IPL 2021: Rating the bowling line-up of all the teams

The schedule for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been released and it is all set to begin on the 9th of April when Mumbai Indians will play against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. The tournament will be held in six different venues and with just less than a month left, fans naturally can’t contain their excitement.

Coming to the article, bowlers have always played a key role for franchises, and their performances define how the team plays. We have seen several teams with good batting lineups struggle to mount a challenge for a playoffs spot due to the absence of a solid bowling attack.

Last season’s finalists, Delhi and Mumbai, depended on their bowlers to deliver the goods and this was evidenced by the fact that they were also the teams that picked up the most wickets. Even SRH and RCB were third and fourth respectively, and well guess what their positions on the league table were!!

On that note, here’s a rating of all the bowling attacks in the IPL:

8. Chennai Super Kings – 6.5

CSK had a rather dismal campaign last season as they finished outside the top four for the first time in their history and this was due to the collective failure of all three departments. Since they have retained the majority of that squad, even their bowling attack is largely similar apart from the inclusion of Moeen Ali and Krishnappa Gowtham. With all due respect to them, they aren’t the kind of bowlers who are going to lift a bowling attack that was as poor as CSK.

Most of their spinners are suited to a containing type of role, and Imran Tahir, who is actually a wicket-taking spinner, may or may not start for them initially. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ali, Gowtham, and Mitchell Santner aren’t out-and-out wicket-takers.

Coming to the pace department, they do have bowlers like Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, and Sam Curran, who all are good with the new ball, but they aren’t at their best during the death overs. Dwayne Bravo was often MSD’s go-to man during the death, but his form in recent years has dipped and he is no longer the same bowler he used to be.