Having scalped a five-wicket haul in only his second-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) appearance, English pacer Mark Wood is currently the owner of the coveted purple cap, at the end of all ten teams’ opening matches of the 2023 edition.
Wood, who is currently a part of the Lucknow Super Giants, picked up five wickets by conceding only 14 runs at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, starring in a comprehensive victory over Delhi Capitals.
Purple Cap Holder in IPL 2023: Top five wicket-takers.
(Photo: The Quint)
He is closely followed by Rajasthan Royals’ Yuzvendra Chahal, who also happens to be the solitary spinner among the five leading wicket-takers. The leg-spinner scalped a four-fer in his team’s 72-run triumph against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, he is not the solitary Rajasthan player on this particular list, with Trent Boult occupying the fifth place. The Kiwi speedster picked up a couple of wickets in that fixture against Hyderabad – both of them coming in the innings’ first over.
IPL 2023: Arshdeep Singh scalped three crucial wickets in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
(Photo: BCCI)
Arshdeep Singh, another left-arm seamer, albeit from a different team in Punjab Kings and with a contrasting skill set, is third in the race for the purple cap. The youngster picked up three wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Occupying the fourth place is another exciting young talent, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who was among the few saving graces for his team on what was other a rather gloomy day. The Chennai Super Kings pacer has three wickets to his name.
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