IPL 2026 Final: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wins Orange Cap as Gill, Sudharsan fall early in powerplay

15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has won his maiden IPL Orange Cap after the two closest contenders from Gujarat Titans—captain Shubman Gill and his opening partner Sai Sudharsan—fell early inside the Powerplay during the ongoing IPL 2026 final. Vaibhav finished IPL 2026 with 776 runs, and with the two star GT batters departing on 10 (Gill) and 12 (Sai) respectively, he remains at the top of the list of batters with the most runs this season. Even though only RCB icon Virat Kohli stands a mathematical chance of topping Vaibhav’s tally since he is the only one remaining, Kohli must score 176 runs in the final to do so.

Most Runs in IPL 2026

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR) - 776 runs in 16 matches
• Shubman Gill (GT) - 732 runs in 16 matches
• Sai Sudharsan (GT) - 722 runs in 17 matches

Vaibhav made IPL 2026 all about himself. The left-handed opener broke records for fun and hammered bowlers to all parts of the grounds. Regardless of the opposition, his strategy remained unhinged, smashing everyone from the word go. What’s more mesmerising than his runs tally in only his second IPL season is that the teenage sensation did so at an unbelievable strike rate of 237.31. Never before in 18 years of this tournament’s history has a player scored 500 runs in a season, striking at an excess of 230.

The left-handed opener made headlines worldwide for his array of strokeplay and record-breaking spree. Most significantly, he broke Chris Gayle’s 14-year record of most sixes hit in an IPL season. While Gayle clobbered a whopping 59 during the 2012 edition, Vaibhav, just 15, smoked 72, 13 more than Gayle’s tally, in this edition alone. He also registered the most runs scored by a teenager in an IPL season.

During the fag end of the tournament, Vaibhav also smashed two quickfire 90s, one against SunRisers Hyderabad (97 off 29 balls) and the other against the finalists, GT (96 off 27 balls).

Gill and Sai fail in IPL 2026 final

After RCB won the toss and elected to bowl first, GT's openers departed early inside the Powerplay in a massive blow to the batting side. Entering this contest as the second and third-ranked batters on the list of most run getters this season, Gill and Sai failed on the day their team needed them the most.

While Gill was the first one to depart, playing early off RCB quick Josh Hazlewood’s good length delivery (on 10) before IPL legend Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Sudharsan, caught on 12. GT lost Jos Buttler and Nishant Sindhu, with their scorecard reading 99 for five inside 15 overs.

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