CHENNAI: It is that time of the year when the majority of the cricketing world comes to a stop, witnessing and celebrating the two-month-long carnival that is the Indian Premier League. And over the past 17 years, one thing every team of the league has looked to do is get their pace bowling core intact. That is why overseas fast bowlers are always in demand, but more often than not it is the team that has a solid group of Indian pacers that has thrived. While Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo are always the two names discussed when it comes to an all-time IPL bowling attack, Trent Boult is not far off, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are right up there with them.
In fact, Kumar is all set to become the highest wicket-taking pacer in the league surpassing Bravo (183) who is only two wickets ahead of him. Kumar's 181 scalps have come in 176 games as he has been at the front and center of Sunrisers Hyderabad's success over the past decade. Bumrah's choice is of course a no-brainer — 165 wickets in just 133 games at an economy of 7.3 and a strike rate of 18.5. Then there are Sandeep Sharma, Harshal Patel, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Siraj.
While every single one of them is expected to play a crucial role for their teams, four of them would be at the core of it all. Bumrah is still recovering from injury, so we will look at him later. For now, it is all about Kumar, Shami and Siraj. The trio has sort of been through a shuffle between their teams and it just so happens, that their stakes and the significance have gone up massively.
For a team that is heavily reliant on their batting at M Chinnaswamy, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be looking to Kumar, along with Josh Hazlewood, for inspiration. One of the most economical pacers in the league, Kumar will have to bring his A-game to nail those yorkers and slower balls in the batting paradise. "We were just talking about yorkers, Bhuvi's got a great back-of-hand slower ball. He uses the crease really well. He varies the pace. And he knows every team, every player. And because he's been playing for ages, all those experiences are going to count. I'm very confident in the way Bhuvi has been working, especially off-season training. He didn't miss many matches. He has been consistently playing even the first-class matches. So that will surely help," S Sreesanth, JioStar expert for the 2025 IPL, told this daily.
Siraj is coming on the back of a rough year. Tough time in red-ball cricket, he missed out on the Champions Trophy squad and now will have a point to prove for Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. From the clippings that are doing rounds ahead of the season, he is swinging the balls both ways and under the lights, he could be lethal with the new ball. Meanwhile, Shami has been on and off since his India comeback, but has played all matches in Dubai as India won the ICC title. He did not look like the same old paceman, but in T20s, Shami has an advantage, especially with the Impact Player rule.
Sreesanth believes it will all come down to the plan they have and how they execute them. He felt that the more games they play the better they will get. "Bowlers like Siraj, Bhuvi or even for that matter, Shami, have got so much experience. But it's a matter of executing that. And how do you do it consistently enough? So, getting into a routine, I'm sure they are legendary bowlers and they will have a certain routine they follow. But it's all about doing it again and again and again. And that's where Ishant Sharma, for that matter, even though he's not been anywhere, the way he trained, bowling in the nets and guiding the bowlers, it's very important. But even if you wear his spikes, you want to win the matches for the country. Not just help other fast bowlers. So, Shami will be looking forward to being back in those leading wicket-takers.
"It's not easy after injury to come back and straight away perform. But Shami is doing that. Yes, you need to get that fitness level high. But I am confident all the senior fast bowlers will do really well this season. Because if not, we know the Indian cricket team's talent pool is so big. Even A or B or C teams can win a lot of tournaments. So, they will know that. It's all about having that belief system at the start of the run-up and executing those plans well. And I think Shami is one of the best in that," said Sreesanth.
Indeed. Whether they will be able to do so or not, we will know in the coming weeks.