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Rabada Wins IPL 2026 Purple Cap in the Final Over: How He Edged Out Bhuvneshwar in a Thriller
5 Jun 2026, 5:29 pm
Rabada and Bhuvi Were Neck and Neck Until the Last Over
The IPL 2026 Purple Cap race did not get decided until the very last match of the season. Gujarat Titans pacer Kagiso Rabada and RCB veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar entered the final level on 28 wickets each, setting up one of the most dramatic individual battles in IPL history. Both men delivered in the final itself, and it was only in the chase that Rabada snuck ahead.
Rabada dismissed Devdutt Padikkal for just one run during RCB's chase of 156, moving him to 29 wickets for the season and putting the Purple Cap beyond Bhuvneshwar's reach. The South African had earlier also removed Venkatesh Iyer to strengthen his case. Despite GT losing the final by five wickets, Rabada left Ahmedabad as the tournament's leading wicket-taker.
A Season of Relentless Consistency
Rabada finished IPL 2026 with 29 wickets from 17 matches at an economy rate of 9.68. His wickets were spread across all phases of the innings, making him genuinely difficult to target as a batter. His ability to take wickets with both the new ball and at the death is what separated him from the rest of the pack.
Bhuvneshwar, for his part, had an outstanding campaign of his own. He finished with 28 wickets from 16 matches at an economy rate of just 7.95, the best among the top five wicket-takers in the tournament. His best figures of 4 for 23 were a highlight of an excellent season. He was the engine of RCB's bowling attack throughout their title defence.
Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals completed the top three with 25 wickets in 16 matches, while Rashid Khan was the only spinner to break into the top ten wicket-takers, finishing with 21 wickets from 17 games.
History Made for Rabada
This is Rabada's second Purple Cap. He first won it in IPL 2020 while representing Delhi Capitals, when he took 30 wickets in a remarkable individual campaign. By claiming the award again in 2026, he became only the fourth bowler in IPL history to win the Purple Cap more than once, joining Dwayne Bravo, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Harshal Patel in that exclusive group.
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