IPL 2018: Top 5 bowlers who could decide the title race

We are less than a week away from the start of the Indian Premier League 2018. Preparations are in full swing as franchises get themselves ready for the showdown. Batsmen received most of the attention in the pre-auction retentions and also in the auction. Players like Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Chris Lynn, Kedar Jadhav, Sanju Samson, and Dinesh Karthik were bought for a huge money.

But, some of the bowlers did attract huge bids this season. Players like Jaydev Unadkat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jofra Archer, and Chris Woakes were bought for a hefty price. As we have seen in the past IPL seasons, teams with the best bowling lineup more often than not, performed well in the tournament.

Dwayne Bravo and Ravichandran Ashwin played a big role in CSK's title-winning campaigns while Sunil Narine did the same for KKR. Mumbai's success in IPL was mainly due to their bowling strength. Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga played a huge role for them.

On that note, let's take a look at the bowlers who could decide the IPL 2018 title race

#5 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav is having a dream 2017/18. The Slow left-arm chinaman bowler from Uttar Pradesh did exceptionally well for the national team this season. With 17 wickets in 6 games, he was the highest wicket-taker in the ODI series during the tour of South Africa.

Three of Kuldeep's weapons are drift, flight, and turn. The 23-year-old can turn the ball both ways, making it really hard for the batsman to pick his variations. He also picked up 12 wickets in IPL 2017 for Kolkatta Knight Riders.

KKR bought him for Rs 5.8 crore, using the Right-to-match card (RTM). With Mitchell Starc out of the competition, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine will have to play a huge role for Kolkata.

#4 Rashid Khan

The 19-year-old is one of the best spinners in the world at the moment

The Afghani sensation Rashid Khan is one of the best wrist spinners in the world right now. He surprised everyone in the IPL 2017 when he bamboozled players like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Steve Smith, Brendon McCullum, and Aaron Finch. He finished the tournament with 17 wickets at an economy of 6.62.

He did well for Afghanistan over the last 12 months and finished 2017 with 80 T20 wickets, the most number of wickets in T20 by any bowler. He led Adelaide Strikers to their maiden Big Bash League title in 2017/18. With 18 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 5.65, he finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker.

He was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad using the RTM card for Rs 9 crore.

#3 Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye was brilliant for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League 2017/18

Andrew Tye is one of the best limited overs bowlers in the world at the moment. With 10 wickets, he finished the Trans-Tasman T20I series 2017/18 against England and New Zealand as the highest wicket-taker.

In IPL 2017, the 31-year-old took 12 wickets in 6 games at an economy of 6.71. He was brilliant for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League 2017/18. He picked up 16 wickets in the tournament in just 6 games, at an average of 12 and a strike rate of 8.8.

He is a great exponent of the slow ball and his knuckleballs are still a mystery for many batsmen. Kings XI Punjab bought him for a whopping Rs 7.2 crore.

#2 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best fast bowlers in the world right now

Jasprit Bumrah was retained by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 7 crore during the IPL 2018 pre-auction. He played a stellar role for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2017, as he led them to their third IPL title. The 24-year-old picked up 20 wickets in the tournament - the most by any Mumbai Indians bowler.

He made his test debut in South Africa this January and was phenomenal for India in all three formats. He shares the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in limited overs cricket for India. He is India's death overs specialist, because of his ability to vary pace cleverly and bowl accurate yorkers.

He will be leading the Mumbai Indians attack in IPL 2018 and has every chance to win the Purple cap.

#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Sixth highest wicket-taker in IPL history

Arguably India's best bowler in all three formats of the game, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the winner of Purple Cap in the last two editions of the tournament, and only the second player after Dwayne Bravo to win it twice.

The 28-year-old has picked up 49 wickets in the previous two IPL tournaments for Sunrisers Hyderabad. With 111 wickets in 90 games, the Indian pacer is the sixth highest wicket-taker in the tournament's history.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a price of Rs 8.5 crore. He will be taking the new ball once again for Hyderabad and will look to make it a hat-trick of Purple Caps.

Honourable Mention:

Dwayne Bravo

Washington Sundar

Jaydev Unadkat

Yuzvendra Chahal