Which player won the first Orange Cap in IPL history?

Shaun Marsh won the first Orange Cap in IPL history, finishing the inaugural 2008 season as its leading run-scorer.

Playing for Kings XI Punjab, Marsh scored 616 runs in 11 innings. His campaign included a century and several substantial scores after he joined the tournament partway through the season. He finished ahead of Gautam Gambhir, who was among the leading scorers for Delhi Daredevils.

The Orange Cap was introduced during the first IPL season as a running honour for the tournament’s highest scorer. Brendon McCullum was the first player to wear the cap while leading the live scoring chart, but Marsh became the first player to win the completed-season award. That distinction explains why McCullum sometimes appears in accounts describing the Orange Cap’s earliest history.

The inaugural season ran from 18 April to 1 June 2008, with Rajasthan Royals winning the final. Marsh’s 616 runs established the first benchmark for the award; Matthew Hayden won it the following year for Chennai Super Kings with 572 runs. The Orange Cap remains the IPL’s principal batting award for aggregate runs.