The Purple Cap is given to the bowler with the highest wickets at the end of the season.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Harshal Patel consolidated his position on top of the table with his 2 for 19 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator on Monday.
Harshal now has 32 wickets in 15 games, nine of which came against Mumbai – a five-wicket haul in the first game and a hat-trick in the second. Afghanistan star Rashid Khan on Thursday also broke in the top-5 list as he finished with figures of 1/27 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Avesh Khan (23 wickets in 15 matches) was also key for Delhi Capitals in the first leg, followed by Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah (21 wickets in 14 matches).
Rajasthan Royals’ Sohail Tanvir was the first-ever winner of the Purple Cap in the 2008 season. RP Singh (Deccan Chargers, 2009), Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers, 2010), Lasith Malinga (MI, 2011), Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils, 2012), Dwayne Bravo (CSK, 2013 and 2015), Mohit Sharma (CSK, 2014), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH, 2016 and 2017), Andrew Tye (KXIP, 2018), Imran Tahir (CSK, 2019) and Kagiso Rabada (DC, 2020) have won the Purple Cap in the tournament so far.
Top-5 wicket-takers in IPL 2021 so far:
| Position | Player | Matches | Wickets |
| 1 | Harshal Patel (Royal Challengers Bangalore) | 15 | 32 |
| 2 | Avesh Khan (Delhi Capitals) | 14 | 23 |
| 3 | Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians) | 14 | 21 |
| 4 | Mohammad Shami (Punjab Kings) | 14 | 19 |
| 5 | Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) | 14 | 18 |
