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Wrist spinners were the flavor of IPL 2018 as they topped the Purple Cap charts. In these erratic times, wristies are gold dust to any skipper. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been effortlessly running through the mighty batting orders for India.
Although wristies involve a risk factor, but given that they don't need much assistance from the pitch to make the ball do the talking, makes them more potent. Among the spinners last year, Rashid Khan topped the list with 21 wickets, ending up second on the Purple Cap list.
Before looking at the wrist spinners who could make an impact this year, follow this link to understand the science behind wrist spin.
#5. Varun Chakravarthy - Kings XI Punjab
How to become an overnight millionaire? Ask Varun Chakravarthy, who was handed a staggering contract of Rs 8.4 crore by KXIP, 42 times his base price. The mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu caught attention during the Tamil Nadu Premier League bagging multiple wickets with a jaw-dropping economy rate below 5 runs an over.
Since then, he has gone from strength to strength. He also bowled in the nets to KKR batsmen in the last edition of the IPL. Varun was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with twenty-two dismissals in nine matches.
He has seven variations: Off break, leg-break, googly, flipper, top-spinner, carrom ball and the slider. He is expected to partner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the side and the duo already look deadly - at least on paper.
Varun relies on his pace and variations and is an interesting prospect.
He will playing his first IPL season this year.
#4. Yuzvendra Chahal - Royal Challengers Bangalore
Yuzvendra Chahal came in to the mix in 2014 when he was bought by the RCB at his base price of 10 lakh. As they say, good things come in small packages. RCB's pocket-sized dynamo will be the bowler to watch out for and could finally help Bangalore win their maiden IPL title.
The leggie has picked 71 wickets in the 42 ODIs that he has played for India, and in the IPL the tally goes up to 82 in 70 odd matches. He has now become a vital part of the RCB setup.
The leg break bowler's USP is his flight. He often deceives the batsmen in flight with his variations. After being retained by Bangalore ahead of the 2019 IPL auction, Chahal expressed his excitement in his tweet below.
IPL 2018 performance
Matches - 14
Wickets - 12
Economy - 7.26
#3. Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Afghanistan have a knack of producing mystery spinners. In 2018, Mujeeb Ur Rahman became the youngest player in the IPL. The youngest ever to take a five-wicket haul in ODI cricket, the Afghan bowler proved out to be a valuable pick for the Punjab based franchise.
Originally a right arm off-break bowler, Mujeeb mixes it up beautifully with his incredible googlies. Mujeeb even got the better of the great Virat Kohli with his googly last year. With Ashwin leading the side and Varun Chakravarthy also in the running, it remains to be seen that who'll be Punjab's second choice spinner.
When asked about how IPL has helped him as a bowler, he said:
"I had been following Ashwin and Sunil Narine for a long time. I modelled my bowling on their style. Getting picked for a team led by Ashwin was like a dream come true."
"He was encouraging and very patient with me. I was a bit shy before but Virender Sehwag helped me open up. Ashwin would sometimes tell me that I bowl better than him, so that would make my day."
IPL 2018 performance
Matches - 11
Wickets - 14
Economy - 6.99
#2. Kuldeep Yadav - Kolkata Knight Riders
Unlike Team India, where Kuldeep Yadav has been the leading and the first-choice spinner, he has often played the second fiddle to Sunil Narine while playing for the Knight Riders. Although he was among the wickets in 2018, but he proved out to be a touch expensive under Dinesh Karthik and is yet to replicate his national success to his franchise.
He wanted to become a left-arm seamer but his coach thought otherwise and rightly so. Yadav has racked up 86 wickets in the 43 ODIs that he has played in. The Chinaman bowler (left-arm leg spin) who brings the ball in to the right hander, will be Kolkata's player to watch out for, as he is coming after a successful year with India.
IPL 2018 performance
Matches - 16
Wickets - 18
Economy - 8.14
#1. Rashid Khan - Sunrisers Hyderabad
Rashid Khan is the youngest player to top the ICC ODI bowling charts, youngest and fastest to reach 100 ODI wickets, fastest to 50 T20I wickets. During the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, he became the youngest to captain an international side at the age of 19 years.
These are some of the records that Rashid has achieved in such a short period of time. The Afghani sensation has been on rampage for quite some time now and has single handedly won matches for his side. He is a right-arm leg break bowler who possesses five to six variations.
He bowls at around 90 kph, which makes him different from traditional leg spinners. After missing out last year to Andrew Tye, Rashid is a serious contender for the purple cap this year.
IPL 2018 performance
Matches - 17
Wickets - 21
Economy - 6.73
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