Top 5 bowlers with the most wickets in the powerplay in IPL

Taking wickets in the powerplay is crucial for the teams and many bowlers have given their teams the breakthrough in the first 6 overs of the game. In the 13-year history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), there have been bowlers who have emerged as game changers for their respective franchises by taking wickets consistently in the powerplay.

On November 3, Tuesday, while playing against Mumbai Indians in a must-win game, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Sandeep Sharma registered the record of taking most wickets in the powerplay. Sandeep took his 53rd powerplay wicket in the form of Mumbai’s opener Quinton de Kock. The right-arm medium pacer achieved this remarkable feat in 89 games and overall has 105 scalps to his name.

The previous record was held by veteran Indian pacer Zaheer Khan who finished his IPL career with 52 wickets to his name in the mandatory powerplay. The 42-year-old represented three franchises in his 10 years of IPL career; Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals). The former left-arm pacer was the first bowler to pick up 50 IPL wickets inside the powerplay. He has featured in 100 IPL fixtures taking 102 wickets at an economy of 7.58.

Dhawal Kulkarni is the unsung hero of IPL with the new ball

Zaheer is followed by right-arm-fast medium bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Over the years, Bhuvneshwar has emerged as SRH’s go-to bowler for picking up early wickets in the game. Indian pacer has 48 scalps to his name in the mandatory powerplay in 121 IPL fixtures. The Uttar Pradesh Stalwart overall has 136 wickets to his name at an economy of 7.24.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Umesh Yadav stands fourth in the charts of taking most wickets inside the powerplay. The Nagpur-born speedster is widely known for his heroics with the new ball and has managed to give early breakthroughs to his team 45 times in 120 innings. However, unlike the other guys on the list, Umesh has failed to stop the flow of the runs and proves to be a little costly for his team.

The Maharashtra-born Dhawal Kulkarni has been an unsung performer in the T20 Championship, especially with the new ball. Dhawal has never really featured in the Playing XI throughout an IPL season, often finding himself in and out of the side. Despite this, the seamer has performed almost every time he was trusted by the captain and the management. In his 90 IPL matches, Dhawal has taken 44 wickets in the powerplay and is placed at fifth place in this list.