From the beginning of IPL, the pacers have been the asset of the bowling unit for all franchises. When we talk about the gun fast bowlers in the Indian Premier League, few faces revolve before the face like Jasprit Bumrah, Shoaib Akhtar, Harshal Patel & Andrew Tye for a couple of seasons.
Many so-called cricket experts say that the pacers have been so overrated in the IPL. Yes, but there is a substantial reason behind this hype: the Indian conditions are unfavourable for pacers, which doubles their challenges. Many pacers have tried to spell magic from their abilities, but the bowler who succeeded in pace variation has gathered more success.
Not all franchises want to include a plethora of fast bowlers on their side initially, but this community proves their skills in adversity. This ultimately changes the perception of teams, and now they are running more behind them as compared to spinners.
Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistani pacer, has produced the best figures in a spell of quicks. But, many like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lasith Malinga have taken the most hauls across all seasons of IPL.
So, here are the top 5 deadly spells bowled by pace bowlers in the history of the Indian Premier League.
#1 Sohail Tanvir 6/14 RR vs CSK (2008)
In IPL 2008 season, Sohail Tanvir was an ambitious bowler who debuted for the national side of Pakistan just a few months ago. In a league encounter, MS Dhoni’s led-side had been invited to bat first and got all out on just 109, and the one & only cause behind this is Sohail Tanvir’s vicious and equally disciplined fast bowling which ripped through the batting line-up of Super Kings. Undoubtedly, Tanvir got the man of the match award for this extraordinary work. This is one of the most memorable & best bowling performances in IPL history, positioned at No. 1 in the list.
#2 Andre Russell 5/15 KKR vs MI (2021)
Andre the ‘Giant’ glittered in the first encounter against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021. He took a 5-wicket haul & rattled the innings of Mumbai Indians on a mediocre score of 152 in 20 overs. But, he had to stand out on the sad side as, despite a low target, KKR lost the game by 10 runs. He picked up the stumps of Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya & Marco Jansen, but due to poor batting, KKR had failed in clinching the victory.
#3 Arshdeep Singh 5/32 RR vs PBKS (2021)
In a second league encounter against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021, Punjab lost the goosebumps happening match by a narrow margin of 2 runs. Batting first, Rajasthan Royals got all out on the score of 185, as Arshdeep took big wickets like Liam Livingston & Evin Lewis. But, though RR got all out on 183, they bowled so brilliantly to restrict Punjab to 183/4. And at the end won the action-packed game by a margin of only 2 runs.
#4 Ishant Sharma 5/12 DC vs KTK (2011)
Ishant Sharma is ranked at no 4 in the list, as he is the third-best pacer with such invincible bowling figures in all the editions of IPL till the time. Ishant was playing under the leadership of Kumar Sangakkara in Deccan Chargers in IPL 2011, where he picked a 5 wicket haul in just 3 overs against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. DC had set a mini target of 130 runs for KTK, but Ishant Sharma restricted the batters of Kochi tuskers on himself and won the game for DC.
#5 Deepak Chahar 4/13 CSK vs PBKS (2021)
Punjab Kings was the weakest link of IPL 2021, whom almost every team had exploited in the season. In a league clash, KL Rahul-led Punjab got another thumped by CSK, as Deepak Chahar reaped through their batting and curbed them on a total of 106/8 in 20 overs. He cleaned out the top 4 batters of Punjab, Mayank Agrawal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran & Deepak Hooda. And as CSK batted out to chase, the target was quickly chased down with 6 wickets & 26 balls to spare in the game.
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