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At the end of every IPL season, the League awards players with exceptional performances in every category with a memento. The Orange Cap is given to the player with the most runs in the season, the Purple Cap to the one with the most wickets, and the MVP award to a player who performs head and shoulders above everyone else in either or both departments.
The Most Valuable Player Award is given to the Player with the most MVP points in the IPL’s official ranking system. The award was originally established in 2013, before which it was known as the Man of the Tournament Award.
The current system designates an objective criterion in determining, at least according to this points system, the best player of the IPL season. The previous award was mostly given on a subjective basis.
In this article, we will revisit every single winner of the award from 2008 to 2026.
Every IPL MVP award winner
2008: Shane Watson (RR)
In IPL 2008, Watson was easily the most important player in the Rajasthan Royals, winning the first-ever edition of the IPL. With 472 runs at an average of 47 and a strike rate of 152, Watson was the team’s highest run-getter and the fourth-highest in the entire tournament.
He also chipped in with 17 wickets at 22.5 and an economy rate of 7. Watson’s double of 400 runs and 15 wickets in a single IPL season has been recreated just twice since then.
2009: Adam Gilchrist (DCH)
Gilchrist was the captain when the Deccan Chargers rose from a last-place finish in 2008 to winning the tournament in 2009.
He made 495 runs in that tournament and finished second on the Orange Cap table. He made just 3 half-centuries, but had a batting average of 31 and a strike rate of 152. And no player hit more than his 29 sixes that year. His 18 dismissals as wicketkeeper were an unmatched figure as well.
2010: Sachin Tendulkar (MI)
Even at the age of 37, Sachin Tendulkar showed that he had what it took to play T20 cricket. Even though MI finished as runners-up, Tendulkar took home the Orange Cap with 618 runs at an average of 47.5. This made him the first Indian player to win the Orange Cap at the end of an IPL season.
2011: Chris Gayle (RCB)
Although CSK defended their IPL title in 2011, in terms of individual achievements, the next three IPL seasons would belong solely to Chris Gayle. In 2011, he joined RCB as an injury replacement but walked away with the Orange Cap. Gayle made 608 runs in just 12 matches at a batting average of 68 and a strike rate of 183.
His 44 sixes, too, were unbeaten. In his very first match for RCB, Gayle made a century against his former franchise, KKR, and added another one against KXIP. He became the first player to score more than one century in an IPL season.
2012: Sunil Narine (KKR)
This season was the first of Narine’s three MVP awards in IPL history. In 2012, Sunil Narine was a relatively unknown and inexperienced commodity.
In 2012, he spun a web around everyone as KKR won their first IPL title. With 24 wickets in 15 matches, he finished second on the Purple Cap list. He had a bowling average of just 13.50 and an economy rate of 5.48. He also took a five-wicket haul against KXIP.
2013: Shane Watson (RR)
In 2013, Watson became the first player to win the MVP award twice. In 2013 was also the year when the IPL introduced the official MVP points team. In this system, every six hit and every wicket taken fetch 3.5 points each. Every four hit, every catch taken, and every stumping effected are worth 2.5 points each. And every dot ball bowled fetches one point.
Watson won the 2013 award with 386 MVP points. He made 543 runs at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 143. He also scored a century against CSK. His 13 wickets that year came at an average of 22.92 and an economy of 7.95. RR finished third that year as they lost Qualifier 2.
2014: Glenn Maxwell (KXIP)
2014 was the year that the IPL was introduced to Glenn Maxwell’s “Big Show”. Maxwell was essentially a middle-order revolution that took the Kings XI Punjab all the way to a runners-up finish.
Maxwell made 552 runs at an average of 34.5 and a strike rate of 188. His 36 sixes were also the most in the season. Glenn Maxwell finished IPL 2014 with 286 MVP points.
2015: Andre Russell (KKR)
Despite KKR finishing 5th out of 8 teams, the Jamaican had done enough to win over the MVP points system. In 2015, he made 326 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 193. He also had three half-centuries that year.
With the ball, he took 13 wickets at a bowling average of 23 and an economy rate just under 8. Andre Russell finished IPL 2015 with 312 MVP points.
2016: Virat Kohli (RCB)
Much like some other names mentioned here, RCB did not win the IPL in 2016 and agonisingly finished as runners-up. But Virat Kohli’s monster year with the bat has ruled conversations even after a decade.
