Yuzvendra Chahal’s 2/34 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday sent the spinner to top of the Purple Cap race in the ongoing IPL 2024 season. Chahal’s bowling display and Nandre Burger’s 1/33 restricted RCB to 183/3 in 20 overs in Jaipur. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli smacked a stunning century, clattering an unbeaten knock of 113 runs off 72 balls.
Chasing 184, Rajasthan Royals reached 189/4 in 19.1 overs, winning by six wickets. For RR, Jos Buttler slammed an unbeaten ton, hammering 100 off 58 balls. Meanwhile, RR skipper Sanju Samson (69) got a half-century.
Chahal climbed above GT pacer Mohit Sharma in the Purple Cap race. Mohit is second with seven wickets, and is followed by CSK’s Mustafizur Rahman (7). Meanwhile, LSG’s new pace sensation Mayank Yadav is fourth with six wickets and DC’s Khaleel Ahmed (6) is fifth.
Speaking after the match, RR captain Samson said, “Anything below 190 with a little bit of dew, with the batting order we have, it was a good score to chase. Touchwood, a few games to go, they are doing well, four days of gap, allows people to recover, rest, train and allows you to come charged up for a game. Bowling is 9 and batting is 8.7. [on Buttler] Just about time, if he gets through the powerplay, and if he hits it, very happy for him and very happy for the team.”
Purple Cap history
Sohail Tanvir won the Purple Cap in the inaugural season in 2008, with 22 wickets. Meanwhile, RP Singh became the first Indian to clinch the award in 2009, with 23 wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only player to win back-to-back Purple Caps, achieving it in 2016 and 2017. Last year’s Mohammed Shami won the award with 28 dismissals. Meanwhile, Chahal got the award in 2022 with 27 dismissals.
