Cricket
Nagraj GollapudiGaurav Sundararaman 6y

Magicians at the death: bowlers who boss the slog overs

IPL, Cricket

In addition to Mitchell Starc, who is likely to be one of the costliest buys, the following bowlers will attract franchises because of their ability to conjure magic in the slog overs.

Dwayne Bravo

Base price: INR 2 crore (US$315,000)

Angles, bowling form both sides of the stumps, mixing up pace and variations, bowling off-stump yorkers, slower-ball bouncers - all with a poker face. Bravo has evolved to become one of the best slog-overs specialists during his long career. Bravo has battled a hamstring injury over the last year, but he has given himself ample opportunity to keep himself fit for the final phase of his career.

Numbers

Bravo has picked up the most wickets during the slog overs (overs 17 to 20) in T20 history - 201 wickets (of his 409), coming at 9.50 and a strike rate of 11.31. Since 2012, Bravo takes a wicket every 10 balls during the slog overs in the IPL. That is the best for any bowler in the IPL during that period.

Andrew Tye

Base price: INR 1 crore ($160,000)

The knuckle ball is tied to Tye's name. But that is not the only variation he utilises to dominate batsmen at the end. He uses his tall frame to deliver a very good short ball that is equally lethal. And, like Bravo, Tye has a cool temperament in the high-pressure overs at the end of the innings where being able to breathe easy on the job is an asset.

Numbers

Since June 2015, Tye has the fourth-best strike rate (10.84) in the slog overs at and economy of 9.57. Tye has taken three hat-tricks in T20s and is only the second player to achieve the feat alongside India legspinner Amit Mishra.

Jaydev Unadkat

Base price: INR 1.5 crore ($315,000)

Heavy balls into the body, sly wide yorkers, and a sharp bouncer - Unadkat teases the batsmen and keeps them thinking. Unadkat always had the pace, but last year, for Pune, he showed his bowling intelligence and brought out all the skills he had worked on to become a complete T20 fast bowler. The variety of being a left-hand bowler adds to his allure.

Numbers

Last IPL, Unadkat had 16 wickets in the death overs, which was the joint-best along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whom Steven Smith had called the best in that phase. Importantly, Unadkat's economy rate was 8.41. He is the only Indian bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in the IPL. Overall among fast bowlers, Undakat was the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL last year with 24 wickets at an economy rate of 7.02

^ Back to Top ^