IPL 2020: Ranking the fast bowlers of the 8 teams

IPL Auction 2020 took place on December 19 in Kolkata, and all the franchise owners and coaching staff came out of the event looking satisfied with the players they added to their squad. Only 62 of the 338 enlisted players were bought by the franchises, and hence, fierce bidding wars were seen during the event.

Pace bowlers received maximum attention during the auction as the franchises realised their importance. KKR shelled out a whopping ₹15.5 crore to secure the services of star pacer Pat Cummins, making him the most expensive overseas signing in the history of the IPL auctions.

Having already established the importance of pacers, let's take a look at the pace attacks of the various teams and rank them.

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#8 Chennai Super Kings

CSK signed Sam Curran for ₹5.5 Crore.

Overseas Options: Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, DJ Bravo, and Sam Curran

Indian Options: Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, and Monu Singh

This might come as a surprise to many. It's not that CSK doesn't have a decent pace attack, it's just that those of the other teams are better than theirs. Head Coach Stephen Fleming made it clear that their plans revolve around the spin-friendly track in Chennai.

CSK certainly strengthened their pace bowling lineup by signing Sam Curran for ₹5.5 crores. But how he will slot into the team remains a concern as CSK have a lot of eligible overseas player vying for a slot in the playing XI.

As for Josh Hazlewood, he's more of a Test match bowler and isn't the ideal backup option. He has picked up just eight wickets in the 7 T20Is he has played for Australia at a poor economy of 9.60 and doesn't have too many variations to succeed in the T20 format.

Lungi Ngidi is undoubtedly a great option, but again, CSK's overseas combination is such that they have to compromise on other areas to fit him in the team.

Coming to the Indian pacers, this is where CSK lack. Deepak Chahar is the only reasonable option available in their roster. Shardul Thakur has been very inconsistent, and expensive in the death.

Final Verdict: CSK has a decent pace attack that suits their home track in Chennai, but their lack of Indian backups can affect them in away games. They also lack a leader to spearhead their pace attack.

#7 Delhi Capitals

Woakes isn't best suited to the T20 format.

Overseas Options: Kagiso Rabada, Chris Woakes, Marcus Stoinis, Keemo Paul

Indian Options: Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Harshal Patel

The Capitals had a pretty productive auction, and they addressed some long-standing issues with their squad.

That being said, their primary concern of signing a quality Indian pacer remains unfulfilled. Mohit Sharma is not a List-A buy with the pacer not having played competitive cricket since April 2019. Ishant Sharma doesn't have the knack to pick up wickets, and with not many Indian options, DC have to use up two overseas slots to get good quality fast bowlers in their playing XI.

When it comes to the overseas pacers, Kagiso Rabada and Keemo Paul are great options with Paul serving as backup for Rabada. But having released both Trent Boult and Chris Morris, they needed someone to partner Rabada, but Chris Woakes isn't the best option to do so.

In his short IPL career, Woakes proved to be way too expensive and didn't pick up enough wickets to justify the same. His 25 wickets in 18 games came at a poor economy rate of 9.24, and he has evolved into a longer format player. He doesn't have the variations to sustain in this format, and DC should've looked to get someone like Nathan Coulter-Nile instead.

Final Verdict: DC has someone to spearhead their pace attack, but they seem to lack options to partner him. The Indian pacers' list too could have been better.

#6 Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Perth Scorchers' skipper will play for SRH this season.

Overseas Options: Billy Stanlake and Mitchell Marsh

Indian Options: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, Vijay Shankar and T. Natarajan

Two seasons back, SRH's pace attack was the best in the league. Fast forward to the present; their pacers are certainly overshadowed by those from other teams, at least on paper.

First things first, SRH has never needed flashy overseas pacers because their Indian pacers always did the job for them. But given how their pacers performed last season, SRH should have signed an excellent overseas pacer to provide them with some backup.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's form has seen a dip since his injury early this year, and he hasn't fully recovered since then. The likes of Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma too, didn't do well. Only Khaleel Ahmed got wickets for them last season, and even he hasn't had a good time since the IPL. T Natarajan should get some game-time next season as he has had a great domestic season for Tamil Nadu.

Final Verdict: SRH have a variety of Indian options at their disposal, but since most of them aren't in good form, one might wonder if they have enough backup to survive if their lead pacers don't have a good season.

#5 Kings XI Punjab

Anil Kumble was very proactive in the auction and made some huge purchases.

Overseas Options: Hardus Viljoen, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Jordan, and Jimmy Neesham

Indian Options: Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, and Harpreet Brar

Pace bowling was KXIP's Achilles heel last season as no one apart from Mohammed Shami managed to bring about the desired impact. With Anil Kumble at the reins, Punjab seems to have shored up their pace attack quite well, although some minor concerns remain.

Sheldon Cottrell was their biggest buy of the auction at ₹8.5 crore. Chris Jordan, who was signed for ₹ three crore is another shrewd pick as he is a specialist T20 player and has established himself in the national T20I setup. Jimmy Neesham is a handy option with the ball.

