Best Bowlers of IPL

This is that time of the year! Well, technically speaking it got delayed by almost 5 months, but hey who is complaining? IPL is back! But, with a twist! The fan banters have shifted from offline café conversations to Whatsapp group chats, and watching the matches together at a friends place might probably shift to online zoom meeting! The things we have taken for granted have become so important now! The same thing applies for bowlers in IPL, most of the time they are taken for granted but when trouble ensues you pray that the bowler executes his strategy! This article is all about the top IPL bowlers of all time!

1) Lasith Malinga

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The Golden man from the land of Raavan! Well, you might find the intro surprising. But, he has played a very crucial part in Mumbai Indians lifting 4 IPL trophies. His bowling performance is second to none and he is leading the all-time wicket-taker with 170 wickets and also has the better bowling average among the top 50 bowlers of IPL. Lasith had problems during 2017 season where he had a very poor run, which resulted in him not getting picked by any of the teams in 2018. But, he came back strongly in 2019 he was very good with slower balls, not only this he also mentors young bowlers and Jasprit Bumrah is trying to learn as much as possible from the master. And, this bowler duo bowling in tandem is a scare for any batting opposition!

2) Sunil Narine

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Sunil Narine doesn’t feature in top 5 all-time wicket-takers lists. He in facts sits at 8 with 122 wickets. But, with his bowling prowess, he played a very crucial part in KKR winning the championship. For any bowler containing the runs is also very important and in high adrenaline-driven events like IPL, it takes a driving seat. And, Narine has the best economy rate of 6.67 runs per over among the top 20 wicket-takers of IPL, this speaks loads of his skill, this is also a fascinating fact because he being a spinner doesn’t shy away to bowl in powerplay!

3) Amit Mishra

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This is a surprise addition to the list. We were surprised to see that Amit Mishra stands just behind Malinga in the all-time wicket-takers list with 157 wickets. If you delve deep into the stats, Mishra did not have any staggering IPL record he crossed 20 wickets in a season only once. But, what stands out is his consistency across seasons. And on his day he can sweat any batsman for that extra run!

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4) Dwayne Bravo

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In 2013 Dwayne Bravo was picking a wicket for every 11 balls he bowled! He was at his destructive best and this list is incomplete without him. He was making batsman look like clowns with his well-disguised slower balls. He made batsman guessing whether he would bowl a 110kph ball or a 140 kph ball. This strategy helped him win 2 purple caps. Lately, the batsman has found a way to negotiate the slower balls from Bravo, but we are sure that the man from the Caribbean will pull something from his hat during this IPL

5) Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Now comes the good boy of the Indian Cricket team. The bowler from UP has rocked the stage of IPL in 2016 and 2017. He is the only player to win Purple Cap for 2 consecutive years. The last 2 seasons have produced only 25 wickets, this doesn’t mean that he is struggling. If you look at his economy rate is barely fluctuated from the purple cap years he has an economy rate of 7.81 and 7.66 in 2019 and 2018 respectively which is a very good economy rate considering he is a fast bowler who bowls in powerplays and death overs. This just indicated that batsman has become more conscious of Bhuvi and he just needs to find a way to lure the batsman in committing a mistake!

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About the Author

The post is written by Himanth. He is an alum of IIMV, a potter head, considers cricket his religion and Sachin his god.