The Purple Cap race in IPL 2026 has been a leg-spinner's season. Yuzvendra Chahal leads with 22 wickets at PBKS; Bumrah and Hasaranga are within 4 each. Maheesh Theekshana's late surge at CSK has put him in fourth. Here is the late-April leaderboard, the phase-wise economy split, and the projection for who lifts the cap.

Top 10 leaderboard (late April 2026)

Rank	Player	Team	Innings	Wickets	Avg	Economy
1	Yuzvendra Chahal	PBKS	13	22	18.4	8.20
2	Jasprit Bumrah	MI	12	18	19.6	6.84
3	Wanindu Hasaranga	SRH	13	17	22.1	8.30
4	Maheesh Theekshana	CSK	12	16	21.4	6.80
5	Sunil Narine	KKR	13	15	23.6	6.92
6	Adam Zampa	RCB	12	14	24.1	7.65
7	Varun Chakaravarthy	KKR	13	14	26.4	8.45
8	Pat Cummins	SRH	12	13	27.8	9.20
9	Ravi Bishnoi	LSG	13	13	25.4	8.10
10	Trent Boult	MI	12	12	28.1	8.92

The top-three are within 5 wickets of each other. Chahal has 4-fers in 3 different matches. Bumrah leads on economy by a comfortable margin.

Death-overs vs powerplay split for top 10

Player	PP wickets	Death wickets	Notes
Chahal	2	6	Middle-overs specialist
Bumrah	6	8	Both phases
Hasaranga	3	7	Death specialist
Theekshana	4	4	Both phases
Narine	4	1	Powerplay specialist
Zampa	1	5	Death specialist
Cummins	4	6	Both phases
Boult	7	2	Powerplay specialist

The split tells a story. Bumrah is the only bowler in the top-10 with a wicket-taking impact in both the powerplay and the death. That's why he's averaging 19.6 with the second-best economy of the top-10.

Yuzvendra Chahal: the leader

Chahal's 22 wickets came mostly through middle-overs spin (overs 7-15). His PBKS captaincy under Shreyas Iyer has trusted him with the wicket-taking phase, and he's repaid by averaging 18.4. Three 4-wicket hauls is the most by any leg-spinner since Rashid Khan's 2018 season.

Projected finish: 28-30 wickets. For Chahal's 2026 form curve, see Chahal at PBKS form curve.

Jasprit Bumrah: the closer

Bumrah's 18 wickets at economy 6.84 is the season's most balanced bowling return. He's the only top-10 bowler with a sub-7 economy and double-digit wicket count. The Mumbai Indians playoff path is set, which means Bumrah will play 4 more matches.

Projected finish: 25-27 wickets. He'll likely close the gap to 1-2 wickets but Chahal's middle-overs role gives him more wicket-taking opportunities per game.

Wanindu Hasaranga: the dark horse

Hasaranga's 17 wickets has come from the death-overs phase (7 of his 17). The googly is the season's most successful single delivery (12 wickets attributed to it). SRH's playoff path includes 3-4 more matches, giving him room to push.

Projected finish: 23-25 wickets.

Maheesh Theekshana: the surge

Theekshana's 16 wickets includes the season's best spin spell (4/18 against SRH at Chepauk in Match 63). He's averaging 21.4 with economy 6.80, the lowest economy of any top-10 spinner. CSK's playoff math is shaky, which limits his runway.

Projected finish: 20-22 wickets.

Form curves

Player	Last 5 matches	Trend
Chahal	13 wickets	Peak
Bumrah	9 wickets	Steady
Hasaranga	7 wickets	Declining
Theekshana	9 wickets	Climbing
Narine	6 wickets	Steady

Theekshana is the form-curve riser. Hasaranga is the only top-5 bowler trending down (his last 5 matches has 7 wickets at average 28).

Predictions: who wins it?

Chahal is the favourite at this stage. His 4-wicket potential per match (3 in 13 already) gives him the highest variance, and the projection of 28-30 wickets is on the upper end. Bumrah is second favourite, closing fast.

Hasaranga, Theekshana and Narine will battle for third place.

Contender Dream11 ROI

Player	Avg points	Captaincy ROI	VC ROI
Chahal	78	Highest	High
Bumrah	82	Highest	Highest
Hasaranga	71	High	High
Theekshana	69	High	High
Narine	64	High	High

Captaining Bumrah in MI matches (3 of next 4) gives the highest expected fantasy return. Full Dream11 hub at /dream11. For projections, the cap-race predictor is the live tool.

Trends across the season

The 2026 season has been a spinner-led Purple Cap chase: 6 of the top 10 wicket-takers are spinners. The 2025 season had 4. The shift is partly due to the 2026 ball (slightly larger seam) gripping more, and partly due to surface preparation (most home grounds opting for drier pitches).

The pace bowlers in the top 10 (Bumrah, Cummins, Boult) are all 12-14 wicket bowlers. The lead group of 16-22 wickets is exclusively spin.

What it means for playoff math

The Purple Cap winner is likely to come from a top-six team (Chahal at PBKS, Bumrah at MI, Hasaranga at SRH). The bottom-four teams will struggle to find a top-3 finisher. See the IPL 2026 points table for context.

FAQ

Q: Who is leading the Purple Cap race in IPL 2026? A: Yuzvendra Chahal leads with 22 wickets in 13 innings.

Q: Who is the favourite to win the Purple Cap? A: Chahal is the favourite, with a projection of 28-30 wickets. Bumrah is the closest challenger.

Q: Why are spinners dominating the wicket-takers list? A: 6 of the top 10 are spinners; the 2026 surfaces and ball have favoured grip and turn.

Q: Where can I track the Purple Cap leaderboard live? A: The cap-race predictor has live tracking and projections.

Q: How does this list connect to Dream11 picks? A: Captaining Chahal or Bumrah for the next 7 days' matchups gives the highest expected fantasy return.