Bowling in T20 cricket is an ungrateful task, to say the least. It is more discouraging for a bowler to know that they have to contend with favorable batting conditions.
Nevertheless, that has always been the case with bowlers who have been able to stand the tough test and do their job by controlling the batters. Some of them went on to take a large number of wickets through their consistent bowling performance across a tournament. It is indeed a testimony to a bowler’s skill if it is done in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Top Five Bowlers Most Wickets in an IPL Season
5. James Faulkner (RR): 28 Wickets in 2013
James Faulkner is one of those underrated players who are just to have been seen playing in the IPL. He had an arsenal of variations to choose from, and that was the very reason why he was the leading wicket-taker for the Rajasthan Royals in 2013.
Faulkner conquered batters by limiting himself to cutters and slower balls with the latter being back-of-the-hand deliveries. The ex-Australian bowling all-rounder ended the 2013 season with a tally of 28 scalps in 16 matches.
Even though Faulkner couldn’t clinch the Purple Cap, his wicket tally helped RR attain playoffs for the first time in after 2008.
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4. Lasith Malinga (MI): 28 Wickets in 2011
The presence of a bowler like Lasith Malinga was enough to create a scenario where the opponent batters were living in constant fear. His deadly combination of pinpoint yorkers and the express pace made it very hard on the batters.
And even though the batters were facing the same situation in 2011, Malinga that season turned out to be the star of Mumbai Indians. The slingy pacer took 28 wickets in 16 matches, one of which included a five-wicket haul against the Delhi Daredevils.
3. Kagiso Rabada (DC): 30 Wickets
Kagiso Rabada turned the heat up during the 2020 season for the Delhi Capitals (DC). The runaway pacer ran the bowling attack of DC expertly.
Rabada took 30 wickets in 17 innings and helped DC enter the season’s finale. Delhi couldn’t win the trophy, but he was crowned with the Purple Cap that season.
2. Harshal Patel (RCB): 32 Wickets in 2021
After having limited opportunities to showcase his talent between 2016 and 2020, Harshal Patel finally came up with a performance of his lifetime in 2021. And it was a monumental one since he equalled the record for the highest number of wickets taken in an IPL season.
It would have been a monumental task to keep consistency throughout the season which was held in two countries. But still, Patel took his form from India to the UAE, though there was a gap of four and a half months between the two legs!
His smartly mixed medium pace and slower ball variations to create 32 wickets for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). With Patel’s performance, RCB got into the playoffs.
1. Dwayne Bravo (CSK): 32 Wickets in 2013
Dwayne Bravo shares the top with Patel. The former all-rounder delivered his best for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2013 season.
Bravo’s pace may not have been fast, but he was smart in his variation. Moreover, the Trinidadian maximized the use of his talent, particularly in the last two overs.
The right-handed medium pacer got 32 wickets in 18 matches which was the highest number of wickets taken by a bowler in an IPL season to date. Bravo was, in fact, the pioneer in crossing the 30-wicket mark in a season
