The Purple Cap — IPL 2026's leading wicket-taker award — is being chased by a tight pack with 26 fixtures left. As of 1 May, a handful of bowlers are within 2-3 wickets of each other and any one of 4-5 names can finish ahead.
Jasprit Bumrah is the form bowler — his death-overs work has been clinical, 3 maidens in his last 4 games. Yash Dayal has the lowest powerplay economy among left-arm seamers in the second half. Mohammed Siraj at GT continues to swing the new ball both ways. Spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Yuzvendra Chahal sit in the chasing pack with 18-20 wickets each.
Bowlers who pick up wickets in the powerplay AND death overs (i.e. play 4 overs across both phases) accumulate fantasy points fastest. Bumrah, Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj are the safest fantasy captain picks among bowlers in mid-to-late May.
Updated Purple Cap race + bowler form table: ipl-predict.in publishes weekly trend lines.
Don't pick bowlers based on reputation alone. The Purple Cap winner usually finishes with 25-30 wickets across the season. Anyone in the 18+ range with 5-6 fixtures left is mathematically alive — and the playoffs add 2-4 more innings for the top-4 sides.