IPL 2018: 5 leggies to watch out for

With the dust settling after the auction, all the franchises are ready with their squads for the 11th edition of the IPL. When it comes to IPL, the talks often revolve around explosive batsmen, superfast pacers or overseas MVPs.

However, here in this slideshow, we will talk about a completely different breed - Leggies. Let's take a look at few leg-spinners who are potent enough to make life miserable for batsmen this season.

As we all know, it is difficult for a batsman to face a leggie as compared to a seamer or an off-spinner. Leg-spinners are able to turn the ball even if the pitch condition is unfavourable. Moreover, variations from leggies like flighted and slider deliveries add to the miseries of the batsmen who face them. All these factors provide leggies with an edge.

With the excitement of the upcoming T20 tournament looming over cricket fans' head, let's take a look at 5 leg-spinners who are capable enough to make life hard for the batsmen this term.

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#5 Rahul Chahar

The 18-year-old leg-spinner hailing from Rajasthan would be a figure to watch out for in this IPL. The former India U19 bowler is an ex-Rising Pune Supergiant player with whom he had made his IPL debut. He was brought by RPS for 10 lakh (which was also his base price) at the 2017 auctions. As compared to last time, his value increased considerably at the latest IPL auctions.

Reigning champions Mumbai Indians got the young leggie for a whopping 1.9 crores which started off from the base price of merely 20 lakhs. Credits for the same should be given to his performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 where he took 6 wickets in 4 matches at an economy of 6.37. During the tournament, he also caught some big fishes and drew positive attention towards himself, thus increasing his reputation.

After not being able to feature much for RPS in the last season (he played just 3 matches for his former team and took 2 wickets at an economy of 8.29), Chahar is looking forward to having a great season with Mumbai Indians this year.

#4 Sandeep Lamichhane

Lamichhane is nicknamed as the "Nepali Shane Warne"

The Nepali cricketer, Sandeep Lamichhane was an unknown figure in the cricketing world until recent times. But, the story changed soon after he was picked by the Delhi Daredevils at this year's auctions. The leggie made history by becoming the first player from Nepal to earn an IPL contract as Delhi got him for his base price of Rs.20 Lakh.

The 17-year-old credits former Aussie captain, Michael Clarke for mentoring him. Clarke had invited Lamichhane to train at his cricket academy in Sydney. It was Sandeep's bowling brilliance against Ireland in the 2016 U-19 World Cup that caught the former Australian captain's attention. The leg-spinner picked 5 wickets (which included a hat-trick) by giving away just 27 runs in the match. He also finished the tournament as the second highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets at an impressive economy of 4.67.

With the likes of spinners Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem in the squad, the chances of Sandeep Lamichhane being a priority look feeble. But, given the Nepali leggie's bowling talent, he is surely set to get a chance to display his skills.

#3 Imran Tahir

Imran Tahir finished as the 5th highest wicket-taker in the 2017 IPL

The Proteas googly specialist is surely among the ones to watch out for in the upcoming edition of the IPL. Tahir was a strong contender for the Purple Cap in the IPL 2017. However, he was ruled out of the race after not being able to feature in every match for the RPS (he had lost his place to Adam Zampa on numerous occasions).

Despite that, he finished as the 5th most wicket taking bowler in last year's IPL with 18 wickets from just 12 matches.

Tahir is the highest wicket-taking leg-spinner (21) for South Africa in T20Is. He also has the best bowling figures (5/24) for any South African spinner in T20 International cricket. Records held by the South African clearly show his prowess with the ball in the shortest format of the game.

Tahir can be called as an effective bowler as per his IPL stats. Having played 32 matches altogether for Delhi and Pune, Imran Tahir has picked 47 wickets so far, at a fair economy of 8.31.

With his former team Rising Pune Supergiant dissolved, Imran Tahir would be donning the CSK jersey this time. He was sold for Rs. 1 Crore at this auctions to the two-time IPL champions-Chennai Super Kings.

#2 Yuzvendra Chahal

His bowling figures (6/25) vs England are the second-best ever for a bowler in a T20I match

The RCB man, Yuzvendra Chahal is surely an asset to any team because of his bowling and fielding skills. After having bought by RCB at the 2014 player auctions, Chahal has been an integral part of the Bangalore side.

During his stint with RCB, Chahal prospered a lot under the team's skipper Virat Kohli, which also helped him get into the Indian national team.

The leg-spinner has been influential in crunch situations and has proven to be exceptionally well with his line and length. He is also known for tempting the batsmen with flighted deliveries and thus laying a trap for them.

While googly isn't the area of his expertise, sliders are Chahal's tricks under the sleeve. All these reasons make him the captain's choice when it comes to bringing a situation under their control during the match.

Chahal has taken 73 wickets at an economy of 7.83 in 62 IPL matches played so far. He also has splendid International records. Having played 14 T20I matches for India, Chahal has 26 scalps to his name.

The right arm wrist spinner is also a favourite to get it into the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019.

During the auctions, RCB used the RTM card to get Chahal for Rs. 6 crores. It would be worth a watch to see him in the 2018 IPL.

#1 Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan became the first player to take a five-wicket haul in two overs in a T20I match

Rashid Khan was picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping Rs. 4 Crores at the 2017 IPL. The purchase proved to be fruitful for Sunrisers as Rashid played a pivotal role in helping the team reach semis. The Afghani leg-break bowler took 17 wickets from just 14 matches in the previous IPL.

The 18-year-old bowler ended up as the second highest wicket-taker (11 wickets) in the 2016 ICC World T20. Along with displaying his brilliance on international levels, he has also established himself in the Australian Big Bash League while playing for Adelaide Strikers.

With 18 wickets off just 11 matches, Rashid is the top-most wicket taking bowler in the ongoing BBL.

Being named as the Associate Cricketer of the Year by ICC in the last month, as expected, the Afghan bowler's market value at the auction shot up and many franchises bid for him. Punjab had him for Rs. 9 crores but their celebrations for having Rashid on-board were short-lived as Sunrisers chose to retain their spinner by playing the Right-To-Match card.