The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway on March 22 with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Last year, Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap after scoring 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69. This was the second time he won the Orange Cap after his record-breaking performance in IPL 2016. Kohli is the first Indian player to win the coveted cap twice.
With the IPL 2025 auction underway and some of the players like Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant sticking to their previous teams, it will be exciting to see how they perform with their new teams.
Let's take a look at three such Orange Cap holders who went unsold in the IPL auction:
3. Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey is one of the finest overseas players to have played in the IPL. His IPL career wasn't very long, but he managed to make quite an impact. He won the Orange Cap in IPL 2013, scoring 733 runs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at an average of 52.35 and a strike rate of 129.50. He registered six half-centuries in the season, with his highest score being 95, which came against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. The Men in Yellow reached the final that season, where they lost to arch-rivals Mumbai Indians by 23 runs.
Hussey went unsold in the IPL 2016 auction, having played only four games last season. He is now working as the batting coach of the Super Kings, working with head coach Stephen Fleming.
2. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson is a legend of red-ball cricket, but his stats in ODIs and T20s are commendable as well. In the IPL, the former New Zealand captain has played 79 matches. He has scored 2,128 runs at an average of 35.47 and a strike rate of 125.62. Williamson was appointed the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2018 after regular skipper David Warrer was banned from the 11th edition due to the infamous ball-tampering controversy. The Kiwi legend led from the front and became the highest run-scorer with 735 runs in 17 matches at an average of 52.50 and a strike rate of 142.44. He scored eight half-centuries during the campaign.
In the last two seasons, he was with Gujarat Titans. However, he got to play only three matches in both the seasons and scored only 27 runs. The Tauranga-born player was not bought in the IPL 2025 mega-auction. He had a stellar performance in the recently concluded Champions Trophy 2025. The right-handed batsman could be included as a replacement due to an injury later in the tournament.
1. David Warner
David Warner is arguably the best overseas batsman to have played in the league. He is the only player to have won the Orange Cap in three different seasons. Warner scored 562 (14 matches), 641 (14 matches) and 692 (12 matches) runs in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 seasons respectively. The opener also led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their only title in 2016.
After parting ways with Hyderabad, the veteran returned to Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2022 season. He mostly opened with Prithvi Shaw. In IPL 2023, the Paddington-born Warner played eight matches and scored just 168 runs at an average of 21 and a strike rate of 134.40. He scored just one half-century in this campaign. Warner did not find any buyer in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
