OPINION
Follow UsJust like the batters, there were few bowlers who had a change in fortunes when the second half of the IPL 2021 shifted to the UAE. Some of them had a good first half in the Indian leg and deteriorated in the second half in the UAE leg and the vice-versa.
Mumbai’s leg-spinner struggle
The biggest concern for Mumbai Indians at the start of the IPL 2021 was the lack of experienced spinners. This was one of the reasons why they roped in Piyush Chawla in the 2021 IPL mini auction. In any case, they rooted to their young and seasoned spinners in Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar. In the Indian leg, Chahar was exceptional. In seven matches, he had picked up 11 wickets at an average of 18.4 and balls/wicket ratio of 15.3. But everything went south for the Mumbai spinner in the second leg. Chahar, in his four matches, could pick up only two wickets at an average of 58 and balls/wicket ratio of 15.3.
Harpreet fades away
There are hardly few bowlers who have the ability to dismiss Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell all-together. Harpreet Brar became an overnight sensation when he achieved this feat in the first match he played this season. Co-incidentally, these three batsmen were his first three wickets in IPL. In any case, the left arm spinner’s charm faded after the shift to UAE. In the five innings he bowled in the UAE leg, Brar picked up only one wicket at an average of 101 and balls/dismissal ratio of 96 in UAE as compared to four wickets at 9.5 and 10.5 in the Indian leg.
The costliest buy’s cheap performance
In the 2021 IPL auction, Chris Morris went for whopping 16.5 crores, the costliest player in the history of IPL. Morris had lived up to his reputation of being the costliest player in the Indian leg after he had picked up 14 wickets in seven innings at an average of 16 and strike rate of 11.1. However, the pace bowling all-rounder’s value for his money depleted when he landed in the Emirates. In the UAE leg, he picked up only one wicket in four innings at an average of 152 and strike rate of 90. His economy also took a hit as he conceded at 10.1 in UAE as compared to 8.6 in the Indian leg.
Moeen’s struggle with bat in UAE reflects on his bowling
Moeen Ali’s batting was affected after the shift in venue, this has directly taken a hit in his bowling as well. But, in both the legs of the tournament, Moeen has been very economical. The only thing that differentiates between the Indian leg and the UAE leg is the number of wickets. In India, he had five wickets at an average of 14.8 and balls/dismissal ratio of 14.4. In the UAE leg, he had only one wicket in five innings he bowled.
Rashid fails to make an impact
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling unit was dependent on two of their most experienced and successful bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan. Bhuvi, in the recent times, hasn’t had those big impactful performances, but Rashid has filled in that role. However, he couldn’t sustain the momentum in the UAE leg. In the Indian leg, the wily leg-spinner had picked up 10 wickets at an average of 17.2 and strike rate of 16.8 and his economy was under 6.5. However, in the UAE leg, he had conceded at an economy of 7.3 and he had a wicket every 25.4 runs and 21 balls. Though these are decent numbers for a bowler, in Rashid standards these is massive difference.
THE GOOD SECOND HALF
Bumrah – only silver lining for Mumbai in the UAE leg
The Mumbai team had a horrid run in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Their batsmen were not up to the mark, their bowlers, especially spinners, struggled in supporting conditions and Trent Boult, their strike bowler, failed to replicate his 2020 IPL heroics. However, Jasprit Bumrah gave his everything. On the back of decent performances in the Indian leg, Bumrah backed it up with better performances in the UAE leg. In seven matches played on either leg, Bumrah had picked up 15 wickets in UAE and six in India. He had a wicket every 14.5 runs and 11.2 balls in the UAE leg as compared to 32 runs/wickets and 27 balls/wicket. In any case, his standalone act wasn’t enough for Mumbai to qualify.
Shami’s comeback
Apart from Mohammed Shami, none of the other Punjab Kings bowlers have the experience of his level. In India, Shami had bagged eight wickets in eight innings at an average of 29.3 and strike rate of 21.5 and was leaking runs at 8.2. The shift in venue brought out a new Shami, especially in the powerplay overs. Overall, Shami bagged 11 wickets at an average of 14.6 and strike rate of 13.1 and he was conceding at less than seven (6.7). Coming back to his powerplay bowling, Shami had picked up only two wickets but he was giving away runs at 4.5 as compared to 7.3 in the Indian leg.
Yuzi finds his Mojo back
Yuzvendra Chahal, one of the most successful bowlers for Bangalore and India in T20Is recently, was omitted from the T20 World Cup squad. The reason behind the decision was because of his poor performance in the Indian leg of IPL 2021. He had four wickets in seven innings with a wicket every 47.5 runs and 34.5 balls. The depleted leg-spinner came back strongly in the second half. In eight innings in UAE, he had picked up 14 wickets at an average of 13.1 and strike rate of 12.9. His economy also dropped drastically from 8.3 in India to 6.1 in UAE.
The champion and the lord, hunting in tandem
Dhoni has always looked towards Dwayne Bravo or Ravindra Jadeja whenever he is searching for a breakthrough. This season, especially in UAE, alongside Bravo, there was another bowler who got those important breakthroughs and that was Shardul Thakur. In fact, the golden arm of Thakur helped Chennai secure many wins from dire situations.
Both bowlers had an off-season first half of IPL 2021, where Bravo picked up only three wickets in four innings with an average of 28.3 and strike rate of 22. Thakur had a worse start than Bravo as he bagged five wickets at an average of 53.4 and strike rate of 31. But, the shift in venue saw massive improvement in both, specially Thakur. Bravo had bagged 11 wickets in seven innings and Thakur had 16 in nine innings. While Bravo had a wicket every 16.2 runs and 12.4 balls, Thakur bagged a wicket every 16.3 runs and 12.8 balls.
Kolkata spinners weave magic
Kolkata were hanging on a thin line with only two wins in seven matches before the start of the UAE leg. From a point of no return, Kolkata fought their way miraculously to end up as the runners-up. Their bowlers were the prime reason behind it and the two mystery spinners were at the helm. Sunil Narine being the most experienced bowler was equally supported by Varun Chakravarthy.
In the Indian leg, Narine had picked up only three wickets at an average of 37.3 and strike rate of 32. On the other hand, Chakravarthy had bagged only seven wickets at an average of 31.3 and strike rate of 24. His economy also had taken a toll as he was conceding at 7.8. However, the shift in venue brought together the best out of both the mystery spinners. While Narine had picked up 13 wickets, Chakravarthy had 11 wickets and both had played 10 matches. Narine had a wicket every 19.2 runs and 18.5 balls and Chakravarthy had a wicket every 20.8 runs and 21.8 balls.
