IPL 2017: Purple Cap holders through the seasons

2016 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sunrisers Hyderabad (Wickets – 23, Matches – 17)

Destroyer-in-Chief for the Sunrisers in the 2016 edition

By 2016, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had become a regular in the Indian team and had made a name for himself as a bowler who could provide breakthroughs at key moments.

He did just that in the 2016 edition of the IPL, taking 23 wickets from 17 matches and thus winning the Purple Cap. His bowling played a crucial role in Hyderabad’s successful campaign.

Kumar’s best spell came against the Gujarat Lions when he took four wickets for 29 runs. He also had a match-winning spell of 3-19 in the eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a result of this spell that Hyderabad won the match by 22 runs.

Although he did not take any wickets in the finals against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he conceded only 25 runs from four overs in an otherwise high-scoring final in which both the teams reached 200.