5 batsmen who surprisingly never won the Orange Cap

For rewarding the highest run-getter in the Indian Premier League, the Orange Cap was established. Only a few would know that this award got familiarized after one week of commencement of the inaugural IPL edition. The batsman with most runs at the completion of the tournament wins the Orange Cap award at the end of the season.

Batsmen such as Shaun Marsh, Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Gayle (twice), Michael Hussey, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli and David Warner (twice) have been able to lay their hands on the cap while some of the deserving ones missed out.

Here is the list of most surprising names that are yet to win an Orange Cap award.

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#5 Shikhar Dhawan

With his current form, Dhawan might get a grab this time

The Indian opening batsman, Shikhar Dhawan has been a part of the extravagant T20 league since its inception.

Considering the fact, that he has played all the matches in a season on about seven occasions, it is quite hard to believe a consistent player like him hasn't yet won the orange cap in ten years of IPL.

Since the addition of David Warner in Sunrisers Hyderabad camp, Dhawan got enforced to play the second-fiddle, which has put two cents in keeping him away from the prestigious award.

#4 Gautam Gambhir

Gauti is returning to DD after eight long years

If asked about the most consistent opener in the history of IPL, Gautam Gambhir is probably the first name that strikes our mind. He is one of the few cricketers to be in the top five run-scorers list more often than not.

Opening the batting for Kolkata Knight Riders for years, the 36-year-old majorly fulfilled the role of a sheet anchor, generally holding his own wicket for others to express themselves, which perhaps might be one of the factors for him not scoring an IPL century in 148 matches.

Re-signed by Delhi Daredevils in 2018 as the skipper, Gauti is expected to continue the same tactics with the likes of Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell, Rishabh Pant, Jason Roy and others to lay siege to the opposition & choose responsibility over the orange cap.

#3 AB de Villiers

The 34-year-old has three IPL centuries under his belt

One of the greatest IPL stars for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past few years, AB de Villiers has never put his hands on the orange cap.

Despite being a consistent batsman for RCB for past seven years, he was always outfoxed by the 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle & skipper Virat Kohli, in terms of the number of runs in a season.

Mr. 360 got his personal best shot in IPL 2016, where he scored 687 runs, only to remain third on the list. The season was a complete run-fest where the South African was blanked out by David Warner (848 runs) and the orange cap winner Virat Kohli ( 973 runs).

#2 Rohit Sharma

Captaincy is always an added responsibility on a cricketer

The Mumbai Indians' skipper, Rohit Sharma, has played the second-most number of matches in the IPL, just two short of Suresh Raina. A player of his calibre not winning an orange cap is quite astounding.

The Hitman, in the recent past, often gave up his opening position to accommodate other openers at the top and dropped himself at 3 or 4. In addition to that, he has never been consistent throughout an IPL season, thereby going past the 500-run mark only once.

Advancing to the 2018 season, it will be interesting whether he takes the call on promoting himself at the top alongside Evin Lewis & join the orange cap race or give chance to young Ishan Kishan.

#1 Suresh Raina

Recent India call-up will boost his confidence in the IPL as well

The leading run-scorer in the cash-rich league, Suresh Raina has earned himself the title of 'Mr. IPL' for his consistent show throughout the decade, who has never missed a single IPL match for Chennai Super Kings.

The 31-year-old is the only batsman to score 350+ runs in each edition of the annual extravaganza. The only thing that he has not managed to bring home is the orange cap.

The reality is, he has never crossed the 600-run mark with 546 being his best, coming in the 2013 season. In fact, it has happened only twice that a batsman bagged an orange cap by scoring less than 600 runs in the season.

For Raina to leave the past behind and turn the tables this time, he will have to strive harder to win this marathon for the first time.