Rajasthan Royals are running the Orange and Purple cap races at the top of IPL 2026
Three games played, three wins, two caps on the table. Rajasthan Royals look like the team to beat in IPL 2026 so far, and the individual stats tell a big part of that story. Yashasvi Jaiswal sits top of the Orange Cap race after taking the lead with his unbeaten 77 against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday night. Ravi Bishnoi, the man the Royals picked up at the auction, is on top of the Purple Cap list with seven wickets in three games.
Jaiswal now has 170 runs in three matches at a strike rate above 160, and the way he is hitting the ball there will not be many bowling plans that work. The Mumbai Indians came to Guwahati and watched him belt ten fours and four sixes in a rain-shortened knock that set up a 27-run win and pushed Rajasthan to the top of the standings.
Jaiswal leads a loaded pack
Behind him, Sameer Rizvi has 160 runs from two games, and Heinrich Klaasen is next on 145. That is a healthy top of the Orange Cap list, and it is only going to get more crowded as every team plays its fourth or fifth fixture. Jaiswal held the Orange Cap for long stretches last season too, and on early evidence he is in the mood to do it again.
What stands out is the tempo. Jaiswal has moved from measured starts to full-throated acceleration almost from ball one this year. In a rain-affected 11-over slog in Guwahati, the format suited him, and he took it.
Bishnoi finally back where he wants to be
Ravi Bishnoi's Purple Cap tells its own story. After a rough last season at Lucknow Super Giants, the leg-spinner has started his Rajasthan Royals stint with seven wickets at an economy of 9.11, which is expensive but forgivable given how often he is the man breaking partnerships. His 4 for 41 against Gujarat Titans remains his standout return so far.
Nandre Burger is the closest chaser on five wickets with a tighter economy of 8.44, so Bishnoi cannot relax. But with three matches in and his team winning, Bishnoi looks a lot more like the bowler who was tipped to fetch big money at the auction than the one who had a quiet 2025.
Royals out ahead, but it is early
Three games is a small sample in an 14 match league stage, and the caps will change hands several times before the playoffs. What it does say is that Rajasthan Royals are currently getting the best out of both their most expensive pieces, and that is a luxury most teams in this tournament would take. Jaiswal and Bishnoi are not carrying the side on their own, but they are leading the counting stats, and right now that is the clearest snapshot of where IPL 2026 is at.
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