With the IPL season nearing the end, the Purple Cap race is in full sprint as part of the 2022 IPL awards odds.

As it stands at Sportsbook, Yuzvendra Chahal is the favorite at +137 but is followed closely by Wanindu Hasaranga at +145.

2022 IPL Awards Odds: Purple Cap – Top Bowler

There’s good news and bad news.

Bad news: If you backed Yuzvendra Chahal at big odds pre-tournament or toward the start of the event and saw him take all those early wickets to go well clear of the field, you’d be justified in terms of getting a bit worried now. The gap has been cut.

Good news: If you haven’t had a bet on this market yet, it’s now much more open than it was a few weeks ago and we’re going to try to find a top IPL betting tip on it for you.

Why Group Stages League Position Matters

At this point it’s worth explaining the importance not just of a player doing well but also of their team doing well.

A player featuring for a side missing out on a playoff spot will play a maximum of 14 games.

A player on a side that finishes in the top two will play a minimum of 16 games (Qualifier 1 + final) and possibly 17 if they lose the Qualifier 1, win the Eliminator and then obviously get to play the final.

A player on a team that finishes third or fourth may play 15, which would be the 14 group ones plus one (if they lose the Eliminator), 16 (if they win the Eliminator but lose the Qualifier 2) or even 17 (if they win the Eliminator and win the Qualifier 2, because they’ll then also play the final).

So, the safest bet is to go for a player on a team that finishes top two because they’re guaranteed 16 games; a player on a side finishing third or fourth is OK because they’ll play 15 to 17 games depending on how they get on in the playoffs, but it could be just 15.

It’s worth avoiding anyone on a side unlikely to make the playoffs.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, keep reading as we go through the realistic contenders.

Yuzvendra Chahal – Rajasthan Royals – 23 Wickets

The RR leg spinner started like a train before going through a lean patch that saw him take just two wickets across four games and jeopardize his chances of winning his first-ever Purple Cap.

But he bit back. In his last two matches, he took three against Punjab and one against the Capitals to cement his place at the top of the charts.

The fact that he’s a spinner is an interesting one.

On the one hand, only two spinners have ever won the Purple Cap in 14 seasons of the IPL.

On the other hand, spinners tend to pick up plenty of wickets toward the back end of the season.

Why? Because the pitches get more and more worn, meaning there’s more natural turn and more uneven bounce. Even innocuous deliveries that don’t spin out of the bowler’s hand sometimes spin just because the grass is uneven.

But back to Chahal.

His team is highly likely to make the playoffs by finishing third or fourth, so that’s a positive. Given that he’s bowling well and is still currently the leader, you can see why he’s the favorite.  

Wanindu Hasaranga – Royal Challengers Bangalore – 21 Wickets

Hasaranga was somewhat off the pace until he found his groove over the past couple of weeks.

He took five wickets across three matches and then saved his best for the last game, claiming a truly remarkable 5-18.

The good thing for would-be Hasaranga backers is that he looks for wickets with every delivery, while other bowlers can sometimes focus more on their economy rate.

Like Chahal, he plays for a side likely to finish third or fourth, so he should be guaranteed the extra game.

Kagiso Rabada – Punjab Kings – 18 Wickets

The South African paceman and former Purple Cap Sportsbook has done remarkably well to even be in contention at his stage.

Not only has he played one fewer game than most of the rest because his team has a game in hand but he also missed a game because he arrived at the tournament late.

In addition to that, he’s been playing on a struggling side, meaning it’s been harder to take wickets. So, it’s a testament to the champ that he is on 18 wickets.

Having said all that, the fact Punjab won’t make the playoffs means we have to rule him out.

Even if he took five wickets in his next three games (a good effort), he’d still only be tied with Chahal, who would have two more matches of his own in the group stages and a further one in the playoffs to add to his tally.

Rashid Khan – Gujarat Titans – 15 Wickets

Another spinner, he ticks lots of boxes and is another one who always looks to take wickets rather than just protect runs.

Some will argue that he’s played so much cricket over the past few years in just about every country that batsmen know him inside out and how he bowls. Well, tell that to his 15 victims this IPL so far.

On a more serious note, the fact he plays for a side guaranteed a top-two finish is good news but realistically he has too much catching up to do.

Betting Verdict

There’s really not much to choose between Chahal and Hasaranga in terms of wickets taken, their relevant odds and the position their team is in.

But the preference is for the latter, although he’s two wickets behind at the moment. He seems to be peaking right now and with the remaining group stage fixtures as they are, it’s somewhat more likely that Chahal’s RR miss out on the playoffs than Hasaranga’s RCB.

It’s also true that players won’t have seen too much of Hasaranga before this IPL as he’s in his debut season, while Chahal’s bag of tricks are well-known to IPL batsmen.

It’s a close call (and I really do think the Sportsbook will come from one of these two), but Hasaranga is preferred, also because he’s the bigger price.

Recommended Bet: Back Hasaranga for Purple Cap Sportsbook at +145

Recommended Preseason IPL Awards Bets

Back KL Rahul to be IPL top batsman at odds of +1000

Back Kagiso Rabada to be IPL top bowler at odds of +1100

Back Venkatesh Iyer to be KKR top batsman at odds of +400

Other IPL Betting Resources

Be sure to check out our guide, which explains How to bet on the IPL, if you’re new to the whole IPL betting thing.

There we explain how betting odds work, what the format of the IPL is, the different betting markets available, and how to go about getting the most out of your IPL betting.

Also remember that we’re more than happy to do the hard work for you by coming up with the Sportsbookting recommendations on our IPL Best Bets page.  Just in case you’d rather not make all those tough betting decisions yourself.

And when it comes to IPL betting, there’s a lot more to it than just predicting the overall Sportsbook and the Sportsbook of all the individual IPL matches.

How To Bet On The IPL

Choose one or more of our recommended IPL betting sites, open an account and then head to “Cricket” and underneath that, “IPL.”

Here you’ll find not only all of the individual match markets but also the outright markets like the three mentioned above, plus other ones like tournament top batsman, top bowler or the overall Sportsbook.  

Researching stats and team IPL news is one way of getting the most out of your IPL bets but another good option is to keep an eye on these very pages and follow the IPL betting tips of our experts.

In the meantime, here’s a guide for how to bet on IPL.