Despite the Indian Premier League (IPL) being a batsman-favored league, it is the bowlers who make all the difference in the world. Indian bowlers have been exceptionally brilliant in the fray and have transcended themselves beyond every possible benchmark that was set as preceding standards for gauging a star.
From Bumrah to Chahal, India got a slew of superstars through this glamorous cricketing fiesta and a few came sublimely close to the national call up but couldn’t clear the final hurdle. We will look at five Indian uncapped players to have picked up the highest number of wickets in this domestic annual extravaganza.
Rajat Bhatia
An extremely underrated cricketer of the IPL Rajat Bhatia did set the highest standards for himself with some stellar medium-pacer bowling. A gem to chip in with crucial four overs in the middle, Bhatia’s bowling flair was pretty unconventional and mostly was fleeting.
Despite all the odds stacked up against him, he still managed to wring out 71 wickets from 95 games, exhibiting a miserly economy rate of 7.40, thereby topping the list of wickets claimed by uncapped Indian cricketers.
Siddharth Trivedi
One of the most promising names of Rajasthan royals failed to sustain himself despite an extremely promising start to the league as he lost his edge and his pace slowed down to a modest 120 to 130 odds.
From the 76 IPL matches that he played, he managed to pick up 65 wickets, bowling at a decent economy rate of 7.58. With age slowly catching up with this burly fast bowler, franchises stopped showing interest in him and he ghosted.
Shadab Jakati
A star for Chennai super Kings whose enigmatic spin bowling helped Chennai handsomely in their initial days, Shadab Jakati was the yellow army’s mystery man. Rolling his arm in the most bizarre ways, he created ripples around him that riveted considerable fanfare for himself.
However, he lost himself to his growing popularity and shortly thereafter was cast to the shadows. In his limited spells in IPL, he managed to scalp 47 wickets from the 59 games that he played.
Harshal Patel
The year 2015 saw this wunderkind weaving magic with his fingers as he went on to claim 17 wickets in that season. However, he fell out of favor in a very short span of time and started falling below the line of excellence.
In his somewhat shabby career, Patel has managed to notch up 43 wickets from 43 games that saw him bowling at an economy rate of 8.72. His appearances are going minimal by the day and if he fails to scratch an indelible mark on the surface in this year’s IPL, this may also mean the end for him.
Iqbal Abdullah
In his early days, this diminutive spinner was labeled as one of the next big things for India. In 2011 when he lifted the trophy for the Emerging Cricketer of the Tournament, Abdullah was creating the sounds for all the right reasons before fading away to the dust.
From the 49 IPL appearances that this youngster had for his franchises, he managed to claim 40 wickets bowling at a decent 7.23 economy rate, which was too good for a youngster.
