Kagiso Rabada achieved a major milestone in the IPL history on Sunday (May 31), becoming only the second player ever to win the Purple Cap with two different franchises. The South African fast bowler finished the IPL 2026 as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, claiming 29 wickets in 17 matches for Gujarat Titans (GT).
This was not Kagiso Rabada’s first Purple Cap triumph. He previously won the award during the IPL 2020 season while representing Delhi Capitals under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer. In that campaign, he also played 17 matches and picked up 30 wickets, finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
Before Kagiso Rabada, only Harshal Patel had managed to win the Purple Cap while playing for two different teams. The Gujarat-born pacer topped the wicket-taking charts for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2021 and later repeated the feat for Punjab Kings in the 2024 season.
Kagiso Rabada has now become just the fourth player in the history of the tournament to win the Purple Cap twice. The elite list includes Dwayne Bravo, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and now Kagiso Rabada. Dwayne Bravo earned the award in 2013 and 2015 while playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), while Bhuvneshwar Kumar achieved the feat in consecutive seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and 2017.
Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also in contention for the Purple Cap in the IPL 2026. However, he finished with 28 wickets, just one behind Kagiso Rabada’s tally of 29. Had Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed one more wicket than Kagiso Rabada, he would have become the first player in the IPL history to win the Purple Cap three times.
Kagiso Rabada also joined another exclusive group by becoming only the second overseas bowler after Dwayne Bravo to win the Purple Cap on two occasions.
His 29 wickets in the IPL 2026 helped him break Mohammed Shami’s record for the most wickets taken by a Gujarat Titans bowler in a single IPL season. Shami had previously held the record after taking 28 wickets in 17 matches during the 2023 edition.
The all-time record for most wickets in a single IPL season remains jointly held by Dwayne Bravo and Harshal Patel, who both took 32 wickets in 2013 and 2021 respectively. Had Kagiso Rabada managed just one more wicket this season, he would have become the first player in the league’s history to take 30 wickets in multiple seasons and for multiple franchises.
Well played, Kagiso Rabada!
