CHENNAI: When Delhi Capitals seamer Mukesh Kumar was at the start of his run-up to complete the 14th over against Lucknow Super Giants last week, the score was 110/3. Mukesh had just removed Abdul Samad with a return catch and was looking to get rid of the set Mitchell Marsh.
Mukesh ran in, aimed for an yorker, and even executed it to the point. The ball was on course to land on the crease just outside the off-stump.
But then, something happened. Just as it was nearing Marsh, the ball started to tail in. It dipped and swung just enough to beat the toe end of the bat and hit the bottom of the off-stump. Instantly, he and everyone watching it knew that this was one to be made a GIF out of and play it on loop for the days to come. It was genius execution from Mukesh, but the big picture, the one that has put smiles on pacers all around in the IPL, was that reverse swing is back in the league. And big time.
Mitchell Starc had his moment in the Super Over against Rajasthan Royals and so has several other pacers as there have been signs of reverse swing as early as 13th over in the first innings. While it has given the fans and the bowlers moments to remember, the phenomenon has reflected in the numbers as well. Significantly so.
As things stand, four of the top five wicket-takers are pacers and among them only one, Harshal Patel, has an economy over eight runs per over. Trent Boult is the only one in the top five to average over 20. It is all with good reason. The reverse swing apart, by and large, pacers have made a significant impact this season already.
This was not the case last year. Every pacer went for runs, and the wickets, more often than not came against the run of play. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, who was an anomaly, no pacers in the top ten wicket-takers operated at less than nine RPO. Totals in excess of 225 were made for fun and bowlers spent most of their time watching the ball sail into the stands.
This year, there has been help from the conditions, usage of saliva on the ball and the change of balls in the second innings all has come together to make life of a bowler a tad bit easier. In return, they have shown what can be done with it. It is not just pacers, spinners like Noor Ahmed, R Sai Kishore, Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya have also made a significant difference.
Gujarat Titans pacer Prasidh Krishna is pleased to see bowlers making a significant impact this season. "It's very good that we've learnt of one bad season," Prasidh said during a media interaction on JioHotstar Press Room. "And the bowlers didn't really take too much time. They have really worked on the execution. Every single time you watch somebody go through their over. Or any bowling side go through their whole strategy, it's pretty evident that they know what they're doing. I'm very happy that the bowlers are slightly on the upper hand, the totals haven't been that high," he added.
Coming back after missing the last couple of seasons, Prasidh explained the smallest things make a big difference like applying saliva on the ball to keep the shine on one side. "It has played a bit of a part because if you look at what the ball does with the saliva on it, even if it means that one out of the 120 balls stays in a little more, that means you get a wicket," he said, before adding, "That's an extra dot ball. And if that happens at a crucial stage when the right batter gets out, that means you slow down the run rate of the team, you get the momentum back. So, it has a chain reaction kind of a thing."
In a format where the balance is already skewed towards the batters, this season has shown why pacers play a significant role when there is just a little bit of balance between bat and ball. And it has only changed for the better.
