5 bowlers with more wickets than runs in their IPL careers
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is getting ready to offer cricket fans their annual dose of cricketainment, amidst the pandemic which has kept sportsmen and sport lovers away. As it approaches, it is time for us to dive into a few intriguing numbers from the 12-year history of the most famous global T20 cricket league.
IPL bowlers with more wickets taken than runs scored
One such statistic which catches the eye concerns those bowlers who have excelled in their trade of accounting for opposition batsmen, but have done so while being a total dunce with the bat. The number of wickets in their tally exceeds the total number of runs they have been able to amass across their IPL careers!
The following are the top five gentlemen who feature on this list.
#1 Lasith Malinga
Slinga Malinga will undoubtedly go down as one of the most successful IPL players of all time, given the kind of impact he has had on the Mumbai Indians' performance over the years.
For most part of his decade-long career in the league, Malinga has instilled fear in opponent batsmen with his ability to produce toe crushing yorkers or the ever-deceptive slower balls that have made the best batsmen look like fools.
With a staggering 170 scalps to his name, the Sri Lankan great is not just the leading wicket-taker in the history of the league but also an bonafide T20 legend. However, he has not been able to create magic with the bat in hand, as he has only been able to aggregate 88 runs across his 122-match career that has spanned nine seasons.
#2 Ashish Nehra
Former Indian left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra had a long career for a fast bowler and one of the major reasons he came back into international reckoning was his performances in the editions of the IPL. He featured in every season between 2008 and 2017 barring the 2011 season, which succeeded the ICC World Cup in which the Delhi pacer helped India win the silverware.
Even though the World Cup remained his last 50-over outing, he continued to represent India in the shortest version till 2017 on the back of successful IPL outings.
Across an 88-match IPL career that saw him donning five different franchise colours, Nehra picked up an impressive 104 wickets but his contribution with the bat was all of 41 runs, of which 22 came in a single innings in 2010.