Virat Kohli had enjoyed a comfortable position at the summit of the Orange Cap race after making a decisive impact with an 81 against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday. But the standings flipped dramatically on Sunday, with several big knocks reshaping the leaderboard so that Kohli slipped to fifth place by the end of the day.<\/p>\n
The shake-up began earlier in the afternoon when KL Rahul surged to the top. Rahul delivered a breathtaking unbeaten 152 against the Punjab Kings, a knock that immediately sent him past the rest of the field. As the day moved toward evening, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi responded in style by taking over the lead with his second IPL century.<\/p>\n
Yet the final twist arrived at night. Abhishek Sharma produced the breakthrough that mattered most, lifting the Orange Cap with a match-winning 57 against the Rajasthan Royals. With that innings, he ended the day as the new leader in the Orange Cap standings.<\/p>\n
Abhishek Sharma is now the Orange Cap holder in IPL 2026 after his decisive fifty against Rajasthan. Across eight matches, he has collected 380 runs, posting an average of 54.29 and a strike rate of 212.29.<\/p>\n
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has moved into second place with 357 runs from eight games. After his standout century versus Sunrisers Hyderabad, he is averaging 44.63 while striking at an astonishing 234.87.<\/p>\n
KL Rahul also sits on 357 runs after his unbeaten 152 against Punjab Kings, but he is listed third. The deciding factor is Sooryavanshi\u2019s superior strike rate, which places him ahead despite the identical run total.<\/p>\n
Heinrich Klaasen occupies fourth spot with 349 runs in eight matches, maintaining a batting average of 49.86 and a strike rate of 149.79. Virat Kohli completes the top five with 328 runs, an average of 54.67, and a strike rate of 163.18.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s Orange Cap race delivered a reminder of how quickly momentum can swing in the IPL\u2014multiple performances in a single day were enough to change the order again and again, underlining the competitiveness and unpredictability of IPL 2026.<\/p>\n
Top leading run scorers in IPL 2026:<\/p>\n
Keep track of the latest IPL Live Score, IPL updates, the IPL schedule, the points table, and the ongoing race for the Orange Cap and Purple Cap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Virat Kohli had enjoyed a comfortable position at the summit of the Orange Cap race after making a decisive impact with an 81 against the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL Orange Cap Race: Kohli Drops to 5th After Sunday","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"IPL Orange Cap race update: Virat Kohli slips to fifth after Sunday\u2019s leaderboard shake-up, as KL Rahul\u2019s 152 helps fire a new top spot.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n