Ruturaj Gaikwad added a solid achievement to his ever-growing resume when he became the youngest batter in IPL‘s 14-year history to win the Orange Cap which is given to the season’s top run-getter. There was a close battle for the Cap with Faf du Plessis finishing just two runs behind his CSK teammate Gaikwad’s tally of 635 runs.
IPL 2021 Full Coverage | Schedule | Results | Points Tally | Orange Cap | Purple Cap
Faf, who scored 86 in the IPL 2021 final against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, needed to score three off the final delivery of CSK innings but ended up being caught meaning Gaikwad took the Orange Cap.
Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul who scored 626 runs completes the top-three.
Gaikwad needed just 24 runs to overtake Rahul at the top which he did easily and when he holed out after CSK were put in to bat, finished with 635 runs from 16 innings. He struck century and four fifties throughout the season and averaged 45.35 finishing as one of CSK’s top-performers.
He is the only batter in the UAE leg to have struck a century - 101 not out against Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi, though it came in a losing cause. However, with his eye-catching performance throughout the season, the 24-year-old has surely raised hopes for the future - both for CSK and the Indian national cricket team for which he received a maiden call-up earlier this year for the Sri Lanka tour.
He played two matches against Sri Lanka but only managed 35 runs across two innings. Gaikwad represents Maharashtra in domestic cricket. In 21 first-class matches, he has 1349 runs including four centuries and six half-centuries. In 59 List A matches, he has 2681 runs including seven hundreds and 16 fifties.
When Gaikwad was reminded of the neck-and-neck ballte forthe Orange Cap, he said, “I wanted him (Faf) to hit that six and add those six important runs (for the team)."
The Purple Cap for the most wickets in the season was won by Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Harshal Patel who took 32 wickets.
Get all the IPL news and Cricket Score here