973 runs at an average of 81 and a strike rate of 152 with 4 centuries, 7 half-centuries, and 38 sixes. Kohli finished that tournament with the Orange Cap and the most sixes. No other batter has ever made 900 runs in an IPL season ever since, and only one has scored 4 centuries in a season ever again. Kohli finished with 356.5 MVP points that year.
2017: Ben Stokes (RPS)
At the IPL auction that year, Stokes was the most expensive buy when Rising Pune Supergiant paid him Rs 14.5 crore. Stokes repaid that faith by making an important contribution in taking the team to their runner-up finish.
Stokes finished with 316 runs at an average of 31.6, a strike rate of 143, and a century while batting at No. 5. He also took 12 wickets at an average of 26.33 and an economy rate of 7.18. His MVP point total that season was 279.
2018: Sunil Narine (KKR)
By 2018, Sunil Narine was a force to be reckoned with, not just with the ball, but with the bat as well. Opening as a pinch hitter, Narine did his job perfectly. That year, he scored 357 runs at a strike rate of 190 and an average of 22. He also scored two half-centuries.
With the ball, he kept being the Sunil Narine everyone knew. He took 17 wickets at an economy rate of 7.67 and a bowling average of 27.5. Narine ended that season with 379.5 MVP points. KKR finished third in IPL 2018 after losing Qualifier 2 to SRH.
2019: Andre Russell (KKR)
Just like four years ago, Russell won the MVP award despite KKR failing to make the playoffs. KKR did fall short in the end, but Russell had a monstrous season with the bat. Russell made 510 runs at a batting average of 57 and a strike rate of 205.
Until 2026, this was the only instance of a batter making 500 runs at a strike rate over 200 in an IPL season. There were also 52 sixes and 11 wickets. Russell had an MVP point total of 369.
2020: Jofra Archer (RR)
While both of Russell’s MVP awards came when his team narrowly missed the playoffs, Jofra Archer’s award in 2020 came when his team finished dead last on the points table.
Archer took 20 wickets at an average of 18.25 and an economy rate of 6.5. He also did his job as a pinch-hitter at times. Archer’s MVP point total for IPL 2020 was 307 points.
2021: Harshal Patel (RCB)
Harshal Patel’s exploits in IPL 2021 earned him the moniker “Purple Patel”. The 2021 season was split between India and the UAE.
That year, Harshal equalled Dwayne Bravo’s record for the most wickets in an IPL season by taking 32 wickets. The same number as Bravo’s 2013 season. But Bravo had 18 matches that year compared to Harshal’s 15 in 2021. Patel had a bowling average of 14.34 and an MVP points total of 264.5
2022: Jos Buttler (RR)
RR finished runners-up in 2022 as they made their first IPL final since 2008. Jos Buttler was the main man behind their run to the final that year as he won the Orange Cap.
Buttler became the second player to make 4 centuries in an IPL season in 2022. He made 863 runs at an average of 57 and a strike rate of 149 with 45 sixes. Buttler accumulated 387 MVP points, and his run total was the second-highest in a single season until next year.
2023: Shubman Gill (GT)
Gill outdid Buttler’s 2022 season as he made 890 runs and fell agonizingly short of becoming just the second player to make 900 runs in an IPL season.
Gill had an average of 59 and a strike rate of 158 as he made 3 centuries and won the Orange Cap, even though GT finished runners-up. Gill’s MVP point total was 343.
2024: Sunil Narine (KKR)
The third of Sunil Narine’s three IPL MVP awards was the first time that a player from the IPL trophy-winning team had won the MVP award since his first time winning the award in 2012. Narine found his lost mojo with the bat back once again. He finished as KKR’s highest run-scorer and the joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker as KKR ended their 10-year title drought.
Narine’s 488 runs included a century as he plundered away at an average of 35 and a strike rate of 181. His 17 wickets came at 21.65 runs apiece and 6.69 runs per over. In IPL 2024, Narine finished with 450 MVP points, easily a record total.
2025: Suryakumar Yadav (MI)
In IPL 2025, Suryakumar Yadav was front and centre of the Mumbai Indians’ comeback into third place. MI had won just 1 of their first 5 matches, but won 7 of their last 9 to sneak into the playoffs. MI then beat GT in the Eliminator but lost to PBKS in Qualifier 2.
Surya broke the record for the most runs by an MI batter in an IPL season by making 717 runs at an average of 65 and a strike rate of 168. He also broke a world record by making more than 25 runs in each of the 16 innings that he played in. His MVP points total was 320.5.
Also Read: IPL final heroes: Complete list of Player of the Match award winners in every IPL final
