IPL 2023: Top five bowlers to watch out for this season. Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rashid Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada make to the list.
The biggest cricket carnival of the world, Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin from March 31 which is going to keep all cricket fans hooked to the TV sets throughout the summer. The ten teams will sweat it out against one another in home and away games for two months to win the coveted IPL 2023 trophy.
In the batters’ favourite format, some bowlers have indeed etched their names which include the names of Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine and many more. As the countdown to IPL is nearing its end, we take a look at the top five bowlers who can emerge as standout performers this season.
Mohammed Shami
One of the best seamers currently operating in the cricketing world, the 33-year-old right-arm medium pacer Mohammed Shami plays for Gujarat Titans in IPL. Shami hits the deck hard and troubles the batters with his upright seam position and his variations make him a deadly bowler to face both at the start and at the end of the innings.
Shami’s bowling has vitally contributed to Gujarat Titans lifting their maiden IPL trophy in their debut season. In the 2022 edition, his bowling performance in the first ever match for Gujarat Titans against Lucknow Super Giants earned him the player of the match award as he scalped the wickets of KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey to end his spell with bowling figures of 4-0-25-3. He stood at 6th position in the purple cap race as he picked up 20 wickets in 16 matches.
IPL Bowling Stats
| Year | Mat | Wkts | BBM | Ave | Eco | SR | 5W |
| IPL 2022 | 16 | 20 | 3/25 | 24.40 | 8.00 | 18.30 | 0 |
| Overall IPL | 93 | 99 | 3/15 | 29.19 | 8.52 | 20.57 | 0 |
Read More: IPL 2023: GT Squad Analysis: In-form opener Shubman Gill spells advantage for defending champions
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal, known for his clever bowling, offers the right-arm leg spin bowling option in IPL for the 2008 champions Rajasthan Royals.
Chahal isn’t the biggest turner of the ball nor does he have a big turning googly, but he offers variations in his pace and bowls flippers. The leg spinner also isn’t afraid of taking risks and bowls flighted deliveries to the batter, luring them into the shot. He is reliable in terms of taking wickets consistently in the middle overs.
Chahal’s leg spin bowling has been instrumental for Rajasthan Royals reaching the final in 2022 only for the second time after 2008. His best bowling performance in IPL 2022 came against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in which he claimed his first ever hat-trick and also his first ever 5-fer in a high scoring run feast as he claimed the wickets of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer, followed up by hat-trick wickets of Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins which earned him the player of the match award for his superb spell. He was the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2022 and claimed the purple cap to his name by picking up 27 wickets in 17 matches.
IPL Bowling Stats
| Year | Mat | Wkts | BBM | Ave | Eco | SR | 5W |
| IPL 2022 | 17 | 27 | 5/40 | 19.52 | 7.75 | 15.11 | 1 |
| Overall IPL | 131 | 166 | 5/40 | 21.83 | 7.61 | 17.20 | 1 |
Read More: IPL 2023: CSK Squad Analysis: Despite inexperienced bowling attack, Yellow Brigade still formidable
Rashid Khan
Arguably, the best leg spinner of the world currently and the numero uno bowler in T20 rankings, the 24-year-old Afghan right-arm legbreak spinner Rashid Khan has also participated in different T20 leagues across the world and plays for Gujarat Titans in IPL.
Khan doesn’t have dramatic legbreak turn but has a well-disguised googly that has choked opposition batting over the years. Even if he isn’t picking up wickets in any of the match, Rashid rarely offers anything to the batters to have a hit against him. Whenever the team is in dire need of wickets or needs to contain the flow of runs, no other bowlers does the job as effectively as Rashid Khan does.
Rashid Khan’s economical wicket taking spells has played a significant role in Gujarat Titans being the champion of IPL 2022. In that IPL, his best performance came up against Lucknow Super Giants in their second encounter where he picked up wickets of Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder and Avesh Khan and ended his bowling spell with impressive figures of 3.5-0-24-4. He was the 8th leading wicket taker in IPL 2022 with 19 scalps in 16 matches.
| Year | Mat | Wkts | BBM | Ave | Eco | SR | 5W |
| IPL 2022 | 16 | 19 | 4/24 | 22.16 | 6.60 | 20.16 | 0 |
| Overall IPL | 92 | 112 | 4/24 | 20.83 | 6.38 | 19.60 | 0 |
Read More: IPL 2023: The Top 5 young guns to watch out for!
Arshdeep Singh
The 24-year-old, left-arm medium fast pacer Arshdeep Singh plays for Punjab Kings in the IPL. His wonderful T20 World Cup outing where he picked up 10 wickets will instill a lot of confidence in the young dynamic pacer which is definitely going to strengthen the pace attack of PBKS.
Arshdeep Singh, being a left-arm swing bowler, has the ability to swing the ball both the ways which helps him get early wickets in the powerplay overs and consistently clocks 140+ kmph. He also provides a vital cog in the death overs executing the toe crushing yorker length deliveries to perfection. All these qualities make him a complete go to bowler in the T20 format.
Punjab Kings finished 6th in IPL 2022, but Arshdeep Singh’s bowling had shown a lot of promise with improvement in economy rate. His best performance in IPL 2022 came against Delhi Capitals where he claimed three wickets of Sarfaraz Khan, Lalit Yadav and Shardul Thakur to end with figures of 4-0-37-3. He could claim only 10 wickets in 14 matches and was in 33rd position in purple cap race.
IPL Bowling Stats
| Year | Mat | Wkts | BBM | Ave | Eco | SR | 5W |
| IPL 2022 | 14 | 10 | 3/37 | 38.50 | 7.70 | 30.00 | 0 |
| Overall IPL | 37 | 40 | 5/32 | 26.35 | 8.35 | 18.93 | 1 |
Read More: IPL 2023: Markram won Sunrisers Eastern Cape the SA 20 title; will he bring SRH an IPL trophy?
Kagiso Rabada
The 27-year-old South African cricketer Kagiso Rabada is a right-arm fast bowler who plays for the Punjab Kings franchise in the IPL.
Rabada’s ability in swinging the ball both ways while bowling at 145+ kmph and his short balls, bouncers and unpredictable yorkers at the death make him the most sought after bowler especially in death overs. He can trouble batters with his swing in powerplay overs as well.
Kagiso Rabada had a good outing at the 2022 edition of IPL but his impressive bowling alone wasn’t sufficient to help Punjab qualify for the playoffs. His best performance in IPL 2022 season came against Gujarat Titans in a match in which he scalped the wickets of Wriddhiman Saha, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan and Lockie Ferguson to register bowling figures of 4-0-33-4. He was the third leading wicket-taker in IPL 2022 with 23 wickets in 13 matches.
IPL Bowling Stats
| Year | Mat | Wkts | BBM | Ave | Eco | SR | 5W |
| IPL 2022 | 13 | 23 | 4/33 | 17.65 | 8.46 | 12.52 | 0 |
| Overall IPL | 63 | 99 | 4/33 | 19.86 | 8.26 | 14.42 | 0 |
Apart from the above mentioned bowlers, other bowlers who have the potential to shine in this IPL season include the names of Wanindu Hasranga (second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2022 with 26 wickets), Umran Malik (fourth-highest wicket taker with 22 wickets), Kuldeep Yadav (fifth-highest wicket taker with 21 wickets), Josh Hazlewood (seventh-highest wicket taker with 20 wickets) and Avesh Khan (11th highest wicket taker with 18 wickets).
Read More: IPL 2023: Lucknow Super Giants Squad Analysis: Opening combination & bowling attack big pluses
