IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s RR vs LSG match
It's early days in the tournament, but so far the clear pattern that has emerged for bowlers in IPL 2024 is the success for 140 kph-plus fast-bowlers who can use variations well and wrist-spinners who don't rely on the grip in the wicket to make the ball turn.
The same pattern can be expected at the Sawi Mansingh Stadium where the Rajasthan Royals (RR) take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Narendra Modi Stadium where the Gujarat Titans (GT) host the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the second double-header of the season on Sunday.
Here's our prediction on who could take the most wickets in the first game:
#3 Yuzvendra Chahal
Out of the Indian team and now the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s central contract too, Yuzvendra Chahal has had a tough few months. Most of the blame for that perhaps goes to his inability to adapt and get more defensive tricks under his arsenal when batters started to find him out.
However, whether or not he has improved on that, one thing that's certain with him is wickets. Even in IPL 2023, he was the fifth-highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps from 14 matches. In his last 10 domestic matches across formats, Chahal has gone wicketless only once and hasn't conceded more runs than his team could digest.
The big boundaries of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium will help him too and you can expect him to start IPL 2024 from where he left IPL 2023.
#2 Trent Boult
While Chahal had been removed from his board's central contract, New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult decided to pull out from his to become a freelancer. Since then, Boult has been playing all around the world in various T20 leagues.
He hasn't been in great form but the prospect of facing LSG at home would make him lick his lips. The first time he played against them, the left-arm pacer got KL Rahul and Krishnappa Gowtham out on two consecutive jaffas in the first over.
With three more wickets in the next two matches, the pacer has an average of 12.80 against Rahul's team - the best for him against any opponent. LSG don't have a robust and in-form lower-order either, which would bring more opportunities for him to come through with a ton of wickets.
#1 Ravi Bishnoi
LSG's lead spinner, Ravi Bishnoi doesn't have a great record against RR but he has a lot going on for him on Sunday. Like Chahal, the boundaries will support his wicket-taking abilities, plus, his best comes out against ultra-aggressive batters which he'll find in gult in the Royals' camp.
There's a reason why India have moved on from Chahal to Bishnoi and the latter is now the Men in Blue's sure-shot bowling leader for the 2024 T20 World Cup. His abilities are similar to Rashid Khan, where he pushes batters back with his pace and accuracy and almost makes them submit to suffocation.
Last season, he picked up 16 wickets in 15 matches and after the kind of form he has shown for India -- 18 wickets at an average of 17.61 in 2023 -- he's likely to only get better.