IPL 2026 will start from March 28. Like every time, this season too there is going to be a lot of runs. Teams in India are consistently scoring scores above 200 with ease, whereas Sunrisers Hyderabad had scored above 270 twice in IPL 2025 itself. Big scores of teams means batsmen will wreak havoc. Even today, the record of scoring the most runs in a season is in the name of Virat Kohli, who scored 973 runs in the 2016 season. Last time Sai Sudarshan, who scored 759 runs, won the Orange Cap. Know here about those 5 batsmen who are contenders to win the Orange Cap in IPL 2026.

Ishan Kishan (SRH)
The last 6 months have given a new shape to Ishan Kishan’s career. Syed Mushtaq Ali was the highest run scorer in the T20 Trophy, he scored 517 runs in the entire tournament. Then he scored the first century of his T20 career against New Zealand. At the same time, he is coming in T20 World Cup 2026 after scoring 317 runs. If Kishan’s form continues, he will be a strong contender to win the Orange Cap.

Sanju Samson (CSK)
Till a few weeks ago, Sanju Samson’s place in the Indian cricket team seemed to be in danger. But only 3 matches have given momentum to his career again. After 3 consecutive half-centuries in the last three innings of T20 World Cup 2026, all eyes will be on Samson in IPL 2026 as he will be opening for Chennai Super Kings. His form is back.

Virat Kohli (RCB)
Virat Kohli can never be excluded from the race for Orange Cap. Virat is the batsman who has scored the most runs in the history of IPL, he has 8661 runs in his name. Last season also 675 runs were scored. He has scored 500 or more runs in 8 different seasons. If Virat is able to win the Orange Cap of IPL 2026, then he will equal David Warner in terms of winning the Orange Cap the most number of times.

Aiden Markram (LSG)
Aiden Markram is coming into IPL 2026 with very good form. In the T20 World Cup 2026, he is coming after scoring 286 runs at a strike rate of more than 165. He was also one of the highest run-scorers for Lucknow Super Giants last season, scoring 445 runs in 13 innings. Looking at his good form, Markram seems to be a strong contender to win the Orange Cap this season.

Finn Allen (KKR)
Finn Allen will play for Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored 298 runs in T20 World Cup 2026. In the World Cup, he also created history by scoring a century in just 33 balls. Allen was the highest run-scorer in the BBL 2025-26 season, where he scored 466 runs. He can repeat the same performance in IPL 2026 also.

The auction for IPL 2026 will take place on December 16, in which shortlisted players will be bid for 77 vacant slots. There are 110 foreign players in the shortlist. Of these, 96 are capped and 14 are uncapped. Let us tell you that 31 slots for foreign players are vacant for all 10 teams together. Know which 10 foreign players everyone will keep an eye on, out of these, there are 3 who can get Rs 10 crore or more.

Cameron Green (Australia)

Cameron Green’s name is being discussed the most in the IPL 2026 auction. The base price of Green is Rs 2 crore. Green is a batting all-rounder, who has played for Mumbai in 2023 and Bengaluru in 2024. In 29 matches played in IPL, he has scored 707 runs and taken 16 wickets. His IPL price can also go up to Rs 10 crore.

David Miller (South Africa)

South Africa’s explosive batsman David Miller is called a player of big matches. The base price of Miller is Rs 2 crore, for which many teams can go to the big bid to buy him. The middle order batsman has played 141 matches for 4 teams in IPL, in which he has 3077 runs in his name. Miller’s strike rate is 138.60. His bid can also go up to Rs 10 crore.

Liam Livingstone (England)

England’s explosive batsman Liam Livingston was a part of the champion team (RCB) in the last edition, although RCB did not retain him. 32-year-old Livingston can play an important role in bowling along with batting. He has played a total of 49 matches in IPL, in which he has scored 1051 runs. His strike rate is 158.76. He also has 13 wickets to his name in IPL, it will be interesting to see which team buys him.

Jamie Smith (England)

Everyone’s eyes will also be on 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman Jamie Smith, he has not played in IPL before. His base price is Rs 2 crore. If we look at the records of T20 International, Smith has scored 130 runs in 5 matches. In T20 he scored 1687 runs in 97 matches, KKR is looking for a wicket keeper.

