IPL 2018: Death-overs specialist for each IPL team

The competition between the bat and the ball is getting heftier by the day, courtesy the short boundaries, flat pitches, and thicker blades. In T20 cricket, especially the Indian Premier League, more often than not the matches go till the last over, and the need for a death overs specialist becomes substantial.

In the IPL player auctions 2018, it was evident by the strategies imposed by the franchises and the demand for the aforementioned genre of bowlers turned sky-high.

Here is the list of death-overs specialist that each IPL team will bank upon in 2018 season.

---

Rajasthan Royals - Jofra Archer

He is one of the contenders to win the Emerging Player of the Year award

The Barbados-born fast-bowling sensation played for West Indies U-19s in 2013. Post that, Jofra Archer has been playing for Sussex in the County Championship since the last couple of years.

With quite a thin bowling setup for the slog having Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin and Stuart Binny, Rajasthan Royals will bank on the young boy for his heroics and recent form at the death.

He was bagged by RR for a whopping ₹7.2 crore in the IPL player auctions after a bid-war against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Delhi Daredevils - Chris Morris

His economy in overs 16-20 is under 8 for DD

With Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada to potentially take the new ball for Delhi Daredevils, the onus will be on the more experienced Chris Morris to bowl at the death.

The South African has done it before for Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and even his current team for past couple of years. The tall lad has all the skills of bowling yorkers, slower balls, and the bumpers, proving to be one of the most economical death bowlers in the last couple of seasons.

Morris was retained by DD for a league fee of ₹7.1 crore.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Nathan Coulter-Nile

RCB is Coulter-Nile's fourth IPL franchise

The 30-year-old quick was one of the seamers in the KKR squad that bowled out Royal Challengers Bangalore for a meagre 49 last season. Nathan Coulter-Nile picked up 15 wickets from 8 games in 2017 and bowled phenomenally well in the ODIs of the Indian tour of Australia last year, finishing as the leading wicket-taker with ten scalps to his name.

With the batting line-up looking quite settled, RCB will be keen to assign him the leadership of their bowling attack to get the right balance they have been struggling to get thus far.

Having a specialist new-ball bowler in Chris Woakes and slender Indian bowling, RCB will put the onus of bowling at the death more on the Australian.

Kings XI Punjab - Andrew Tye

He has a miser IPL economy of 6.71

The Australian T20 specialist was one of the leading wicket-taker in recently concluded Big Bash League before receiving a national call-up. Playing for Perth Scorchers, Andrew Tye picked up a hat-trick against Sydney Sixers which was his third in T20s in the year 2017, having picked one each in the IPL and the last BBL season.

The 31-year-old is considerably new to the cash-rich league, with only six games under his belt. Although, his performance was jaw-dropping in the short instance with Gujarat Lions where he already picked up a five-for.

Kings XI Punjab, who lacked a quality T20 bowler for so long, will rely heavily on Tye's services, as he was signed for ₹7.2 crore.

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvi was retained by SRH for ₹8.5 crore

The medium-pace bowler from Meerut has risen rapidly in his limited overs cricket career. Initially, Bhuvneshwar Kumar's strength was to swing the ball both ways, but the rising demand led him to transform himself.

By adding extra yards of pace and new skills like the knuckle-ball and the yorkers to his arsenal, the 28-year-old went a notch above in the shortest format. Signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014, he became their leading wicket-taker and the most reliable death-overs bowler for skipper David Warner.

Kolkata Knight Riders - Mitchell Starc

Starc played his last T20 match back in 2016

Mitchell Starc is one of the most accurate bowlers in international cricket across all formats of the game. The Australian left-arm quick is returning to the IPL after three years, representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015.

He is known for his 150 kph toe-crushing yorkers, with the late swing almost making it impossible to keep away. Kolkata Knight Riders invested heavily on Starc, who was bought for ₹9.4 crore, and lack of experienced Indian bowlers in the KKR side will make him a mainstay to bowl at the death.

Mumbai Indians - Jasprit Bumrah

MI retained Bumrah for ₹7 crore

It was five years ago when we saw a young Indian bowler with awkward bowling action following the footsteps of his teammate, who was already an IPL legend, Lasith Malinga.

The extravagant league is about catching the sight of Indian talent while nurturing them, and kudos to Mumbai Indians for Bumrah’s exponential growth, which has made him the most dependable death over specialist in the Indian cricket team.

The 24-year-old, with his impeccable slog-overs bowling, is more of a match winner and we all remember the classic super-over that he bowled against Gujarat Lions. Skipper Rohit Sharma will continue to rely on Bumrah when the opposition is on a charge.

Chennai Super Kings - Dwayne Bravo

Bravo played for Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 led by his CSK teammate Suresh Raina

For years now, Dwayne Bravo has been the go-to man for his captain MS Dhoni to bowl at the slog overs for Chennai Super Kings. In crunch affairs, he often got the business of starting his four-over spell behindhand at the 13th or 14th over right until the end.

With the power-packed batting line-up including Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Smith and the captain himself, it was the lone contribution of the Caribbean veteran with the ball for years, which he brought about fruitfully on a bulk of occasions.

On account of all the above, he was pulled back in the CSK squad using the right-to-match card for ₹6.4 crore.