IPL 2021: Team Wise One Bowler Who Can Bowl The Super-Over

Bowling a Super-Over is one of the toughest jobs in white-ball cricket and one not only needs special skills but also the incredible temperament to pull it off.

Over the years, we have seen several bowlers make their mark amid relentless pressure and against rampaging batters. Today we discuss death-overs’ specialist bowlers of each team that IPL captains turn to when it comes to the Super Over:

Here’s a look at Team Wise One Bowler Who Can Bowl The Super-Over in IPL 2021:

SunRisers Hyderabad – Rashid Khan

Normally, you’d trust a seamer to bowl the Super Over, but then, it is hard to give it to someone else when you have a champion like Rashid Khan in your team.

Khan is a once-in-a-generation bowler, someone who can adapt to any game situation thanks to his precocious skills and brilliant temperament, and match-awareness.

The issue, however, for Khan has been that his batters never give him enough runs to defend and that is a major reason why he has failed to take his team past the finishing line in all three instances.

Take, for example, this season’s Super Over against Delhi Capitals where he had just 6 runs to defend against the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan.

Khan did his best and even took the game till the last ball, but, alas, it was not to be as the lack of a big target, meant that both Pant and Dhawan did not have to take undue risk and deal in singles.

Rajasthan Royals- Chris Morris

While Rajasthan Royals have Jofra Archer at their disposal, Chris Morris is a good or perhaps better option to go with for the Super Over.

Morris is a death-over specialist, who, more often than not, does the job for his team at the backend of the innings with his searing yorkers and change of pace.

In the 14th season, Morris bowled a total of 8 overs between 16-20, in which he notched up figures of 9/80.

Punjab Kings – Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami was always renowned as a powerplay bowler, someone who could seam the ball upfront and claim top-order wickets.

However, in the past couple of seasons,  Shami has improved his death bowler appreciably.

In the last IPL, Shami was tasked to defend just 5 runs in the Super Over against the likes of Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma, and the right-arm seamer did that with disdain as he nailed his yorkers with immaculate consistency.

Shami managed to keep Quinton de Kock and Rohit to 5 runs to enforce another Super Over, which was eventually won by Punjab Kings.

Chennai Super Kings – Dwayne Bravo

He may not have been the same force to reckon with in the last two seasons of the IPL due to a combination of injuries and lack of form, but Dwayne Bravo still remains one of the best exponents when it comes to crunch situations.

With his world-renowned back-of-the-hand slower ball amid several other variations, Bravo still remains the best bet for CSK in the Super Over.

Kolkata Knight Riders – Lockie Ferguson

If it was pre-2015, then it would have been a no-brainer to pick Sunil Narine to bowl the Super-Over.

But, after multiple reports against action, Sunil Narine isn’t the same bowler anymore. He doesn’t take enough wickets and concedes runs, something that was unheard of in the past.

I know they don’t play him in the playing 11, but out of all the seam-bowling options that KKR have, Lockie Ferguson is their best bet for the Super Over.

Ferguson bowled the Super-Over in the 2020 season against the SunRisers Hyderabad and he knocked over David Warner and Abdul Samad within a space of three deliveries to ensure that SRH registered the joint-lowest Super-Over total (2) in IPL history.

Royal Challengers Bangalore- Mohammed Siraj

Just like Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj isn’t really renowned for his death bowling, but in the now-suspended 14th season of the IPL, Siraj showed remarkable improvement as a death bowler.

He gave away just 1 run against a rampaging Andre Russell in the penultimate over of the game against KKR by consistently nailing deliveries in the blockhole.

In the match against the Delhi Capitals, Siraj defended 14 runs against Rishabh Pant in the final over to help RCB win the game by 1 run.

Needless to say, if a situation like Super Over arises in the UAE leg of the IPL, who will Virat Kohli turn to.

Mumbai Indians- Jasprit Bumrah

Of course,  who else other than Jasprit Bumrah?

Arguably, the greatest death bowler to ever play the shortest format of the game, Jasprit Bumrah is a captain’s go-to option whenever a situation like Super Over arises.

Bumrah is a complete package at the death. He’ll nail Yorkers at will, bowl wide of off-stump to force the batter to reach out or dish out his vicious bouncers.

Bumrah has thus far featured in 4 Super-Overs in the IPL.

In his first-ever Super Over in the IPL in 2017, Bumrah, after having started off with a wide and a no-ball, held his nerve and proceeded to give away just 6 runs in his defense of 11 against Gujarat Lions’ Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch.

Two years later, Bumrah sealed a playoff spot for MI as he cleaned up SRH’s Manish Pandey and Mohammed Nabi within a space of 4 balls, giving away just 8 runs in the process.

He failed to do the same during the 2020 edition against RCB as he had just 7 runs to defend buy he was once at his lethal best against Punjab Kings later that season as he conceded just 5 runs besides claiming two wickets.

Delhi Capitals- Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada may have endured a poor IPL season thus far this year, but he still remains one of the best exponents when it comes to bowling during the Super Over.

Rabada uses his extreme pace and his ability to nail in hard lengths to bamboozle the batters and after pushing them on the backfoot, he dished out his searing yorkers.

Rabada has bowled a total of two Super Overs in the IPL, and in both instances, his team has ended up on a winning note.

His Super Over stats read: 9 balls, 9 runs, and 3 wickets. His victims have been Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, and KL Rahul.

Last year, Rabada conceded just 2 runs against KXIP and bowled the KL Rahul-led unit out for the lowest total in a Super Over in IPL history.

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