Chris Gayle — 2011 (608 runs)
Gayle arrived at RCB in 2011 as an injury replacement. Not many knew what to expect. What followed was one of the most explosive batting performances the IPL had seen.
He scored 608 runs in just 12 matches at a breathtaking strike rate of 183.13 — the highest in the tournament that year. He hit 2 centuries and 3 fifties. RCB, powered by Gayle at the top, made it all the way to the final. They lost to CSK, but Gayle walked away with the Orange Cap and the Player of the Tournament award.
Chris Gayle — 2012 (733 runs)
The very next season, Gayle did it again. He became the first — and still the only — player to win back-to-back Orange Caps. In 15 matches, he scored 733 runs at a strike rate of 160.74, with 7 fifties and a century. His run total was a new record for a single IPL season at that time. He was simply unstoppable.
Virat Kohli — 2016 (973 runs)
This is the one that defines an era.
In 16 matches, Kohli scored 973 runs at an average of 81.08 — the highest run tally ever recorded in a single IPL season. No one has come close in the 9 seasons since. He hit 4 centuries and 7 fifties. He won the Orange Cap, the Most Valuable Player award, and led RCB to the final, where they narrowly lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 2016 season stands alone in IPL history. It wasn’t just Kohli at his best — it was one of the greatest individual batting campaigns in the history of T20 cricket.
Virat Kohli — 2024 (741 runs)
Eight years after his 2016 masterpiece, Kohli came back and won the Orange Cap again, continuing his consistency as a top performer in IPL 2026 as well. This time with 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75, including 1 century and 5 fifties. He overtook his own previous Orange Cap count and became the only RCB player to win it twice.
RCB that season recovered from a terrible six-match losing streak, qualified for the playoffs with a dramatic win over CSK in their final league game, and Kohli was at the heart of that comeback.