The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season is set to start from April 9. After a successful tournament in 2020 behind closed doors in Dubai, the 13th edition of the tourney is back in India. However, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the cash-rich T20 league will be held across six cities.
The IPL has been a competition that has seen both batsmen and bowlers rule the roost. Since 2008, the statistics have kept getting bigger by each passing season with several bowlers standing up tall and making their presence felt. Here we present the major milestones in sight of bowlers in IPL 2021.
Surpassing Malinga
Former Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga has claimed 170 wickets in the IPL at 19.80. He has achieved the mark in just 122 games. Malinga has been the highest wicket-taker in the format for a while now. However, his record could now be surpassed by two veteran former Indian spinners. Delhi Capitals’ Amit Mishra (160) is just 11 shy of becoming the all-time highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Meanwhile, Piyush Chawla, who is set to represent Mumbai Indians this season, needs 15 scalps (156).
Counting the dots
Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh is back in the IPL after missing the 2020 season. The premier off-spinner will represent the Kolkata Knight Riders this time. The former Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings spinner has bowled the most dot balls in IPL history (1,249). If Bhajji gets an extended run, he could become the first bowler with 1,300 dots in the IPL.
The charm of 150
Only five bowlers have claimed 150 or more wickets in the IPL. And there could be two new entrants in the list. The likes of R Ashwin (138) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (136) are in the fray to achieve the mark. They could become the fourth and fifth Indian bowlers to get to this tally.
The case of 50
Shakib Al Hasan is back with the KKR after having earlier won two titles with them. The Bangladeshi all-rounder could be a major asset for the eastern giants. Shakib has 43 wickets for KKR in the IPL and is seven shy of 50 scalps. Meanwhile, Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik have 46 and 42 scalps respectively for Mumbai. Both all-rounders can get to 50 wickets.
Jaddu magic for CSK
Senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has 114 scalps out of which 87 have come for CSK. He needs 13 more to become only the second CSK bowler with 100 or more scalps. Dwayne Bravo (110) leads the show for CSK with the ball. Jadeja is set to surpass R Ashwin’s tally of 90 wickets for CSK.