Hardus Viljoen is still an unsatisfactory backup, and they should have released him before the auction.

Having lost Ankit Rajpoot in a trade deal, Punjab should have looked to get a good Indian pacer to partner Shami. But they only signed Bengal pacer Ishan Porel and could have looked for some other bowler like Jaydev Unadkat during the auction.

Final Verdict: Punjab has a decent pace attack with a good set of overseas players. But the dearth in Indian options to support Shami could come back to hurt them later in the season.

#4 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Morris(C) is set to lead RCB's pace attack.

Overseas Options: Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Kane Richardson, and Dale Steyn.

Indian Options: Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, and Shivam Dube

After a couple of poor seasons, RCB has finally managed to assemble a pretty strong pace attack. Mike Hesson and Simon Katich made their intent very clear as they bid fiercely to sign Chris Morris for a whopping ₹ ten crore. They also signed Aussie T20 specialist Kane Richardson who has made a name for himself with his performances in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Renegades.

Add to this fiery Dale Steyn and the wily Isuru Udana from Sri Lanka, RCB has a lethal overseas quartet with more than enough backup for injury.

They seem a bit weaker when it comes to their Indian options. Mohammed Siraj hasn't looked confident on the big stage, and Umesh Yadav hasn't been excellent. But one would hope that with Morris' introduction, Umesh can move back to his preferred position of opening with the new ball. Navdeep Saini has been brilliant in recent times, and he can be expected to carry on his good form.

Final Verdict: RCB has a pretty strong pace attack with a good pool of overseas players. Their Indian players haven't been consistent enough, but if they click, RCB can make it big this season.

#3 Rajasthan Royals

Archer is expected to spearhead RR's pace attack.

Overseas Options: Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Ben Stokes, Oshane Thomas, and Andrew Tye

Indian Options: Ankit Rajpoot, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, and Akash Singh

RR quietly went about their business in the auction and has assembled a pretty solid squad ahead of next season. Their pace attack especially looks strong.

Jofra Archer is expected to lead the pace attack, and he’s likely to get support in the overseas department from Ben Stokes. Andrew Tye is a brilliant buy as his variations and slower balls will work excellently on the slow Jaipur track. Tom Curran has been consistent in the T20 circuit for quite some time while Oshane Thomas can give them an X-Factor who they can use on pacy tracks.

RR has a good set of Indian pacers as well and signed Ankit Rajpoot on a trade deal. He’ll be backed up by Varun Aaron, who did a decent job after he was introduced towards the end of last season.

They also bought back Jaydev Unadkat, albeit for a lesser sum of money. After a poor IPL season, the Saurashtra pacer came back strongly in the domestic season, performing exceptionally well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy and they’ll hope that he does well with a lesser price tag.

Final Verdict: RR has assembled a strong pace bowling setup, which can do well in both home and away games.

#2 Kolkata Knight Riders

Cummins did very well in DC colors.

Overseas Options: Pat Cummins, Harry Gurney, Andre Russell, and Lockie Ferguson

Indian Options: Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Sandeep Warrier, and Prasidh Krishna

KKR made the headlines after making Pat Cummins the most expensive overseas signing after roping in the Aussie pacer for a whopping amount of ₹15.5 crore. His arrival makes this KKR pace attack lethal, especially if the Indian duo of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Naarkoti remain fit during the season.

Harry Gurney has upped his game and has become a highly sought-after death bowler post his performances in the Vitality T20 Blast and CPL 2019. Gurney can share the death bowling duties with Cummins, easing the pressure on the younger pacers. Lockie Ferguson, too has become a key player for New Zealand in all formats and has bettered his game in T20s. He’s expected to do better this season.

The Indian pacers’ list contains an exciting bunch of players as well. Former U-19 stars Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti promised a lot but didn’t feature often due to injuries. If they click, opponents can have a tough time against KKR. Prasidh Krishna, too is a brilliant prospect and has done very well for India A and the Karnataka side.

Final Verdict: KKR has a brilliant set of pacers who can tackle all sorts of pitches but seem a little short on backup in case of injury.

#1 Mumbai Indians

Coulter-Nile adds more variety to MI's pace battery.

Overseas Options: Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Kieron Pollard

Indian Options: Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, and Digvijay Deshmukh

This is the easiest part of the piece. Mumbai Indians are by far, the strongest side ahead of the next season, and their pace attack is a key reason for that.

They roped in Trent Boult and Dhawal Kulkarni during the trade window to bring in more variety to their pace battery. In addition to this, they bought Nathan Coulter-Nile for a whopping ₹8 crore, adding him o their squad roster during the auction. With Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan already in the squad, their overseas pace quartet is the strongest in the league.

They also have the best Indian pacer in Jasprit Bumrah, and he’s to be assisted by Dhawal Kulkarni, who plays for Mumbai in the domestic games.

Final Verdict: Mumbai Indians undoubtedly has the strongest pace attack in the league. They have plenty of backup and a plethora of options to choose from. While this may lead to a selection crisis, it’ll be a happy headache for the MI franchise, who’ll look to defend their title.