The Aramco Purple Cap next season will be an honour that many players would fight for. With two more new teams getting added, a few more cricketers will actually get a chance to have a go at the Purple Cap. However, in the tournament, consistency is a key factor in winning an award. With video and data analysts not taking a lot of time in reading a cricketer, it sometimes might require the player to add newer skills to remain relevant. Especially for the bowlers, this holds true. On that note, in this article, we predict five players who might win the Purple cap in IPL 2022.
1) Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
Jasprit Bumrah is one of the five players whom we think might win the Purple cap in IPL 2022. It is surprising to note that Bumrah is yet to win the Purple Cap in IPL. For a bowler who has arguably been the best in his profile in recent years, the honour is yet to arrive.
Nevertheless, the Mumbai Indians cricketer will have yet another chance to get it. He has good company in the form of Tymal Mills at the death this time around. Hence, batters will have to take on one of the two bowlers, meaning Bumrah could be at the centre of a chunk of wickets.
2) Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans)
Just like Bumrah, surprisingly, even Rashid has not won the Purple Cap in IPL. He bowls mostly during the middle and batters have reached a stage wherein they would rather see off the Afghan and attack the others.
However, Rashid has developed his skills such that he forces the batter to play him. This results in wickets and if the player can manage this at regular intervals, he can get close to winning the Purple Cap.
3) Harshal Patel (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Harshal Patel left many in surprise after he won the Purple Cap in IPL 2021. He took 32 wickets at an average of 14.34 and has now cemented a place in Team India courtesy of that show.
For bowlers to pick a lot of wickets in IPL, bowling at the death is the best option. Harshal is a death specialist and has got many deliveries to reduce the run-scoring. Yes, he might go for a few runs at times but the Haryana cricketer returns with a lot of wickets. Therefore, he could be in the running to win the Purple Cap again in IPL 2022.
4) Avesh Khan (Lucknow Super Giants)
Avesh Khan is one of the players who might win the Purple cap in IPL 2022. The Madhya Pradesh pacer was the second-highest wicket-taker at IPL 2021. He collected 24 wickets at an average of 18.75 last season. For the upcoming campaign, Avesh has moved to the Lucknow Super Giants.
The youngster is likely to lead the pace attack in the franchise. He will have the likes of Jason Holder and Mark Wood for support but the onus will be on Avesh to pick wickets. The player can exploit the new ball conditions, has the ability to hit the deck hard and possesses variations to excel at the death. Hence, he is best placed to pick plenty of wickets.
5) Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings)
Kagiso Rabad picked 30 wickets in IPL 2020 and won the Purple Cap. He also collected 25 wickets in 2019 and 15 wickets in 2021. This shows the consistency of the player in IPL.
The South African will play for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022. He will have to lead the bowling attack, something he has anyways been doing in recent years for all teams he represents. Rabada was not at his best in IPL 2021. If he can rediscover his old T20 form again, he can easily win the Purple Cap.
