IPL 2021: Rating Top 10 Best Spinners In The Tournament

The IPL 2021 is scheduled to resume in September with a change in the host country from India to the UAE. The tournament was suspended in early May following the covid-19 outbreak in four franchises.

At the time of the tournament’s suspension, it is the Delhi Capitals who are leading the points table. In the batting and bowling department, Shikhar Dhawan and Harshal Patel are the chart leaders respectively. The season saw contrasting matches in Chennai and Mumbai with bowlers enjoying success in the former and the batters at the latter venue.

Going a bit deeper in the bowling aspect of the season, the top three wicket-takers are pacers, followed by two spinners. The spinners were effective in Chennai and Ahmedabad due to the conducive surfaces at those two venues. However, when they move the flatter pitches in the UAE, it would be a challenge for them to worry the batsmen.

IPL 2021: Rating Top 10 Best Spinners In The Tournament:

10. Shahbaz Ahmed – 6.5/10

Shahbaz Ahmed did well in the 5 matches he played – but bowled in 3 innings – where he snapped 4 wickets. His 3/7 against SRH turned the game in RCB’s favour. He was sparingly used by Kohli but was effective when given the ball. His average of just 8 and economy of 6.40 is amongst the best in the IPL.

9. Harpreet Brar – 7/10

Against RCB, Harpreet Brar lived his dream match when he dismissed the trio of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and AB de Villiers. In 2 matches he has 4 wickets at a terrific average of 9.50 and a brilliant economy of 5.43. Brar would keep the hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive for Punjab Kings in IPL 2021.

8. Yuzvendra Chahal – 7/10

Yuzvendra Chahal is under a heavy pump of late. After getting dropped from India’s T20 eleven during the England series, Chahal would have hoped to make a statement in IPL 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, he could manage to dismiss just 4 batsmen in 7 matches leaking at 8.26 per over.

He remains a top-level, proven and successful bowler though. The shifting of the IPL to the UAE would bring happy memories of last season for Chahal as the leg-spinner snared 21 wickets there in IPL 2020 helping RCB through to the playoffs.

7. Ravichandran Ashwin – 7.5/10

A master of red-ball cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t have a successful time in the first half of IPL 2021, where he picked just a solitary wicket in 5 matches, leaking 7.74 runs per over. Much of that could be put to the fact that he was not mentally at his best owing to the covid-19 cases in his family, for which he then took a break and left the bubble.

Now when the tournament resumes later, Ashwin will be one of the key bowlers for the Capitals as he would be needed to extract, with his sharp brains, whatever little assistance available from the tracks in the UAE.

6. Ravindra Jadeja – 7.5/10

There is little attractive, or deceitful, or staggering in Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling; he doesn’t outfox the batsman with any mystery or guile or sharp turn.

But what the left-hander possess is the skill to maintain his line and length – his tight bowling is difficult to get by for any batter, and therefore, it is the batsman who has to make adjustments, change his approach to score boundaries against Jadeja. He has plucked 6 wickets so far in the season at a delightful economy of 6.71.

5. Varun Chakravarthy – 8/10

One of the rare mystery spinners in India, Varun Chakravarthy has even earned call-ups to India’s T20 side, but couldn’t go through with it due to injuries. He was KKR’s leading wicket-taker last season with 17 wickets and has snared 7 scalps this season at an economy of 7.82.

His versatility of bowling in the powerplay with the new ball, in the middle overs, and at times even in the death makes him a trusted bowler for KKR over the likes of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav.

With India still not fixed on a first-choice spinner in the T20 side, Chakravarthy could still break into the national eleven. He has a handful of variations and can turn the ball in both directions.

4. Amit Mishra – 8/10

One of the seniormost players in the tournament, Amit Mishra has only got better with age. This season, too, he has taken 6 wickets in 4 matches at an economy of 7.78. The 38-year-old leg-spinner won’t feature in all games due to fitness issues – the Delhi Capitals have decent backups though – but whenever he does, he delivers an impactful performance.

3. Axar Patel – 8.5/10

Axar Patel is having the time of his life on the field, with the ball in his hand. Having disembowelled England in the home Test series – 27 wickets at 10.59 apiece – and overcoming the covid-19, Patel stormed in the IPL 2021 delivering a match-winning super-over against SRH. He has so far picked 6 wickets in 4 matches at a parsimonious economy of 7.00.

Patel can turn the ball away from the right-hander and also has a straighter ball which goes on with the angle – one which troubled the England batters a lot. He offers lower-order batting depth as well.

2. Rahul Chahar – 9/10

There is little Rahul Chahar has done wrong in the last three seasons. He picked up 13 wickets in 2019, 15 wickets in the UAE last season, and now already has 11 in his bag in half a season. He has twice turned the game on its head – against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad – in the defence of a par total.

Rahul Chahar’s also made it into India’s T20 eleven and is a strong contender for a berth in the T20 World Cup squad. He isn’t afraid of flighting the ball in the air to invite the batsman for a big shot.

Also Read: IPL 2021: The Best Fielders XI In The Tournament

1. Rashid Khan – 9.5/10

Rashid Khan is a phenomenal bowler; he is, arguably, the best T20 spinner in the world, let alone an individual league. That Khan barely relies on the pitch for assistance makes him suitable, and a potent threat on any surface in the world.

In the first half of the season, he has picked up 10 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 6.14, notwithstanding Sunrisers Hyderabad’s disappointing campaign. He has plenty of variations – the most prominent of which is the deadly googly, which he mixes up with leg cutters and straighter balls.

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