giants occupies fifth position with 13 wickets, edging past Kagiso Rabada on the basis of a better economy rate — 8.06 compared to Rabada’s 9.48.Further down the list, Rabada’s teammate Prasidh Krishna has 12 wickets, while Ravi Bishnoi sits with 11. Mohsin Khan and Krunal Pandya complete the top 10 with nine wickets each.As the league stage progresses, the Purple Cap race is shaping into a closely fought contest, with just a handful of wickets separating the leading contenders.