David Warner, who recently scored his first century for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), right now leads the race to win the orange cap. At present, he has 529 runs from 11 games and with the 126 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he also has the distinction of having scored the highest runs in a game as a captain.
Gautam Gambhir
The skipper of KKR, Gambhir believes in showing the way himself and throughout the season he has scored runs. He is second right now on the list of run scorers with four fifties to his credit. Gambhir has so far amassed 411 runs from 11 games.
Suresh Raina
The skipper of Gujarat Lions (GL) is something of an institution in the context of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and even in this season, where his team is now out of the race for play-offs, he has shone like a beacon with 395 runs from 11 games. In the history of the tournament, he remains the only batsman to have crossed 400 runs in each season. He sits third on the list of run scorers.
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan, the combative opener who represents SRH, has endured a somewhat-difficult beginning to the season. However, to his credit, he has been fighting hard and contributing on a regular basis on behalf of the defending champs. He has so far scored 388 runs from 11 games.
Robin Uthappa
Uthappa has been the difference maker with the bat for KKR this season covering up more than adequately for impact players like Andre Russell and Chris Lynn. The first-down batter has battered and blasted his way to five fifties this season and sits fifth on the list of run scorers with 384 runs from 10 games.
Sanju Samson
In a team that has arguably the batting future of the national team, Sanju Samson has shone through with 369 runs from 10 games. His batting has surprised many and he is now an indispensable part of the Delhi Daredevils (DD) team. This season he scored his first-ever IPL century against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).
Steve Smith
The captain of RPS took over this season from the ousted MS Dhoni. To his credit, he has been a consistent performer with 367 runs in 11 games with a couple of half-centuries to his credit. The team also sits in the top half of the championship table.
Rahul Tripathi
The unheralded opener of RPS, Rahul Tripathi has made a major impression this season with his match-winning enterprises. He has scored 353 runs from 10 games.
Manish Pandey
Pandey is the third KKR batsman to feature on this list with 341 runs in 11 games. Till now he has scored a couple of fifties.
A little history lesson
The following table provides a list of players who have won the orange cap in the IPL so far. Incidentally, Chris Gayle remains the only player to have won the cap twice and that too on back to back seasons. Virat Kohli remains the batsman with the highest amount of runs in a single IPL season.
| Player | Franchise | Year | Runs scored |
| Shaun Marsh | Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) | 2008 | 616 |
| Matthew Hayden | Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | 2009 | 572 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | Mumbai Indians (MI) | 2010 | 618 |
| Chris Gayle | Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) | 2011 | 608 |
| Chris Gayle | RCB | 2012 | 733 |
| Michael Hussey | CSK | 2013 | 733 |
| Robin Uthappa | KKR | 2014 | 660 |
| David Warner | SRH | 2015 | 562 |
| Virat Kohli | RCB | 2016 | 973 |
