Let’s assume you haven’t watched a game of IPL 2013. You are asked to guess the top five fast bowlers of the tournament so far. What would your names be?
Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel and Praveen Kumar?
Well, if those are your names, you’re in for a few surprises. Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Mohit Sharma, Mitchell Johnson and Vinay Kumar have wildly exceeded expectations.
How would you explain Dwayne Bravo being the present holder of the purple cap? Maybe, most batsmen regard the West Indian as Chennai’s weak link. Also, Bravo has often been entrusted with bowling in the ‘death’ overs, where batsmen literally look to hit every ball into the stands. This accounts for Bravo’s economy rate of 8.02, but his clever use of the slower ball and the yorker has fetched him 20 wickets.
Another couple of CSK fast bowlers have created as big an impression - Haryana’s Sharma and South Africa’s Chris Morris, who has picked up eleven wickets so far. He is a tall bowler who gets a lot of bounce even in India and hits the bat hard.
But Sharma has been the real revelation. He has regularly bowled in the Power play overs, often bowling out his quota inside 10 overs. Besides, he has got crucial wickets while maintaining an outstanding economy rate of 6.10. The Haryana bowler consistently pitches balls on a good length, thus making him invaluable to CSK’s campaign this year.
Rajasthan have preferred left-armer Faulkner to the erratic Shaun Tait and Faulkner has repaid their faith. The Tasmanian has bowled with intelligence to get 17 wickets from only nine matches at an obscene average of 12.76. He is also the only bowler to pick up a 5-wicket haul this IPL, his 5/20 coming against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, even as Malinga has kept things tight at one end for Mumbai, his opening partner Johnson has fetched 15 wickets at 19.33. Johnson has real pace as well as the ability to swing the ball along with a good bouncer, which made the free-hitting Chris Gayle’s stay uncomfortable.
Vinay has led the line for RCB, fetching 18 wickets at 18.88. Vinay is a wholehearted cricketer who bowls within his limitations and focuses on accuracy rather than pace.
Another RCB bowler, Rampaul, has made use of his opportunities well. His bustling style of bowling has got him 10 wickets in six matches at an excellent average of 16.20.
And what about Dale Steyn, the world’s best fast bowler? He has got only 12 wickets, which isn’t great by his high standards. This may be because most batsmen have decided to play him out safely, which accounts for his economy rate of 5.93.