IPL 2020: Ranking the spin bowling attacks of all 8 teams

The IPL auction was an important event for the various franchises as they looked to fill the holes in their squad and buy back-up options for their star players. While pacers and all-rounders attracted the heavy bids, many teams also looked to sign spinners.

Piyush Chawla was signed by CSK for a whopping ₹6.75 Crore and was the most expensive Indian buy in the auction.

Pitches in India are generally on the slower side, and turn as the tournament progresses. Spinners have now become very important for any good T20 team, especially in India.

On that note, let's take a look at the spin bowling options of each team and rank them in order of potency.

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#8 Mumbai Indians

Can Rahul Chahar recreate his past season success?

Overseas Options: Nil

Indian Options: Anukul Roy, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, and Krunal Pandya

Mumbai Indians have the weakest spin attack, and that is evident in the way their squad is composed. They have no overseas spin-bowling option to turn to, and it was surprising to see them go for Nathan Coulter-Nile when they could've signed a quality overseas spinner.

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Even their Indian spinners aren't too great. While Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have experience of playing in the IPL, both Jayant Yadav and Anukul Roy have played just a handful of games and couldn't make an impact. They should've gone for someone like Piyush Chawla in the auction to get some experience into their team.

Final Verdict: With no overseas option and with a serious dearth of experienced Indian options, Mumbai's spin bowling lineup is easily the weakest in the league.

#7 Rajasthan Royals

Shreyas Gopal was brilliant last season. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Overseas Options: Nil

Indian Options: Mahipal Lomror, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, and Anirudha Joshi.

RR traded Krishnappa Gowtham to KXIP in return for Ankit Rajpoot during the trade window, and that has considerably weakened their spin bowling attack. They bought only Anirudha Joshi during the auction, and that leaves the team without an experienced spinner.

With mostly leg-spinners in their squad, RR seem to lack options to succeed on all surfaces. While Shreyas Gopal is undoubtedly a quality bowler, the rest of the options haven't done too well in either domestic tournaments or the IPL. Mayank Markande promised a lot but failed last season, and it'll be interesting to see how he does this season.

Options like Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag and Shashank Singh aren't that renowned as part-timers, and can leak a lot of runs on surfaces away from home.

Barring Gopal, the other options lack experience, and it'll be interesting to see how they manage things considering that they have five leg-spinners and only two orthodox spinners.

Final Verdict: Despite having a variety of options, RR's spin bowling lineup lacks quality, and the onus will fall on Shreyas Gopal to lead them.

#6 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Washington Sundar will certainly have a significant role to play this season

Overseas options: Moeen Ali

Indian options: Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Pawan Negi

RCB have certainly improved their team from last season after a good outing in the auction. But they released a host of players - some of whom were spinners - and didn't buy a single spinner during the auction. That leaves their spin lineup under-staffed.

Moeen Ali is a more than handy option, and is the only overseas option in the team. The Indian options are certainly quality bowlers but are few.

Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the best Indian spinners in the league and will be called upon to lead the RCB spin attack. Washington Sundar was used poorly by Virat Kohli last season, but after his extended stint with the national team, he's expected to do well for RCB going forward.

Pawan Negi, however, doesn't offer a lot to the team and it didn't make sense to retain him.

Final Verdict: RCB certainly have a couple of quality options but lack in depth and would struggle in case of an injury.

#5 Kings XI Punjab

Mujeeb should be in the thick of things next season.

Overseas Options: Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Glenn Maxwell

Indian Options: J. Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tajinder Dhillon, Murugan Ashwin, Krishnappa Gowtham and Deepak Hooda

Despite trading out star spinner and skipper R Ashwin to the Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction, KXIP have managed to assemble a decent spin bowling setup ahead of next season.

They acquired Karnataka spinners Jagadeesa Suchith and Krishnappa Gowtham through trade deals with DC and RR, respectively. Gowtham has been in scintillating form for Karnataka in domestic tournaments, and is expected to fill in the void created by Ashwin's departure.

They also have a host of other options like Murugan Ashwin, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, and Tajinder Dhillon.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman is expected to be in the thick of the things for Punjab after being left out last season due to a complicated overseas combination. The 2nd ranked T20I spinner in the world is certainly one of the best options in the league, and his mystery spin will be key for Punjab.

Glenn Maxwell too can roll his arm over, bowling his canny off-spin.

