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In a country where cricket is equivalent to religion and cricketers are demi-gods, any sloppiness towards batting or bowling duties can be utter blasphemy. Avid cricket fans have an unforgiving memory that refuses to age with time as they find it difficult to perceive cricketers as mere mortals.
Despite putting in the hard yards, there are some days when one just cannot seem to do anything right. With the T20 format of the game tiltled heavily in favor of the batsmen, it is unsurprising to see bowlers have a few such 'off-days'.
Unless the conditions provide abundant assistance to spinners, franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) often employ a pace-dominant bowling attack.
The pacers are expected to bowl the tougher overs i.e. the powerplay and the death, which often leads to them being taken to the cleaners and returning with abysmal figures at the end of the day.
Hence, it is not surprising to see that the four most expensive spells by Indian bowlers in the IPL have all come from pacers. As the 2021 season gets underway, let's take a look at these four outings from the previous editions.
T3. Sandeep Sharma: 1-65 vs SRH
Sandeep Sharma is tied-third for the most expensive spell by an Indian bowler in IPL history. Playing for the Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab), the swing bowler could not stem the flow of runs in the second fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2014.
Judging by his first two overs that day, one could not have imagined that he would end up giving away 65 runs in his combined four.
Sandeep was introduced into the attack in the first over itself and bowled a two-over spell in the powerplay which yielded just 13 runs.
However, when George Bailey, the skipper, re-introduced Sharma into the attack, he was not spared by the SRH batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan clobbered four boundaries and a maximum off his third over. The over also included two no-balls and added 26 runs to the total.
Next, it was Naman Ojha's turn to wreak havoc as he carted Sharma for two boundaries and the same number of maximums as SRH collected another 26 runs.
Although Sharma returned with expensive figures from his four overs, he would have heaved a sigh of relief as significant contributions from Glenn Maxwell, Bailey, Manan Vohra and Wriddhiman Saha helped the Punjab franchise get over the finish line with 6 wickets to spare.
T3. Umesh Yadav: 0-65 vs RCB
Playing for the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils), Umesh Yadav conceded 65 runs and failed to pick up a wicket in the second fixture against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2013.
The Vidarbha pacer started off decently, conceding 8 runs in the last over of the powerplay and 10 runs in the eighth over of the innings. However, once Yadav was summoned back into the attack at the death, he was whacked all over the park by the duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
The right-arm quick conceded 24 runs off his third over and 23 off his final over to finish with a dismal figure of 0-65, which helped RCB post a total of 183/4 in the first innings.
Chasing 184 runs, the Delhi outfit did not back down. They put up a valiant showing with the bat but ended up falling just 4 runs short. Umesh's expensive spell proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end.
2. Ishant Sharma: 0-66 vs CSK
The second fixture between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2013 was a forgettable one for Ishant Sharma. The leading pacer in the Indian Test team was thumped by a strong CSK batting line-up.
The lanky Sharma was brought into the attack in the second over of the match and was pasted right away by Michael Hussey, who whacked two boundaries to collect 11 runs from the over.
Next up was Murali Vijay, who took a liking to Sharma's bowling, hammering three maximums on the trot in the latter's second over. When Sharma returned to bowl the 10th over of the innings, Hussey continued his onslaught as he hit a six and converted it into a 12-run over.
Ishant's last over was his most expensive as Suresh Raina pummeled the ball for four boundaries and a maximum, fetching 25 runs off it.
CSK notched up 223 runs on the board, which SRH failed to chase down by 77 runs.
1. Basil Thampi: 0-70 vs RCB
Basil Thampi holds the odious record for conceding the most number of runs in an IPL game. Thampi was thrashed for 70 runs when he played for SRH in their second fixture against RCB in IPL 2018.
The Royals Challengers were trotting along at a mediocre rate of around 7 runs per over before Thampi was brought into the attack in the eighth over. Moeen Ali immediately went hammer and tongs after him, muscling the ball into the stands twice in his first two deliveries.
When Thampi returned to bowl the 13th over, it was Mr. 360 AB de Villiers who launched an attack on him, hitting him for a boundary and a six, with Ali bringing up his half-century with a boundary in the same over.
Even after giving away 18 runs in his previous over, skipper Kane Williamson entrusted the Kerala pacer with the 16th and the 19th over. However, Thampi's horrendous run continued as Colin de Grandhomme and later Sarfaraz Khan hammered him for 14 and 19 runs in his final two overs respectively.
RCB finished with a mammoth total of 218/6. The SRH batsmen's efforts went in vain as they fell short of the target by just 14 runs. Thampi's terrible beating that made his spell the most expensive in IPL history, whether by an Indian or a foreign player.
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