In more ways than one, this season has put the ‘Indian’ in IPL. There have been fabulous contributions from the big-ticket foreign players like Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and David Warner. However, unlike in other seasons, the biggest contributions have come from Indian players, with the likes of Rishabh Pant impressing.
While Indian players wouldn’t surprise anyone by topping the batting and spin charts, what has been good to see is the dominance of Indian pacers. Four of the top eight wicket-takers amongst the pacers are Indians.
Here, we take a look at the top 5 Indian pacers on display.
#5 Umesh Yadav
Yadav’s wickets are not the highlight of this season – his blistering pace is. 10 wickets in 9 matches with an average of 26.4 and an economy of 8.51 doesn’t do justice to how intimidating he has been at times, while bowling in tandem with Nathan Coulter-Nile. Yadav’s 4/33 against Kings XI at Kolkata, was the sixth best performance with the ball this season.
His 1/15 against RCB was a great support job too as Coulter-Nile took 3/21 to help KKR defend just 131 at Eden Gardens as RCB were bundled out for 49, no batsman reaching double digits.
Yadav, who is certain to play in the Champions Trophy, is looking fit despite a long and career-making Test season and has shown the kind of control that has rarely been his forte.
#4 Sandeep Sharma (Kings XI Punjab)
Player of the Match, in KXIP’s most recent match against RCB, Sandeep Sharma has been quick, swung the ball and been accurate and troubled the batsmen regularly. He became the only bowler to dismiss Kohli, AB de Villiers and Gayle in the same game. Fourth on the wicket-takers’ list, Sandeep has 14 wickets from 9 innings with an average of 20.28.
His economy is slightly on the higher side at 8.35 but that is because of his penchant for good length which he keeps exploiting to get wickets in the powerplay overs. His 4/20 against Delhi Daredevils is the fourth best bowling performance this IPL to add to the 3/22 he took against RCB to help his team defend one of the lowest totals ever at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
#3 Jaydev Unadkat (Pune Rising Supergiant)
Unadkat, that Indian left-arm pace bowler without much pace and with a forgettable debut, has been wily this year and Steve Smith’s frontman with the ball. Ninth on the wicket-takers’ list with 12 wickets in just 7 games, Unadkat has an average of 17.33 with a not-so-bad economy of 7.75.
He even won Pune a game against MI by bowling the final over of the match, while his 3/29 versus the Gujarat Lions was another superb performance. Although Unadkat didn’t really bring down the house like Kumar or Pant did with the bat, he has been steady and consistent which is more than what could be said for most of the star players at this year’s IPL. The icing on his performance was the hat-trick he took in the final over against SRH.
#2 Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
From being Malinga’s protégé, Bumrah has taken over the mantle of being the best death bowler in the game right now. Apart from some miserly final overs, Bumrah also defended 11 in a super-over where Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch could hardly lay a bat on any of the deliveries.
He is currently sitting on 12 wickets in 10 innings with an average of 26.75 and an economy of 8.02.
Bumrah bowls at Wankhede, a small ground with good batting strips, and bowls or rather given the ball, when no other bowler wants to bowl.
That is what makes him special. 3/24 against SRH was his best bowling performance this IPL but Bumrah has shown some serious form in the last few matches, peaking towards the playoffs.
#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
The Purple Cap holder has been Warner’s main man, ensuring SRH do not miss the Fizz even for one bit. Bhuvneshwar has been sensational, whether it is with his yorkers, his knuckleball or the sharp swinging deliveries.
He has added pace too, regularly going upwards of 135kph. Currently, he is sitting pretty at 21 wickets in 10 innings with a five-wicket haul that demolished KXIP.
An average of 12.61 with an economy rate of 6.62 (second lowest for anyone with more than 10 wickets) – how do you argue against numbers like that? His 5/19 against KXIP are the second-best bowling figures this IPL. He also has a 3/20 and 3/21 against KKR and Mumbai Indians respectively, the two best batting units this season.
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