Rules for Orange and Purple Caps in IPL

Question

In IPL, Orange and Purple caps are awarded to the highest run scorer and highest wicket taker.

I have three questions on this topic.

1. If more than one player has equal stats (highest runs or wickets), what will they do?

2. Consider the following situation,

   A player in the field is wearing orange cap for most runs, but in the middle of the innings (it may be first or second) a batsman from the batting side overtakes his runs.

   Will he allowed to wear it anymore in that innings?

3. I didn't see anyone wearing at the time of batting.

   Is it permitted to wear these caps while batting?

Answer 1

1. In case of a tie, the Orange cap would be given to the one who has faced lesser balls to achieve this tied score. The Purple cap, in case of a tie at the top, is given to the one who has taken the wickets in the least amount of balls. This can be seen on the official IPL site Purple Cap standings 2013 (the link gets updated at the end of each game. Refer to the screenshot below for the standings as of 14th April where there is a tie) where Vinay Kumar (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Kevon Cooper (Rajasthan Royals) have the same number of wickets but the purple cap is with Cooper as he has bowled 5 overs fewer than Kumar to get those 8 wickets.

   

2. Yes, the Orange cap owner who is fielding will be allowed to wear the orange cap till the end of the innings even if an opposition batsman has overtaken his runs. At the end of the innings, the batsman who has overtaken the said fielder's score will be presented with the orange cap and he can wear that when he comes out to field, assuming he still is the highest scorer. A scenario where a batsman wins the orange cap in the second innings of the game may not have the orange cap when this team runs out to field the next game.

3. Wiki says that the orange and purple caps are to worn only during fielding. There is no hard and fast rule about these caps while batting. Anyways, there are very few batsmen who bat with caps these days as they almost always come out with helmets, even to spinners. So, if the orange cap holder comes out to bat with a cap, I would assume it is his prerogative to either come out wearing his team cap or the orange/purple cap.

Answer 2

If more than one player has equal stats (highest runs or wickets), what will they do?

The player with the better strike-rate wins.

A player in the field is wearing orange cap for most runs, but in the middle of the innings (it may be first or second) a batsmen from the batting side overtakes his runs.

The current highest scorer should have the Orange Cap . In case if it is in the middle of the innings , then one has to wait till the completion of the innings .

Will he allowed to wear it anymore in that innings?
Is it permitted to wear these caps while batting?

Yes , absolutely . The batter has to decide whether he needs a protective headgear or a cap.

Answer 3

See answers in points as in questions.

1. If more than one player has equal stats (highest runs or wickets), what will they do?

   A. The player with the better strike rate will get the cap.

2. Consider the following situation,

   A player in the field is wearing orange cap for most runs, but in the middle of the innings (it may be first or second) a batsman from the batting side overtakes his runs.

   Will he allowed to wear it anymore in that innings?

   A. He will be allowed to wear the cap at the end of the innings and not during it.

3. I didn't see anyone wearing at the time of batting.

   Is it permitted to wear these caps while batting?

   A. He cannot wear cap while batting. Orange and Purple caps are only for fielding.

Answer 4

1. If more than one player has equal stats (highest runs or wickets), what will they do?

If some batsmen have same stat then the orange cap holder is the man which played least balls or highest strike rate or most percentage of boundaries then the other one. Same is the case with a best bowler who hold purple cap which have delivered least balls then the other one.

2. Consider the following situation, A player in the field is wearing orange cap for most runs, but in the middle of the innings (it may be first or second) a batsman from the batting side overtakes his runs. Will he allowed to wear it anymore in that innings?

Yes it's allowed to wear that cap in a complete innings rather then taking it off and gave to the other man.

For example

Batsman A is a orange cap holder having 192 runs.

Batsman B is a one step away from that orange cap having 190 runs.

Both the batsmen is playing in alternate ground and playing round match.

Suppose Batsman A is going to play with orange cap and batting on a crease and at the same time Batsman B is playing at crease in some other city.

Batsman B is playing on 40* runs ahead of another one and Batsmen A is playing on 10* runs. So according to rule at the time Batsman B have cap holder but after some time or at the end of an innings Batsmen A scores 60 and Batsmen B scores 50 then Batsmen A can worth their cap and logically it would be unfair to take away cap during the match innings.

3. I didn't see anyone wearing at the time of batting. Is it permitted to wear these caps while batting?

Yes its permitted to wear the cap during batting. Most of the times players remove their helmets and wear cap when any spinner came to crease for bowling. At the time batsman can wear the orange cap ahead of teams uniform cap which will be okay and allowed.

Answer 5

1. In case of a tie the batsman better strike rate & the bowler with better economic rate will win the orange and purple cap respectively.
2. Yes,he is allowed till the end of that innings.
3. Both the caps are allowed to wear at the time of fielding.

Answer 6

From IPL Awards 2018:

Match Awards

...

Orange Cap

The Orange Cap will be worn while fielding by the batsman who has scored the most runs in the league (including the Playoffs) during the season to date. It is first awarded once each team has played at least one match and then changes hands when another batsman becomes the highest run scorer in the league to date. The Orange Cap is presented to the batsman at the end of the innings in which he achieves this feat (either at one of the flash interviews or at the post-match presentation). In the circumstance where two or more batsmen have scored the same number of runs during the season to date, the Orange Cap will be retained or awarded, as appropriate, to the batsman (of those who are tied) who has the higher strike rate during the season to date.

Purple Cap

The Purple Cap will be worn while fielding by the bowler who has taken the most wickets in the league (including the Playoffs) during the season to date. It is first awarded once each team has played at least one match and then changes hands when another bowler becomes the highest wicket taker in the league to date. The Purple Cap is presented to the bowler at the end of the innings in which he achieves this feat (either at one of the flash interviews or at the post-match presentation). In the circumstance where two or more bowlers have taken the same number of wickets during the season to date, the Purple Cap will be retained or awarded, as appropriate, to the bowler (of those who are tied) who has the lowest economy rate during the season to date.

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So, the answers to the above questions are,

1. If more than one player has equal stats (highest runs or wickets), what will they do?

A. In the circumstance where two or more batsmen have scored the same number of runs during the season to date, the Orange Cap will be retained or awarded, as appropriate, to the batsman (of those who are tied) who has the higher strike rate during the season to date. And, when two or more bowlers have taken the same number of wickets during the season to date, the Purple Cap will be retained or awarded, as appropriate, to the bowler (of those who are tied) who has the lowest economy rate during the season to date.

2. A player in the field is wearing orange cap for most runs, but in the middle of the innings (it may be first or second) a batsman from the batting side overtakes his runs.

Will he allowed to wear it anymore in that innings?

A. As the Orange Cap is presented to the batsman at the end of the innings in which he achieves this feat (either at one of the flash interviews or at the post-match presentation). A player in the field will wear it till the end of innings.

3. Is it permitted to wear these caps while batting?

A. The Orange Cap will be worn while fielding by the batsman who has scored the most runs in the league (including the Playoffs) during the season to date. And, the Purple Cap will be worn while fielding by the bowler who has taken the most wickets in the league (including the Playoffs) during the season to date. So, it is not permitted to wear these caps while batting.