IPL Rewind: Total wickets taken by each team in IPL 2019

Keemo Paul and Ishant Sharma also played their part in helping Delhi Capitals to finish IPL 2019 as the best bowling unit

The much-awaited Indian Premier League might not be starting on time due to some unforeseen circumstances but just about every cricket fan would be wishing that the tournament begins soon enough.

Until that happens though, let us get ready for the 13th season of the IPL by looking back at the 2019 edition which was eventually won by Mumbai Indians. The champions had a pretty well-rounded squad but it was their star-studded bowling attack that helped them lift their fourth title.

Also see – MI squad

Chennai Super Kings, who finished as the runners-up, went within touching distance of lifting their fourth title because of an experienced bowling unit. Experts and pundits don't mean it for fun when they say, 'Batsmen win you matches, bowlers win you tournaments'.

Like every other year, the quality of the various bowling attacks will be in the spotlight once again and the one which performs to its best will have a better chance of winning the prestigious IPL trophy.

Without wasting much time, let us look at how the eight franchises fared in the 2019 IPL season. Here is the list:

Note: The statistics pertain to the league phase of the tournament only

#8 Kolkata Knight Riders

With both bat and ball, Andre Russell led the way for Kolkata Knight Riders in a disappointing season

Leading Wicket-taker: Andre Russell: 11 wickets in 14 matches

The weakest bowling attack by some distance, Kolkata Knight Riders had a forgettable year, especially when it came to pace bowling. Their woes are highlighted by the fact that none of KKR's bowlers maintained an economy rate of under seven runs per over, while Andre Russell turned out to the team's leading wicket-taker with just 11 scalps.

While the whole bowling attack was off-colour for the majority of the season, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav, in particular, were found to be huge weak links as they managed to pick up only four wickets each while leaking runs at the same time.

On the whole, KKR only managed to pick up a mere 56 wickets through the league phase while conceding runs at a rate of 9.08 per over.