IPL: Top 4 Bowlers Who Never Won A Purple Cap

From the most seasoned to uncapped bowlers, capturing the prestigious purple cap award is nothing short of a dream for numerous prominent bowlers out there in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Over the years, numerous path-breaking bowlers, including Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Trent Boult, Axar Patel and many others have dominated the greatest of batsmen with their annihilating bowling spells in the most crucial matches, however only a handful of these deadly bowlers have been able to clinch the prestigious purple cap award in the seventeen IPL editions so far.

In this article we will take a look at the top four legendary IPL bowlers who have dominated the opposing teams yet failed to clinch the iconic purple cap award.

IPL: Top 4 Bowlers Who Never Won A Purple Cap

• Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians (MI)

The 31-year-old Indian international cricketer and one of the most reliable bowlers of the Indian national cricket team across all formats, Jasprit Bumrah is at the first spot in our list of the top four legendary IPL bowlers who never clinched the Purple Cap award despite their annihilating bowling spells in the world’s wealthiest cricket league. Bumrah was retained by the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise for a staggering INR 18 crore at the TATA IPL 2025 mega auction held in Jeddah in November 2024.

In the most recent clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium, Jasprit Bumrah breathed fire with the ball and picked up a total of four wickets, allowing just 22 runs in four overs, breaking Lasith Malinga’s long-standing record of picking up the highest wickets for the Mumbai Indians (MI).

As of April 2025, Jasprit Bumrah holds the record for being the highest-wicket taker for the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad with a total of 139 wickets. However, unfortunately, despite his bowling dominance, Bumrah hasn’t been able to clinch the coveted purple cap award even once during his extremely glitzy Indian Premier League career.

• Mitchell Starc, Delhi Capitals (DC)

The Australian international cricketer Mitchell Aaron Starc, popularly referred to as “Mitchell Starc”, is at the second spot in our list of the top four legendary IPL bowlers who have dominated the opponent teams yet failed to clinch the iconic purple cap award. Mitchell Starc made his star-studded Indian Premier League debut for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 2014 edition and shifted to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad in the 2018 edition. Ahead of the ongoing IPL 2925 edition, Mitchell Starc was officially acquired by the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise for a whopping INR 11.75 crore.

As of April 2025, Mitchell Starc has successfully picked up a total of 51 wickets in his overall Indian Premier League career so far. Australian bowler Mitchell Starc has played a total of ten matches in the ongoing 18th edition of the Indian Premier League and has already picked up a total of 14 wickets so far.

Well, although Mitchell Starc has proved to be one of the most reliable bowlers for all the franchises that he has played for so far in the IPL, he has failed to win the prestigious purple cap award in all the previous editions. Keeping in mind his current bowling dominance, fans are anticipating Starc to claim the award at the end of the IPL 2025 season.

• Ravichandran Ashwin, Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Often hailed as one of the most prominent spinners of all time, the Indian international cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin is at the third spot in our list of the top four legendary IPL bowlers who have dominated the opponent teams yet failed to clinch the iconic purple cap award. Ravichandran Ashwin made his much-decorated IPL debut for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2009 edition and witnessed a heartwarming homecoming ahead of the ongoing IPL 2025 edition, where he was acquired by the CSK franchise at a staggering INR 9.75 crore.

So far in his extremely flourishing Indian Premier League career, Ravichandran Ashwin has played for a couple of franchises, including the Chennai Super Kings (2009-2015), Rising Pune SuperGiant (2016-2017), Kings XI Punjab (2018-2019), Delhi Capitals (2020-2021), Rajasthan Royals (2022-2024) and Chennai Super Kings (2025).

During his seventeen-year-long IPL career, Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up a total of 180 wickets in the 212 matches that he has played so far, yet the iconic bowler has terribly failed in clinching the prestigious purple cap award in his IPL career so far.

• Sunil Narine, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Finally, at the fourth spot in our list of the top four legendary IPL bowlers who never clinched the Purple Cap award, we have the 36-year-old Trinidadian cricket player who played internationally for the West Indies. Often hailed as one of the most deadly bowlers of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunil Narine  made his star-studded Indian Premier League debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the IPL 2012 edition and has proved to be a mainstay for the squad ever since. Sunil Narine was officially retained by the KKR franchise ahead of the ongoing IPL 2025 edition for a staggering INR 12 crore.

As a mainstay for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise, Sunil Narine has played a phenomenal total of 186 matches and has picked up a record total of 190 wickets for the KKR squad so far in his glorious IPL career. However, despite his annihilating bowling spells, Sunil Narine hasn’t been able to clinch the coveted purple cap award so far in his IPL career, placing him at the fourth spot in our list.

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