IPL 2020 – Betting Odds For Top Batsman And Top Bowler
We are now less than a week away from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. The BCCI only recently released an official schedule of matches, and the first game will see the defending champions Mumbai Indians (1.72) take on the Chennai Super Kings (2.10).
Apart from betting on each match, several side bets are currently on offer. Two of the most popular side bets are to see which batsmen will finish with the most number of runs and win the orange cap and which bowler will finish with the most number of wickets and finish with the purple cap.
Given the problems and concerns posed by the COVID-19 epidemic, it is not as straightforward as before to predict who will finish with the most number of runs and most wickets. This is because most cricketers are coming into the 2020 IPL with little to no cricket action under their belts.
Sportsbooks have relied on past performances at the IPL and the pedigree of each player to guess as to who will finish with the orange and purple cap.
Top Four Batsmen To Win Orange Cap
David Warner: We have to start with Warner, who has won this award on three occasions (2015, 2017, and 2019). The dynamic Australian batsman will lead Sunrisers Hyderabad and will look to stamp his authority on the 2020 IPL from the get-go. He has odds of 24/5.
Rohit Sharma: has odds of 7/2 to finish as the leading run-scorer at this year’s IPL. Sharma has never won this award before, and a lot will depend on how rusty he is after the long lockdown layoff. The Mumbai Indians skipper is right up there with one of the most explosive batsmen in T20 cricket.
Virat Kohli: The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain also has odds of 7/2 and has won this award once in 2016. RCB has performed poorly under Kohli’s leadership in recent editions and will depend heavily on him to fire with the bat and make big contributions.
KL Rahul: will captain the Kings XI Punjab team for the first time and will need to lead with the bat. He has odds of 44/5 and has all of the talent and skill to win the orange cap this year.
Some of the other batsmen to watch out for include AB Devilliers, Andre Russell, and Kane Williamson.
Top Four Bowlers To Win Purple Cap
It will be an interesting few games as the nature of the pitch will determine whether the fast bowlers or spinners will be amongst the wickets. The four bowlers that are expected to dominate and finish with the purple cap are as follows.
Rashid Khan: If the tracks in the UAE offer turn from game one, the Afghanistan leggie will be a handful for every batsman. He has odds of 7/2 even though he has never won this award before. However, Khan has shown that he is a very astute T20 bowler and knows how to outfox the best batsmen.
J Bumrah: has a reputation of being one of the hardest bowlers to deal with, especially during the end of the innings. Bumrah has odds of 24/5 and will continue to be a key cog in the Mumbai Indians line-up. The big question for Bumrah is his match fitness, given the fact that he hasn’t played any cricket for the last five months.
B Kumar: also has odds of 24/5, and rightly so as he has won the purple cap for two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017. His performance will depend a lot on how much pace he will generate as he tends to bowl well at the start and the end of an innings when he can bowl in the high 130s.
I Tahir: was the bowler who won the purple cap in the 2019 IPL. He has odds of 44/5 and could also be tough to play on tracks that offer spin and bounce. I Tahir retired from ODI cricket in 2019 and has not played a lot of T20 cricket for South Africa. It will be interesting to see if he is the same bowler as before and continues to be a threat for batsman towards the death of an innings.
Some of the other bowlers you can watch out for include Jofra Archer, Mohammed Shami, Sunil Narine, and KG Rabada.
