Top 5 death bowlers in the Indian Premier League

Over time, cricket has turned into a batsman's game. Nowadays, even 200 is not enough in a T20 game and death bowling has become a crucial element of T20 cricket. On many occasions, the side with the best death bowling unit has gone on to win the Indian Premier League. Death bowling is an art which requires strong nerves, temperament, and the ability to bounce back even after getting hit for a maximum.

It's not necessary that only fast bowlers are good death bowlers. Spinners like Sunil Narine have also made a mark in the slog overs. Before the T20 era, death bowling was all about yorkers, but in modern times, yorkers alone will not do the job. Big bats, small fields, and unconventional shots have ensured that, for a bowler to be successful, variation of pace and a few slower bouncers are also important.

Here are the best death bowlers in the IPL:

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#5 Mustafizur Rahman

The 22-year-old canny left-arm fast bowler from Bangladesh has already made an impact not only in the IPL, but, for his national side as well, where he is a front-line bowler. The "fizz" as he is known, contributed to a large extent in the Sunrisers Hyderabad success in their IPL winning year of 2016. His yorker to dismiss Andre Russell was one of the best deliveries ever bowled in IPL history.

This year we'll watch him in the blue of the three-time IPL champions - Mumbai Indians.

Apart from yorkers and wide yorkers, he is also a great exponent of slower cutters, which are the most difficult to hit. He can be a handy bowler, particularly in dry wickets, where the ball holds on to the wicket. The best part about him is that he can execute a slower ball without much change in arm speed.

He won the Emerging Player award in his first IPL season and proved to be unplayable towards the death of the innings. He has got an economy rate of 7.15, which is very nominal, considering that he bowls during the power play and towards the death.

Due to his left shoulder injury, he lost a bit of zip and failed to make any impact in IPL 2017, and played just a handful of games.

He is looking far more confident this year after having a good tri-series at home against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. A fully recovered Fizz can come in handy with the ball in IPL 2018.

#4 Dwayne Bravo

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The 'Champion' from Trinidad has been quite outstanding at the death. The change of pace and wicket to wicket deliveries has been the key to his success. It gets difficult for the batsmen when a bowler is executing slower balls at the end of innings on a regular basis.

The slow Indian tracks add to the misery of the batsmen. Bravo has been a great exponent of the slower ball and causes the batsmen to mistime their shots, when they try to hit everything out of the park.

The 34-year-old all-rounder started off his career with the Mumbai Indians. He began to make a mark in the tournament after joining the Chennai Super Kings in 2011, and his game improved a lot under the captaincy of M.S. Dhoni. After CSK was banned for two years, he was a part of the Gujarat Lions franchise, and made crucial contributions will the ball in the death overs.

Bravo has already won the purple cap twice, with 122 wickets in his IPL career so far. Apart from being a great bowler, he is a brilliant batsman and fielder as well. He is a utility cricketer and can contribute in all three departments of the game.

He is a familiar face as far as franchise cricket is concerned, playing t20 cricket for different franchises around the globe.

#3 Jasprit Bumrah

The 24-year-old right-arm fast bowler has been a part of the Mumbai Indians since IPL 2013. He didn't get off to the best of starts in his career, proving to be a bit expensive. However, in the last two years, he has developed himself as a specialist death bowler. He has been the key to success for his IPL franchise, who won the IPL in 2015 and 2017.

His awkward action makes him unpredictable as a bowler, and his ability to execute yorkers at will makes him threatening. Apart from the IPL, he has also become a successful death bowler for India, bowling alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

He has got the reputation of rattling the stumps quite frequently and more often than not, he bowls his yorkers in line with the stumps, which leads to a lot of dismissals.

He has got 46 IPL scalps till date, and currently in the form of his life, he'll look to get plenty more in IPL 2018.

#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The 28-year-old bowler from Uttar Pradesh, who started off his career as a specialist new ball bowler, didn't have the best of times in his first few seasons, playing for the RCB and the now defunct franchise, Pune Warriors India.

After being picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, things changed. Winning two purple caps on the trot in 2016 and 2017, he is booming in confidence.

He can bowl a perfect yorker, and with the pace that he has got, he can push the batsman onto the back foot with ease. He can also make the batsmen smell the leather, which makes the yorker more effective.

He performs exceptionally well as a death bowler on a regular basis playing for India as well, alongside Jasprit Bumrah. Having been retained by SRH this year, he'll surely come in handy with the ball.

#1 Lasith Malinga

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The veteran from Sri Lanka has not had the best of times in the recent past and is not the bowler he once was. He even failed to get an IPL contract this year. However, Malinga was once a champion bowler who used to dominate the tournament.

Also known as Slinga Malinga due to his round-arm bowling action, he was, at one point, the toughest of the lot to hit at the death. The calibre of bowling yorkers at will with a round-arm action of that sort made him the toughest of bowlers to hit at the back end of the innings. Apart from his yorkers, his slower balls have been pretty deceptive too.

Death bowling is a difficult art and Lasith Malinga is a master of it. Mumbai Indians would never have been the same team without his contributions.

Malinga practices yorkers at the nets by keeping a pair of boots in front of the stumps, making sure the yorkers land right onto the boots. He executes those yorkers superbly during the match.

He won the purple cap award in 2011. He ruled the IPL for a long time and will always be remembered as a champion with the ball.