T20 is a batsman’s game they say and bowlers seem like meat and drink, at times, playing bit parts in a VFX-laden movie starring batsmen as superheroes. But, this year’s IPL has seen fewer monster scores, even though we did have a decent number of good totals. The bowlers have had a good IPL, thanks to cutting-edge technology helping skippers, coaches and the think-tanks to work out chinks in the batsmen’s armour.
Bowlers have been improving as well, finding newer and more innovative ways of tying the batsmen down. For Indian fans, it was a good IPL considering, the Purple Cap as well as the Orange Cap was won by Indians. Quite a few brilliant spells came from the Indian bowlers and the teams that made it to the top were largely there because of the excellent performances of their Indian contingents, an original mission for the IPL. Here, we take a look at the top 5 bowling performances by the Indian bowlers.
1) Amit Mishra, 3-0-11-4, Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab, Delhi
Setting the tone very early in the tournament, Mishra came up with the best bowling spell by an Indian bowler in the IPL 2016, that too in his 100th IPL game. Delhi won the one-sided game by 8 wickets, with 39 balls to spare, chasing down a small total of 111 with ease.
That victory was entirely set up by two Indians bowlers – Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra. While Khan ended up with figures of 1-14 in 4 overs, Mishra rocked the middle order of the Kings XI team picking up the wickets of Manan Vohra, Shaun Marsh, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell.
Picking up the wicket of Marsh with his very first ball in the first over after the powerplay, Mishra dug the nails into the Kings XI coffin by picking up Miller and Maxwell in the same over in the space of three balls.
In his third over, he continued the rampage by picking up the wicket of the well-settled Vohra, wrecking Punjab, who could never recover from 59-5. Mishra lost an opportunity to pick up a rare five-wicket haul, considering he never bowled his final over.
Nevertheless, it was a sparkling spell of leg-spin bowling, Vohra and Miller undone by a googly, Maxwell falling to a tossed-up delivery and Marsh stumped. He was deservedly Man of the Match.
2) Dhawal Kulkarni, 4-1-14-4, Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Bangalore
That the spell came in Bangalore, a graveyard for bowlers shows how good this performance by Dhawal Kulkarni was. In a rare low-scoring match in Bangalore, Gujarat Lions had just 158 runs on the board, thanks to figures of 4-29 by Shane Watson.
Kulkarni rocked the boat very early picking the massive wicket of Orange Cap holder Virat Kohli with just his second ball – Kohli scoring an almost unheard-of duck. After breaching Kohli’s defence, Kulkarni went through Chris Gayle’s defence in his next over and then got Lokesh Rahul with the very next ball.
Sachin Baby was his fourth in a fine spell of fast bowling with a little swing but a lot of discipline and tight lines on a slightly sluggish Chinnaswamy pitch. RCB was 29 for 5 thanks to Kulkarni’s spell. However, a superlative effort by AB de Villiers supported by Iqbal Abdullah ensured RCB eventually reached their target.
Kulkarni’s was a spell that didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. That the spell came under pressure against a top batting side in a big match, the first Qualifier, makes it all the more precious.
3) Axar Patel, 4-0-21-4, Kings XI Punjab v Gujarat Lions, Rajkot
Two important factors make this bowling performance by Axar Patel very special. Firstly, Gujarat Lions were in steamrolling form while the Kings XI Punjab had gotten off to a bad start. Beating the top side at that point needed a superlative performance.
Secondly, Rajkot’s flatter batting track rarely ever allows bowlers to get on top. Punjab were bowled out only for 154 thanks to a good bowling spell from another Indian find, Chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik, who registered figures of 3-20 in 4 overs. However, Patel cleaned up the Lions’ middle order.
He got Lions opener Dwayne Smith and then got through the defences of Dinesh Karthik couple of balls later. But he wasn’t done for the over. The very next ball, Patel got Dwayne Bravo with a quicker skidding delivery that the latter dragged on to his stumps.
He then picked up Jadeja’s wicket on his home ground demolishing Lions, who were left in a precarious situation at 57-6. Lower order resistance didn’t help much as Kings XI pulled off the win by 23 runs. Patel, unsurprisingly, picked up the Man of the Match award.
4) Yuzvendra Chahal, 3-0-25-4, Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab, Bangalore
On a pitch where RCB scored 211, thanks to a Kohli ton, the Kings XI managed just 120 hurtling towards a massive loss. That was largely because of an excellent spell from Chahal, who has emerged as RCB’s best bowler this IPL.
Chahal, who is second on the top wicket-takers’ list, just 2 wickets behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but having played 4 games fewer, picked up 4 wickets in just 3 overs. Chahal ran through the lower middle-order of Kings XI picking up wickets of Saha, Gurkeerat, Behardien and Abbott. He missed out on a chance of a 5-wicket haul as Kings XI ran out of batsmen.
5) Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 4-0-29-4, Hyderabad Sunrisers v Gujarat Lions, Rajkot
Sunrisers Hyderabad, Champions of IPL 2016, registered one of the most thumping wins of the season when they beat Lions, one of the best sides in the tournament, by 10 wickets with 31 balls remaining.
It was set up B Kumar, Purple Cap winner when he rocked the Lions picking up 4 wickets – Finch, Raina, Nath and Steyn. Finch’s wicket came in the very first over but the Lions did well reasonably for a while before losing their way. Kumar returned in the death to do what he has done right through – squeeze the opposition.
He picked up 3 of his 4 wickets in an excellent last over, ensuring the Lions couldn’t get a decent total. Warner and Dhawan smashed half centuries with a 137 run partnership to win the game with ease.
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