While they lost the race to bag the coveted IPL 2022 trophy on the final hurdle, Rajasthan Royals had a reason to smile as two of their regular members clinched major awards for the season. Opening batter Jos Buttler received the ‘Orange Cap’ for topping the runs chart, whereas wristspinner Yuzvendra Chahal owned the ‘Purple Cap’ for standing on the top of the wickets tally.
The Englishman was tremendous with the bat for Royals, scoring a whopping 863 runs from 17 innings at an average of 57.73 with a strike-rate of 149.05. The rampaging right-hander struck as many as four hundreds, which now stands as a record highest in an IPL season for an overseas batter and joint-highest overall with Virat Kohli in his epic 2016 season.
Buttler, who had a bit of a mid-season dip in his returns, missed out on overhauling Kohli’s 973-run tally that season. But he pipped David Warner’s 848 runs in the 2016 season to become the player with the second-most runs in a single IPL campaign.
For his memorable run, the explosive batter rightfully bagged the ‘Orange Cap’, which is given to the player with most runs in the season. Likewise, the ‘Purple Cap’ for most wickets, which was a feat that India’s veteran spinner Chahal achieved with distinction for the tournament.
Returning to his best, Chahal took an eye-catching 27 wickets from 17 games – most by a spinner in any IPL – with an economy rate of 7.75. Playing the role of Royals’ middle and late overs enforcer with the ball, Chahal took a bagful of wickets but never tried to force the issue and persisted with his strengths while keeping the ball away from the arc.
The Emerging Player award for the season was held in the end by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s raw speedster Umran Malik, who consistently clocked the 150 kph mark in the IPL 2022.
The Jammu and Kashmir right-arm seamer was impressive in his role as SRH’s middle-overs enforcer and took 22 wickets from 14 games. With his pace and regular breakthroughs, Umran also impressed the Indian selectors and earned his maiden India call-up for June’s T20I series versus South Africa.
Entire list of IPL 2022 award winners
| Orange Cap | Jos Buttler (863 runs) |
| Purple Cap | Yuzvendra Chahal (27 wickets) |
| Super Striker | Dinesh Karthik (330 runs at a strike rate of 183.33) |
| Fairplay award | Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals |
| Most sixes | Jos Buttler (45 sixes) |
| Fastest delivery | Lockie Ferguson (157.3 kmph) |
| Maximum fours | Jos Buttler (83 fours) |
| Catch of the season | Evin Lewis (Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders game) |
| MVP | Jos Buttler |
| Emerging Player | Umran Malik |
| Power Player | Jos Buttler |
