Ever since the inception of the IPL, teams have opted for a batsman to lead the franchise. Out of the current crop of captains, Steve Smith is probably the most capable with the ball in hand, but he hasn’t rolled his arm in the IPL since 2012.
David Warner is the only captain to bowl this season, albeit it was to finish an incomplete over. During the first few seasons of the IPL, there were a few bowlers who captained their team. A couple of these bowlers gave match-winning performances with the ball in hand.
Let us look at the top 5 bowling figures in the IPL by a captain.
#5 Yuvraj Singh – 4/29 (2011)
Yuvraj Singh’s best bowling figures came while donning the armband for the Pune Warriors India in 2011. PWI scored 187 in the first innings, courtesy of half-centuries by Jesse Ryder and Yuvraj Singh.
Yuvi was on a show with the ball as well as he bagged 4-29 in his quota of 4 overs. He was rightfully awarded the man of the match trophy. Despite Yuvraj’s all-round performance, Delhi Daredevils won the match with three wickets in hand.
Wickets: Irfan Pathan, Naman Ojha, Venugopal Rao, Aaron Finch
#4 Shane Warne – 4/21 (2010)
Shane Warne was not only the first overseas player to captain an IPL side, but he was also the first bowler to do so. Widely renowned as one of the best spinners to play the game, his standout performance was against Deccan Chargers.
Warney picked up four wickets while just conceding 21 runs. After the dismissal of critical top-order batsmen like Laxman and Gilchrist, Warne ensured his side would win the game by cleaning up the middle order and lower middle-order in style.
Wickets: Anirudh Singh, Dwayne Smith, Azhar Bilakhia, Ryan Harris
#3 JP Duminy – 4/17 (2015)
JP Duminy’s captaincy stint was short-lived, but this match was indeed a memorable one for the Proteas all-rounder. Duminy scored a half-century in the first innings to propel Delhi Daredevils’ score to 167-4.
After a solid start by SRH, he decided to bowl some right-arm off-spin and dismissed both of their openers in the same over. He did the same thing in the 17th over as he picked up the crucial wickets of Bopara and Morgan, which helped his side win the game by 4 runs.
Wickets: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan
#2 Anil Kumble – 4/16 (2010)
In 2010, the playoffs were devised like the traditional semi-finals of a world cup. Kumble registered these bowling figures in the 3rd place playoff match against Deccan Chargers after both the teams failed to win their respective semi-finals.
Anil Kumble picked up 4 huge wickets in the first innings as Royal Challengers Bangalore bowled out Deccan Chargers for a paltry total of 82. Among all his wickets, Adam Gilchrist was the biggest victim.
Wickets: Adam Gilchrist, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha
#1 Anil Kumble – 4/16 (2009)
The best bowling figures in the IPL by a captain belongs to Anil Kumble. Although these are identical numbers to his 2010 exploits, neither of these are his best bowling figures in IPL as a player (5-5 under Pietersen’s captaincy).
This match was also played against Deccan Chargers, but it was the final of the second edition of the IPL. Despite Jumbo’s man of the match display, his side lost the match by 6 runs. 11 years on, and they’re still bereft of the IPL trophy.
Wickets: Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao
