The IPL season is all set to the place in the United Arab Emirates this year. Well, the grounds in the gulf country are not new to anyone as most people remember the iconic Desert Storm innings by Indian Legend Sachin Tendulkar at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Ever since the early 2000s international cricket paused in the UAE due to a lot of fixing approaches being made in the country.
Despite all those fixing scandals, the IPL returned to the UAE in 2014 for the first leg of the tournament because of the general elections in India. Post that, UAE were also hosts for the 2018 Asia cup where India emerged winners.
Though the pitches in the UAE don’t offer much to the bowlers as they’re normally flat decks and with short boundaries on either side make it a very batting pitch. Which is why we expect more high scoring games this season and again when we talk about high scoring games, we also talk about the batsman who’d notch up high scores for their team.
Let’s Take A Look At The Top 5 Orange Cap Contenders Of IPL 2020:
Virat Kohli
The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper is one of the prime candidates for the orange cap this year. He previously won the Orange Cap in 2016 wherein he scored 973 runs, which included 4 centuries. He also holds the record for the most number of centuries and for scoring the most amount of runs in one IPL season.
As a captain, Kohli hasn’t been the most successful for RCB but as a batsman, he’s always been among the runs for the Bangalore based franchise. Though Kohli wasn’t in the best form during the New Zealand series but a player of Virat Kohli’s status can never be counted out.
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma as they call him is the Mumbai Indians skipper and holds the record for leading Mumbai Indians to 4 IPL titles in last 7 years. Though Rohit Sharma has never won the orange cap he’s always been one of the top scorers for his franchise.
Since the last two years, he hasn’t been in the best of forms but as a player, Rohit Sharma is quite unpredictable. Since after a decent IPL season with the bat in 2019, he went on to become the leading run-scorer in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
As Rohit’s captaincy skills often overpower his batting prowess since he’s been the most successful IPL captain. But this year we expect Rohit to hit a couple extra out of the ground since the bouncy pitches in the UAE will suit his batting style.
David Warner
With the Sunrisers Hyderabad re-announcing David Warner as captain of the Hyderabad franchise, a lot is expected of the Australian. New Coach Trevor Bayliss expects Warner to lead and score runs for SRH as he did before getting suspended in 2018.
The Australian Batsman holds a distinct record of winning the orange cap thrice in the last 5 years. His record in the IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad speaks for himself as he’s been consistently averaging over 40, opening the innings for SRH since 2014.
A fierce striker of the ball like David Warner can never be missed out when we talk about the orange contenders, which is why he’s one of our prime candidates to win the Orange Cap this year.
KL Rahul
The Karnataka Born KL Rahul was roped in by Kings XI Punjab after RCB released him in 2018. He was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2019 season just behind David Warner where he had scored an astonishing 593 runs including a hundred and six fifties.
Ever since the end of 2019, Rahul has had a prolific run in the blue jersey for India. From being India’s backup opener to be India’s first-choice wicket-keeper in the ODI format has instilled a certain level of confidence in him.
Though this year he has the added responsibility of leading the Kings XI Punjab side under the guidance of new coach Anil Kumble. We don’t think the captaincy will add any pressure on Rahul’s batting as he’s lead his stateside Karnataka on numerous occasions.
The flat tracks and short boundaries in the UAE stadiums will assist Rahul in notching up piles of runs for his franchise this season.
Rishabh Pant
Young sensation Rishabh Pant doesn’t need any definition as such since he’s already proved his credentials as a batsman playing for the Delhi based franchise. With a colossal strike rate of over 150 since 2017, Pant is the one player to watch for this season.
Pant’s best season in the IPL came in the year 2018 where he scored 684 runs which included 1 hundred and 5 fifties. Over the years we’ve seen Pant developed from a teenager to winning matches for Delhi with his power hitting.
He has developed a range of unorthodox shots since last few seasons, from the reverse scoop to playing one reverse hit over point. As a result, when we talk about the ‘Orange Cap’ contenders, a player like Pant cannot be struck out.