IPL 2020: Ranking the spin bowling attacks of all 8 teams
The IPL auction was an important event for the various franchises as they looked to fill the holes in their squad and buy back-up options for their star players. While pacers and all-rounders attracted the heavy bids, many teams also looked to sign spinners.
Piyush Chawla was signed by CSK for a whopping ₹6.75 Crore and was the most expensive Indian buy in the auction.
Pitches in India are generally on the slower side, and turn as the tournament progresses. Spinners have now become very important for any good T20 team, especially in India.
On that note, let's take a look at the spin bowling options of each team and rank them in order of potency.
#8 Mumbai Indians
Overseas Options: Nil
Indian Options: Anukul Roy, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, and Krunal Pandya
Mumbai Indians have the weakest spin attack, and that is evident in the way their squad is composed. They have no overseas spin-bowling option to turn to, and it was surprising to see them go for Nathan Coulter-Nile when they could've signed a quality overseas spinner.
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Even their Indian spinners aren't too great. While Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have experience of playing in the IPL, both Jayant Yadav and Anukul Roy have played just a handful of games and couldn't make an impact. They should've gone for someone like Piyush Chawla in the auction to get some experience into their team.
Final Verdict: With no overseas option and with a serious dearth of experienced Indian options, Mumbai's spin bowling lineup is easily the weakest in the league.
#7 Rajasthan Royals
Overseas Options: Nil
Indian Options: Mahipal Lomror, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, and Anirudha Joshi.
RR traded Krishnappa Gowtham to KXIP in return for Ankit Rajpoot during the trade window, and that has considerably weakened their spin bowling attack. They bought only Anirudha Joshi during the auction, and that leaves the team without an experienced spinner.
With mostly leg-spinners in their squad, RR seem to lack options to succeed on all surfaces. While Shreyas Gopal is undoubtedly a quality bowler, the rest of the options haven't done too well in either domestic tournaments or the IPL. Mayank Markande promised a lot but failed last season, and it'll be interesting to see how he does this season.
Options like Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag and Shashank Singh aren't that renowned as part-timers, and can leak a lot of runs on surfaces away from home.
Barring Gopal, the other options lack experience, and it'll be interesting to see how they manage things considering that they have five leg-spinners and only two orthodox spinners.
Final Verdict: Despite having a variety of options, RR's spin bowling lineup lacks quality, and the onus will fall on Shreyas Gopal to lead them.
#6 Royal Challengers Bangalore
Overseas options: Moeen Ali
Indian options: Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Pawan Negi
RCB have certainly improved their team from last season after a good outing in the auction. But they released a host of players - some of whom were spinners - and didn't buy a single spinner during the auction. That leaves their spin lineup under-staffed.
Moeen Ali is a more than handy option, and is the only overseas option in the team. The Indian options are certainly quality bowlers but are few.
Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the best Indian spinners in the league and will be called upon to lead the RCB spin attack. Washington Sundar was used poorly by Virat Kohli last season, but after his extended stint with the national team, he's expected to do well for RCB going forward.
Pawan Negi, however, doesn't offer a lot to the team and it didn't make sense to retain him.
Final Verdict: RCB certainly have a couple of quality options but lack in depth and would struggle in case of an injury.
#5 Kings XI Punjab
Overseas Options: Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Glenn Maxwell
Indian Options: J. Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tajinder Dhillon, Murugan Ashwin, Krishnappa Gowtham and Deepak Hooda
Despite trading out star spinner and skipper R Ashwin to the Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction, KXIP have managed to assemble a decent spin bowling setup ahead of next season.
They acquired Karnataka spinners Jagadeesa Suchith and Krishnappa Gowtham through trade deals with DC and RR, respectively. Gowtham has been in scintillating form for Karnataka in domestic tournaments, and is expected to fill in the void created by Ashwin's departure.
They also have a host of other options like Murugan Ashwin, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, and Tajinder Dhillon.
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman is expected to be in the thick of the things for Punjab after being left out last season due to a complicated overseas combination. The 2nd ranked T20I spinner in the world is certainly one of the best options in the league, and his mystery spin will be key for Punjab.
Glenn Maxwell too can roll his arm over, bowling his canny off-spin.
Final Verdict: Punjab have a decent spin bowling lineup with one quality overseas option, and a couple of decent Indian spinners. But most of them are youngsters, and the side needs to hold itself together during tough times.