Why a Legend Like Rohit Sharma Has No Orange Cap Yet?

In the 18 years of the Indian Premier League, several stars have emerged to give the best performance for their franchises. If you have won the IPL trophy as a captain, you could be Shreyas Iyer or MS Dhoni. If you have achieved a hat-trick in the IPL, you could be Rashid Khan. And if you have achieved the Emerging Player award, you could be Sai Sudharsan.

But if you have all these awards to your name in the Indian Premier League, you are none other than Rohit Sharma. The legendary captain of the Indian cricket team and former captain of the Mumbai Indians has surely achieved a lot in his IPL career, still, there is one thing which he is yet to achieve. Despite being a main batsman for his team over the past few years, the Hitman is yet to win an Orange Cap.

Season	Matches	Runs	High Score	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s
IPL 2025	15	418	81	29.85	149.28	0	4
IPL 2024	14	417	105*	32.07	150.00	1	1
IPL 2023	16	332	65	20.75	132.80	0	2
IPL 2022	14	268	48	19.14	120.17	0	0
IPL 2021	13	381	63	29.30	127.42	0	1
IPL 2020	12	332	80	27.66	127.69	0	3
IPL 2019	15	405	67	28.92	128.57	0	2
IPL 2018	14	286	94	23.83	133.02	0	2
IPL 2017	17	333	67	23.78	121.97	0	3
IPL 2016	14	489	85*	44.45	132.88	0	5
IPL 2015	16	482	98*	34.42	144.74	0	3
IPL 2014	15	390	59*	30.00	129.13	0	3
IPL 2013	19	538	79*	38.42	131.54	0	4
IPL 2012	17	433	109*	30.92	126.60	1	3
IPL 2011	16	372	87	33.81	125.25	0	3
IPL 2010	16	404	73	28.85	133.77	0	3
IPL 2009	16	362	52	27.84	114.92	0	1
IPL 2008	13	404	76*	36.72	147.98	0	4

For not winning the Orange Cap even once in his IPL career, he has been trolled a lot by the fans every season. However, fans can not deny the captaincy skills being held by the Hitman, as he won all the finals for the Mumbai Indians, where he played as a captain. His legacy has surely been established as the greatest captain in the IPL, but as a batter, he has not even been close to winning the Orange Cap.

Throughout his IPL career, Rohit Sharma has scored 7046 runs in 272 matches at an average of 29.83 and a strike rate of 132.09. Along with that, he has also scored 2 centuries and 47 half-centuries in his IPL career, yet has not been able to get the Orange Cap award. Over the last 7 seasons of the tournament, his contribution with the bat has also not been up to the mark for the team.

Only once in his entire IPL career has Rohit scored more than 500 runs in a season, which came back in IPL 2013. He was able to score 538 runs in 19 matches at an average of 38.42, with four half-centuries. Following that, he has scored more than 400 runs in just 4 seasons, which also includes the recently concluded IPL season, where he scored 418 runs in 15 matches with 4 half-centuries.

There are several reasons why Rohit Sharma has never won the Orange Cap in his IPL career, and we will discuss a few of them here.

Middle-Order Responsibility

In his initial phases in the Indian Premier League, Rohit Sharma didn’t play as an opener for his first team, Deccan Chargers. He was seen more as a finisher for the team, scoring runs towards the death overs, due to which he missed out a lot on the Orange Cap race in the early seasons of the tournament. Before being the main batter, he remained a crucial wicket-taker in the tournament.

Rohit Sharma played for Deccan Chargers in three seasons, from 2008 to 2010. In these seasons, he scored a combined total of 1170 runs in 44 innings, coming mostly at number 4 or 5 for the team. These initial seasons with Deccan Chargers showcased other teams and selectors that he is suitable to come down lower in the order.

Thus, even after joining the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2011 season, Rohit Sharma batted down at the 4th spot with the main objective of contributing to the team’s scoring rate. He stayed in the same batting order till IPL 2017, scoring a combined total of 3037 runs in all these seasons, with 23 half-centuries and one century.

In IPL 2018, Rohit Sharma finally got the role of an opening batsman for Mumbai Indians, but by this time, various players had already established themselves as the top scorers and settled into their places. When he started opening for the team in the 2018 season, it was miserable, as Rohit scored just 286 runs in 14 matches at an average of 23.83, with two half-centuries.

Eventually, he surely has established his spot as an opener for Mumbai Indians, but it has also been a little too late, with the Hitman also nearing his retirement in the T20 format. He has already left the Test and T20I formats, and no one knows which season could be his last.

Batting with Intent, Not Caution

Rohit Sharma has been one of the most devastating players across all formats. He has redefined the role of a top-order batsman, with his explosive striking abilities from the very first ball. Even after winning five IPL trophies and being a consistent contributor to his team, the Hitman has not won the Orange Cap due to one major reason: his batting approach.

He is different from the other opening batsmen, such as Virat Kohli or Sai Sudharsan, who play the role of an anchor holding one end. Rohit bats with full intent from the very first ball of the innings. If he encountered two dot balls at the start of the innings, he would be ready to step up for a shot even against a pacer on the third delivery.

It has been clear to every cricket fan that he doesn’t go for personal milestones, and plays with full intent, which also brings more risk to his batting approach. Yet he focuses on capitalising on the power play field restrictions, sacrificing his wicket just to ensure that his team remains ahead in terms of run rate in the first few overs.

Along with that, the Hitman has also been a captain for the Mumbai Indians till IPL 2023, focusing more on team strategies and putting the team’s win first ahead of his milestones. He has also changed his batting roles occasionally, leaving the opening spot for the new players to give them more opportunities.

Rohit Sharma’s role has always been as the opener who would provide a quick start to the team, not an anchor. Most of the players who play for the Orange Cap get a good start to their innings and slow down later till they reach the score of 70s or 80s. But that has not been the case with the Hitman, as if he strikes, he could get a quick century or fail to score well.

Rohit’s Diminishing IPL Form

Rohit Sharma, also known as the Hitman of the Indian cricket team, has still been out of the Orange Cap race in the IPL for several seasons. One of the major reasons behind the same is a noticeable decline in his form over the past few seasons. Since he has been promoted to the opening spot in the tournament, his numbers have dipped to a great extent.

Especially between 2020 to 2023, he encountered a terrible phase in the Indian Premier League, holding an average of below 30 in most of the seasons. Along with that, he also showcased some good performances with a few half-centuries, but his consistency was surely missing ever since his promotion as an opener.

Taking a look at his stats in IPL 2024, there was a significant improvement as he also scored a century, but his consistency still remained a question and also an obstacle between him and the Orange Cap. Till 2023, the major reason behind his slump in form was the dual role in the team as a leader and also an opener in the batting line-up.

But since 2024, the pressure over Rohit Sharma has increased even more, as he was removed from captaincy, with the team management appointing Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the side. Another reason could be the weight of expectations he holds from the fans, who expect him to score well whenever he comes out to bat for MI, but end up losing his wicket in the powerplay.

Will Rohit Sharma Ever Win the Orange Cap in the IPL?

Now it seems unlikely but not impossible for the Hitman to win the Orange Cap in the Indian Premier League. Still, he opens for the Mumbai Indians and doesn’t hold the captaincy pressure for the team, but his involvement still plays a crucial role for the team in all of its matches. Moreover, his role has been reduced in the current edition of the IPL, where Rohit Sharma, who was once a captain of the Mumbai Indians, became an impact player for the team in the majority of the matches.