Middle-overs are always a crucial aspect of any T20 game, be it from the perspective of a batting or a bowling side.
For the bowling side, they would like their bowlers to not only stem the flow of runs but also pick wickets in the phase, while for the batting side, it is about ticking runs and finding frequent boundaries. In either case, they need strong players to perform in this phase.
In this format, spinners bowl most in this phase of an innings, and they are likely to be among the wickets more often than not. Things are no different as far as the IPL is concerned, as spinners accounted for more wickets in the middle overs (7-16).
Let us delve more into the top 10 bowlers with the most wickets in the middle overs (7-16) in the IPL.
Most Wickets in Middle Overs (7-16) in IPL
| Player | Innings | Wickets | Economy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 168 | 164 | 7.72 |
| Piyush Chawla | 188 | 143 | 7.81 |
| Amit Mishra | 160 | 140 | 7.14 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 215 | 137 | 7.52 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 203 | 119 | 7.05 |
| Rashid Khan | 133 | 116 | 6.76 |
| Sunil Narine | 185 | 103 | 6.40 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 153 | 101 | 6.95 |
| Axar Patel | 156 | 93 | 7.15 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 94 | 83 | 7.95 |
Key Insights
Seven bowlers have taken 100 or more wickets in the middle overs in the IPL, and Rashid Khan’s economy rate is the least among those on the list. And for a bowler with at least 60 wickets in the phase, Sunil Narine’s economy is the lowest.
Yuzvendra Chahal has accounted for the most wickets during this phase, and he is the only one to have taken over 150 wickets. He did so at an amazing average of 21.48. (Check out Yuzvendra Chahal’s year-wise performance in the league here.)
All 10 bowlers on the list are spinners. Half of them are wrist spinners, three are right-arm off-spinners, and two are left-arm spinners.
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