Top 3 Orange Cap winners who went unsold in the IPL auction later (Source: Grok AI)
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 Bengaluru (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Last year, Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap, amassing 741 runs from 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-shattering outing in IPL 2016. Kohli is the first Indian player to win the coveted cap twice.
After the IPL 2025 auctions and the shifting of some players who have always been related to their past team, like Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, 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 IPL auction:
3. Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey is one of the finest overseas players to have played in the IPL. He did not have a very long IPL career, but he managed to make a considerable impact. The Southpaw won the Orange Cap in IPL 2013, smashing 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 a highest score of 95, which came against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. The Men in Yellow reached the finals in 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 in the previous season. He is now serving as the batting coach of the Super Kings, working alongside head coach Stephen Fleming.
2. Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson is a stalwart in red-ball cricket, but his numbers in ODIs as well as T20Is are appreciable. In the IPL, the former New Zealand skipper has played 79 games. He has aggregated 2,128 runs at an average of 35.47 and a strike rate of 125.62. Williamson was appointed as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2018 after regular skipper David Warer was banned from the 11th edition due to the infamous ball-tampering controversy. The Kiwi stalwart led from the front as he finished as the highest run-scorer, with 735 runs from 17 matches at an average of 52.50 and a strike rate of 142.44. He notched up eight fifties during the campaign.
In the last two seasons, he was with the Gujarat Titans. However, he got to play only three games in the two seasons combined and scored just 27 runs. The Tauranga-born went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega-auction. He had a fine outing in the recently-concluded Champions Trophy 2025. The right-handed batter might come in as an injury replacement later in the tournament.
1. David Warner
David Warner is arguably the best overseas batter 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 opening batter also led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their only title win in 2016.
After parting ways with Hyderabad, the veteran returned to the Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2022 season. He opened mostly with Prithvi Shaw. In IPL 2023, the Paddington-born played eight matches and aggregated just 168 runs at an average of 21 and a strike rate of 134.40. He scored just one half-century in the campaign. In the IPL 2025 mega-auction, Warner failed to find any takers.
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