IPL 2020: Ranking the bowling attacks of all the teams

T20 might be considered a batsman's game but the role of bowlers cannot be undermined. In fact, contrary to what it was predicted at the inception of T20 cricket, the importance of good bowlers has increased. T20 teams across the world have thrived to form strong bowling-attacks.

IPL teams with strong and reliable bowling-attacks have done extremely well over time. Be it Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians or Chennai Super Kings, the successful IPL sides have always had strong bowling units.

At this year's auction, Pat Cummins was the most expensive player to be sold, which emphasises how serious teams are about their bowling line-up. A lot of attention has been paid to strengthening the bowling attacks this auction, and the team that achieved this best will have the upper hand going into the tournament.

On that note, we decided to rank the bowling attacks of the 8 IPL teams:

#8 Kings XI Punjab

Spinners: Murugan Ashwin, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, J. Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tajinder Dhillon, K Gowtham

Fast bowlers/Medium pacers: Mohammed Shami, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Chris Jordan, James Neesham, Darshan Nalkande

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After a below-par performance last season, Kings XI Punjab made big changes in their squad for IPL 2020. They took a huge decision of letting go of their captain and first-choice spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin. They did rope in K Gowtham and J Suchith to provide them with more options but it will be interesting to see if they can perform in pressure situations.

They released some big names in the pace department as well and thus needed reinforcements. Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Jordan and Ishan Porel were the pacers bought at the auction. While Cottrell and Porel are untested at the IPL, Jordan does not have a strong IPL record. They will want Mohammad Shami to do a repeat of his performance from last year. But then, do they have an attack that can turn a match around? Only time will tell.

#7 Rajasthan Royals

Spinners: Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Anirudha Joshi

Fast bowlers/Medium pacers: Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Ankit Rajpoot, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye

Rajasthan Royals' struggles last year were mainly because of their poor bowling-attack. They did not have too many options to fall back on and were too reliant on a couple of faces. They have tried to correct it by bringing in T20 specialists, Tom Curran and Andrew Tye. However, it remains to be seen how they will fit any of them in the playing XI as they already have a strong overseas contingent.

The team's spin-department will be heavily relying on Shreyas Gopal and Mayank Markande. Both these young spinners are knocking on the doors for selection in the national side and will want to make a statement by performing well in the IPL.

However, their pace attack still remains a cause for concern. Archer is now an all-format player for England and his availability for the entire tournament is not guaranteed which effectively means the responsibility of leading the attack might once again fall on Jaydev Unadkat, who hasn't been able to deliver in the last couple of seasons.

#6 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Spinners: Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammad Nabi, Fabian Allen, Sandeep Bavanaka

Fast bowlers/Medium pacers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, T. Natarajan, Billy Stanlake, Vijay Shankar, Mitchell Marsh

Sunrisers Hyderabad were once considered to be one of the strongest bowling sides in the IPL. However, in the last couple of years, the bowlers have let the team down quite often. One of the major reasons for SRH's inconsistent bowling show is the injuries to their strike-bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi hasn't looked at his best and has picked only 22 wickets in 27 games, which is quite underwhelming by his high standards. Also, Siddarth Kaul, who had a couple of excellent seasons in 2017 and 2018 looked off-colour in 2019 and was even dropped from the side.

Lack of support from the pacers has led to too much pressure on Rashid Khan which has affected his performance too. The Sunrisers haven't made any big changes in the bowling line-up which means Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan will be key to their chances once again.

#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Moeen Ali

Fast bowlers/Medium pacers: Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube

RCB has often looked strong on paper but the team has flattered to deceive and failed to perform at crunch moments. RCB's bowling attack came under the scanner last season when they were taken to the cleaners by the opposition batsmen. Dismal performances of players like Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee was a big reason for the team's bowling woes.

This led to some changes in the team for IPL 2020. Chris Morris, Kane Richardson and Isuru Udana have been bought by RCB in a bid to strengthen their pace-attack. Yuzvendra Chahal has been in great form of late, while Washington Sundar has also looked more confident about his bowling. However, the team will want more from Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. The pace sensation, Navdeep Saini, will be a bowler to keep an eye on.

#4 Delhi Capitals

Spinners: R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Axar Patel

Fast Bowlers/Medium Pacers: Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Chris Woakes, Keemo Paul, Harshal Patel

Bowling was Delhi Capitals' strength last season. The pace of Kagiso Rabada was too hot to handle for the opposition batsmen. The South African speedster had a stellar season for the Capitals as he bowled brilliantly both with the new ball as well as in the death. He was ably supported by the rejuvenated Ishant Sharma. The Delhi spinners also played their role well as they were able to keep things tight in the middle-overs.

Delhi Capitals roping in Ravichandran Ashwin in the trade window can prove to be a masterstroke. Ashwin is an excellent thinker of the game and will provide the much-needed variety to the attack.

However, with the departure of Trent Boult, the Capitals have lost the strong back-up option that they had last season for Rabada. Also, barring Ishant, the Indian pace-contingent does not have any prominent face.

#3 Kolkata Knight Riders

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, M Siddharth, Pravin Tambe, Sunil Narine, Chris Green

Fast bowlers/Medium Pacers: Harry Gurney, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Pat Cummins, Andre Russell

Injuries to fast bowlers derailed Kolkata Knight Riders' campaign last year. KKR looked helpless as their lack of bowling depth was brutally exposed as the tournament progressed. Moreover, their frontline spinner Kuldeep Yadav looked completely out of sorts. Owing to these reasons, KKR failed to qualify for the playoffs.

The team management seems to have taken a note of this shortcoming as they bid heavily for Pat Cummins at the auction. KKR will hope that the most expensive buy of the auction will revive their pace-attack. The Kolkata-based franchise will also hope that the fast-bowling duo of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi are fit and available for the entire season. Kuldeep Yadav will look to put behind the horrors of the last season and start afresh.

KKR's bowling looks in a much better shape this year and can surprise quite a few teams with their performance.

#2 Chennai Super Kings

Spinners: Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ravi Sai Kishore

Fast bowlers/Medium Pacers: Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Monu Singh

Chennai Super Kings has once again put their money on the tried and tested. It's no secret that MS Dhoni loves to play around with his spin bowlers, especially on the slow Chennai pitch and thus, the CSK squad is once again packed with spinners.

CSK has a variety of spinners in the side. While they have the experience and class of Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir, they also have the consistency of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner. With the addition of Piyush Chawla, the spin bowling line-up looks more threatening than ever.

CSK also bought Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood at the auction to give teeth to their pace attack. Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been in top form recently which gives an all-round look to the CSK bowling line-up.

#1 Mumbai Indians

Spinners: Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Krunal Pandya, Prince Balwant Rai Singh

Fast bowlers/Medium Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Hardik Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh

If you first look at the Mumbai Indians' bowling-attack you get a feeling that it is pace-heavy. But then Mumbai Indians seems to have formed a bowling attack keeping in mind the conditions they will play most of their matches. The pitches at Wankhede are batting-friendly where spinners find it difficult to contend the batsmen.

Rohit Sharma has relied on his fast bowlers to do the job at Wankhede and his pacers have done so more often than not. And it's not like Mumbai Indians doesn't have decent spinners. Rahul Chahar had a breakthrough season in IPL 2019 which paved the way for his selection to the national side. They also have the experienced Jayant Yadav who bowls with excellent control, especially in the powerplay. Krunal Pandya will also provide support with his street-smart left-arm spin.

However, pace is going to be Mumbai Indians' strength. Jasprit Bumrah is unarguably the best T20 bowler in the world and has time and again proved his worth in the IPL. He will also have the support of his mentor Lasith Malinga.

Moreover, the addition of Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile has given so much more strength to the bowling attack. Overall, Mumbai Indians have a well-balanced bowling attack.

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Edited by Habil Ahmed Sherule