IPL 2018: 5 exciting bowling partnerships to look out for this season

Cricket is all about partnerships be it batting or bowling. We have always given attention to the batting partnerships ignoring the bowling pairs. Over the 10 IPL seasons, we have realized how crucial it is to have quality bowling combinations to win matches. RCB bears testament to this fact of not having a good pair of bowlers to restrict run flow and it shows in their empty trophy cabinet.

More successful teams have always had such powerful bowling partnerships like Malinga - Bumrah (for Mumbai Indians), Ashwin - Jadeja (for Chennai Super Kings) and Bhuvi - Mustafizur (for Sunrisers Hyderabad). This year most of the franchises seem to have learned their lessons and have tried to assemble such potential pair of bowlers to bowl in combinations. The ability of one bowler to contain and help the other to strike with wickets will be a magnificent sight to watch in modern T20s.

Here are 5 such exciting bowling combinations to look forward to in IPL 2018:

---

#5 Jaydev Unadkat and Jofra Archer

Tonnes of expectations, big bids and anticipation on how they respond to the pressure will be the common theme running through both of their stories. Jofra and Unadkat were picked at a whopping sum of 7.2 crores and 11.5 crores respectively. Rajasthan Royals have spent a quarter of their budget on this bowling combination alone.

Jofra hogged the limelight while he bagged 16 wickets for Hobart Hurricanes while bowling at a consistent pace of 145kph in the Big Bash League. His ability to surprise the batsman with his speed and accuracy is fearsome.

Unadkat contrarily has a lot more of slow ball variations in his armoury. He usually bowls tantalisingly slow and outside the off stump line to get crucial wickets in the death. Unadkat needs to shake off his recent poor form and needs to replicate his heroics from last season. The speed of Jofra and the slow variations of Unadkat will be an exciting duel to watch out for. If they fire together they will definitely justify their heavy price tags.

#4 Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Basil Thampi

In the last few seasons, Sunrisers have made a habit of successfully defending low scores. They have managed glorious comebacks to win last over contests with the services of Bhuvi and Mustafizur Rehman (Fizz). This year is no different but only with changes in personnel. SRH have roped in another upcoming fast bowler Basil Thampi to partner Bhuvi.

Thampi who played for Gujarat Lions last season has proved to be a quick learner. In his debut season, he took up the responsibility of bowling in death. He will be delighted to pick the mind of Bhuvi and master the art of death bowling from the master himself. Bhuvi's accuracy, calmness, and consistency will be something Thampi will be hoping to replicate. If Thampi can follow the footsteps of his senior, SRH will have another successful run in IPL 2018.

#3 Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh

The old warhorses, Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh will be coming together for CSK. Chepauk, where CSK will play their home games, is more like Indian roads, you can always expect turns and expect it to be slow. On such a track the leg spin and off spin combination of Tahir and Bhajji will surely make batsmen dance to their whims.

Harbhajan has evolved beautifully from an angry lanky young man to a mature thinking smart bowler. He might not have the spin of Muralitharan or Warne but he has the ability to anticipate batsmen's moves and contain runs by bowling tight lines.

Tahir has had an exemplary season with Rising Pune Supergiants and will be rearing to carry forward his good run in IPL. Very few batsmen around the world pick Tahir's wrong ones. His wicket-taking abilities in the middle overs are priceless and so are his marathon celebrations. Dhoni as he normally does can bring on Tahir to bowl alternatively with Bhajji in the middle overs to take the game into his grip. This bowling combination holds the key to Chennai Super King's success.

#2 Mustafizur Rehman and Jasprith Bumrah

Mumbai Indians have always had good death bowling options. Malinga and his junior prodigy Bumrah used to bowl in tandem to strangle the opposition for runs in the fag end of the innings. They were excellent at handling extreme pressure situations. This year is slightly different, as Lasith Malinga will be back in the dugout as team's bowling mentor. Mumbai Indians have now smartly roped in the young and experienced Mustafizur Rehman in his place.

Fizz had a roaring start to his IPL career playing for SRH. He has had an impressive run taking 17 wickets in 17 matches at a miserly economy rate of 7.14. But in recent times he is said to have lost his pace and accuracy. But he has repeatedly shown how he single-handedly can turn games around by rising up to the occasion. Recently he held his composure and bowled an excellent wicket maiden in the 18th over in the finals of Nidahas trophy against India. His ability to up the soak in the pressure in tight situations is an asset.

Bumrah is undoubtedly one of the best death over specialist in the world at the moment. He already has the experience of being the lead bowler for Mumbai. If the team management decides to field Fizz and Bumrah to bowl the death overs, it will be an exciting combination of a sub-continent death bowling specialists at work. Fizz with his slow out swinging variations and Bumrah's toe-crushing inswinging yorkers will be every batsman's nightmare.

#1 Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal

RCB came into the auction determined to go home with a good set of spin bowlers in their kitty. They bid for Piyush Chawla, Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav and failed. But they finally managed to retain the services of Yuzvendra Chahal through RTM and then quietly bagged Washington Sundar at a decent price of 3.2 crores. This combination has the potential to turn the fortunes for RCB this season.

RCB has always failed to contain runs in the power play (1 to 6 overs) especially at home where they went for 8.97 runs per over last season. Washington Sundar has had a good stint with Dhoni at Pune Supergiants and will be willing to bowl at least two overs in the power play. The offie is quick through the air and extremely disciplined in line like Sanath Jayasuriya.

To bowl in tandem with him in the middle overs RCB has a street-smart bowler in Yuzvendra Chahal. He has always been Virat's trump card when he needed to break a partnership. But Chahal always missed a partner who could contain run flow on the other end. Now he has Sundar to create that much-needed pressure with his remaining two overs. Economical spell of Sundar and attacking intent of Chahal will definitely bring more smile on Virat's face.

Chahal's rise has been meteoric from being second option spinner for RCB to being lead spinner for the Indian National team. The 18-year-old Sundar will be looking to emulate his senior at RCB. This might well be the making of a spin triplet consisting of Chahal, Kuldeep, and Sundar.