Final Verdict: Punjab have a decent spin bowling lineup with one quality overseas option, and a couple of decent Indian spinners. But most of them are youngsters, and the side needs to hold itself together during tough times.

#4 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Rashid Khan is the No. 1 ranked T20I bowler. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20.com)

Overseas Options: Fabian Allen, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan

Indian Options: Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Bavanaka, and Abdul Samad.

SRH have a pretty solid squad ahead of the auction, and one of the primary reason for that is their Afghan spin duo of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. They are joined by Caribbean spinner Fabian Allen, who the side bought for ₹50 lakh in the auction.

While all three are great options, SRH's overseas combination is such that only one overseas spinner can play for the side, and hence Nabi is benched very often.

While they have excellent overseas spinners, SRH lack in good Indian options. Shahbaz Nadeem is the only experienced Indian bowler, and even he didn't have a good time last season.

Nadeem hasn't been very effective in the T20 format and has struggled to pick up wickets. He could pick up just two wickets last season at a poor economy of 10. Skipper Kane Williamson must use Nadeem well this season for the team to function effectively.

The other options are relatively unknown; they are mostly part-timers and won't be banked upon to make much of an impact.

Final Verdict: SRH have two of the best overseas spinners in the league, but whether they have the Indian options to back them up remains a doubt.

#3 Delhi Capitals

R Ashwin is now part of the Delhi Capitals

Overseas Options: Sandeep Lamichhane

Indian Options: Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Lalit Yadav and Amit Mishra

The Delhi Capitals have a pretty solid team ahead of next season, and their spin bowling unit, though small in size, looks pretty lethal.

The acquisition of R Ashwin from KXIP provides another experienced option to partner Amit Mishra. Axar Patel was tight with his lines last season and would be expected to continue his role as a run-blocker in this team. All-rounder Lalit Yadav, who was bought in the auction, is another part-time option who bowls off-spin.

The Capitals also have an exciting overseas option in Sandeep Lamichhane. The Nepalese leg-spinner has shown what he can do on many occasions, but due to lack of need, he was benched for most games last season.

Lamichhane is constantly improving his game and is an excellent backup for the side; he could have more of a role to play this season.

Final Verdict: DC have assembled a strong, compact spin bowling unit that has enough variety and experience to succeed on all surfaces.

#2 Kolkata Knight Riders

Varun Chakravarthy missed most of last season due to injury

Overseas Options: Sunil Narine and Chris Green

Indian Options: Kuldeep Yadav, Pravin Tambe, Varun Chakravarthy, M Siddharth, and Nitish Rana.

Despite a poor show last season, KKR's spin bowling unit is still among the best in the league. Kuldeep Yadav has got back to his best while Sunil Narine did very well in CPL 2019.

They released Piyush Chawla ahead of the auction but made some shrewd purchases to make up for that. Aussie off-spinner Chris Green was a real steal at ₹20 lakh, and he would provide good backup for Narine.

They drafted in mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy for a whopping ₹4 crore, and he could turn out to be a good buy if he manages to stay injury-free throughout the season. They also bought TN spinner M Siddharth, who bowls left-arm orthodox.

The 48-year-old Pravin Tambe, meanwhile, is a vastly experienced player for the youngsters to turn to for guidance.

Final Verdict: KKR have plenty of quality options to choose from, and the likes of Narine, Kuldeep and Varun can spin a web around any batting unit.

#1 Chennai Super Kings

Chawla has picked up more than 150 wickets in the IPL

Overseas Options: Imran Tahir and Mitchell Santner

Indian Options: Piyush Chawla, R Sai Kishore, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma and Kedar Jadhav

Even without their signings in the auction, CSK have the best spin bowling unit in the league, that is how good their spin bowling contingent is.

CSK bought veteran leggie Piyush Chawla for a huge amount of ₹6.75 crore, and followed that up by adding Tamil Nadu spinner R Sai Kishore to their roster.

Last season's Purple Cap winner Imran Tahir is set to be their main overseas option, while Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell Santner provides an alternative option.

They have a host of Indian options, with Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh being the pick of the lot. Chawla could replace Tahir on some occasions, and this could allow CSK to field another overseas player.

The likes of Karn Sharma provide additional backup, while even Kedar Jadhav can roll his arm over when needed.

Final Verdict: CSK's spin bowling unit is easily the best in the league as their squad has plenty of variety. But the sheer amount of options are likely to give them a selection headache.