Who will be the top individual performers of this season? We asked AI, and AI gave its take

The Indian Premier League (IPL), given its giant pool of talent, has always been an unpredictable league. Since 2008, we have seen some of the best players fail, while on several occasions, young players or “nobodies” have become a team’s saviour, demonstrating the league's unpredictability and the potential for unexpected talent to emerge as key contributors. Therefore, for the upcoming edition of the tournament, it is impossible to predict which players will deliver the best individual performances.

Given AI predictions are trending these days, we turned to ChatGPT and asked the chatbot to pick the players who it thinks will deliver the most, ranging from the Orange Cap winner to Purple Cap winners – check out AI’s pick in the following paragraphs.

Orange Cap

🚨 KL RAHUL TO OPEN FOR DC – BIG MOVE LOADING! 🚨

KL Rahul is likely to open for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026 — a move that could completely reshape their batting. 🔥[Sahil Malhotra]

Expect a more aggressive Rahul at the top 💥 pic.twitter.com/BYBMlUUXfG

— manzur shaban (@Manzurshaban123) March 17, 2026

The chatbot made a surprising pick by putting KL Rahul’s name for the Orange Cap. The logic provided by ChatGPT states that the Delhi Capitals wishes to use Rahul as an anchor player, allowing him to stay longer on the crease and build his innings, whereas other players, such as Stubbs, Porel, and others, will play around him with quick hits. Given that Delhi wishes to use Rahul as an opener, it will allow Rahul to play longer innings if he doesn’t give away his wickets. The AI expects Rahul to score over 650 runs.

Purple Cap

🚨777 DAYS WITHOUT BUMRAH IN ODI.🚨

- Jasprit Bumrah has not played a single ODI since 2023 ODI WC. Now he has gone 776 days without a match.🤯pic.twitter.com/dpiAWZtVD9

— Sam (@Cricsam01) January 4, 2026

For the Purple Cap, ChatGPT has picked Jasprit Bumrah as the winner, given his form and recent success in the T20 World Cup 2026. The AI chatbot also highlighted that Bumrah had missed several matches last season, yet he still collected 18 wickets in 12 matches, finishing in the top seven by 7 wickets. If Bumrah gets to play all 14 matches and travels all the way to the finale, he has the chance to win the Purple Cap.

Most Sixes

🚨FIRST MATCH IN IPL 2026 AT CHINNASWAMY RCB Vs SRH🚨

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad on 28 march.

Virat Kohli vs Travis Head.
Abhishek Sharma vs Phil Salt

RCB vs CSK at Chinnaswamy
MI vs RCB at Wankhede
KKR vs SRH at Eden Gardens
pic.twitter.com/q9I30EHCiR

— MANU. (@IMManu_18) March 11, 2026

Despite a poor form in the recently held ICC T20 World Cup, AI backs Abhishek Sharma to end the tournament with the maximum number of sixes. The explosive batting in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp will propel Sharma to hit more sixes and get big scores on the board. Not to forget, Sharma needs confidence in himself, and the best way is to hit bowlers for big sixes. The chatbot believes Sharma will hit 35-40 sixes and could even surpass Nicholas Pooran’s 2025 performance.

Most Valuable Player

🚨 Mumbai Indians batting in IPL 26 🚨

Rohit Sharma
Quinton De Kock
Hardik Pandya
Sherfone Rutherford
SuryaKumar Yadav
Will Jacks
Tilak Verma
Naman Dhir
Ryan Rickelton

Strongest batting unit of IPL 26 🤯 🔥

Mumbai Indians is coming for 6th title..!! pic.twitter.com/pKviCmq7Hj

— VIKAS (@Vikas662005) February 11, 2026

Last but not least, the AI backs Hardik Pandya for the Most Valuable Player award of the upcoming season. The AI believes this season will be crucial for Pandya because, apart from the captaincy role, Pandya needs to do more with the bat and the ball and lead the Mumbai Indians to the playoffs. His 217 runs and nine wickets were overshadowed by other players in the World Cup, and therefore, he needs to be the Mumbai Indians’ everywhere all-rounder if he wishes to continue his status in the national side as well.