Steve Smith (Australia)

Steve Smith played his last IPL match in 2021, this time he is in the auction again. Smith’s base price is Rs 2 crore, although Smith will not be anyone’s first choice for this format. Smith is a big name in the cricket world, but teams may hesitate in buying him. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the bids on him, or he may remain unsold. Smith has scored 2485 runs in 103 matches in IPL.

Jason Holder (West Indies)

There was a bid of more than Rs 5 crore for Jason Holder in 2023. Holder will be in the auction again this time, his base price is Rs 2 crore. However, this time the difficulty for him is that he has not played IPL for the last 2 years, so it will be interesting to see whether any team would like to bet on him this time. The positive thing about Holder is that he can bat well in the lower order. If we look at Holder’s IPL record, he has taken 53 wickets in 46 matches played for 5 teams and scored 259 runs in 27 innings.

Lungi Ngidi (South Africa)

After Green and Miller, Lungi Ngidi is such a player, it would not be surprising if the bid on him goes beyond Rs 10 crore or more. His performance in the T20 series against India has been good, he dismissed Shubman Gill in the first over of both the opening T20 matches. Ngidi also tricks the batsmen with his speed. Ngidi has taken 29 wickets in 16 matches for 2 teams in IPL. He was a part of the RCB team last year but could play only 2 matches.

Tim Seifert (New Zealand)

The base price of New Zealand wicketkeeper batsman Tim Seifert is Rs 1.5 crore. 30-year-old Seifert played the last IPL season in 2022, he played only 2 matches for Delhi that season. Seifert scored only 26 runs in total 3 matches played in IPL. It remains to be seen whether Seifert is able to become a part of any IPL team this time.

Jonny Bairstow (England)

The base price of England wicketkeeper batsman Jonny Bairstow is Rs 1 crore. He came as a replacement for Mumbai Indians last year to play the knockout matches, in which he performed effectively. Because of this, he can get a good amount in the auction to be held this time. 36-year-old Bairstow had scored 85 runs in 2 matches last year, and did good wicket-keeping. He has played a total of 52 matches in IPL, in which he has scored 1674 runs. Kolkata can make a big bid to buy him.

Quinton de Kock (South Africa)

Quinton de Kock played an explosive inning of 90 runs in the second T20 against India, he also scored a century in the ODI. However, there is a lack of consistency in his performance, which can come in the way of him fetching big money in the auction. De Kock was in Kolkata Knight Riders last year, but the team released him. It will be interesting to see which team buys him.

32-year-old De Kock has played a total of 115 matches for 6 teams in IPL, in which he has scored 3309 runs. He has scored 2 centuries and 24 half-centuries in IPL. De Kock’s base price in the IPL 2026 auction is Rs 1 crore.

Ms dhoni in ipl 2026: The Indian Premier League is still a long time to start 2026, but it is being discussed several months ago which player will play in which team. At the same time, questions have been raised once again about Chennai Super Kings captain and former Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing in IPL 2026. The question in front of everyone is whether Dhoni will be seen on the field in IPL next year. Now MS Dhoni himself has answered this.

Dhoni’s knee pain

Former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was questioned about playing in IPL 2026 at an event, then Mahi said that ‘I will play or not, I have a lot of time to decide. It is time to think about it till around December ‘. Then shouted from a fan of Dhoni from the crowd and said that you have to play sir, that is, you will have to play sir. Then Dhoni responded to the person’s talk and said that ‘who will take care of the pain in the knee’.

CSK’s poor performance in IPL 2025

IPL 2025 was nothing special for Chennai Super Kings. Rituraj Gaikwad started the captaincy for the team this season, but due to the injury of this player, Dhoni took over the team. The CSK team was losing several consecutive matches since the beginning. After Dhoni became captain, people thought that perhaps the performance would change, but Mahi also could not reach CSK in the playoffs. CSK was the end of 10 teams in the 18th season of IPL. This season Chennai won only 4 matches out of 14. Now it has to be seen whether MS Dhoni plays IPL next year or not.

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