Top 5 IPL leg-spinners of all time
IPL 2018 is just around the corner and cricket fans across the globe are waiting with bated breath for the eleventh and what promises to be the greatest and grandest season yet of India's very own global T20 competition, to kick-start.
The T20 format promises plenty of runs and plenty of entertainment with fans getting to witness nearly every shot in the book. The batsmen dominate in the format no doubt but the importance of good bowling cannot be undermined.
Spinners play a very crucial role in the T20 format, be it with picking up crucial wickets or just containing the scoring.
In case of a leg-spinner, it is more to do with the former as their job is to deceive the batsmen into miscuing a shot even if it means giving some runs away in the process.
The art of leg-spin is always fun to watch and veterans like Shane Warne, Brad Hogg and India's very own Pravin Tambe have shown that age is never a factor when it comes to showing one's brilliance on the field.
India's latest bowling sensation Kuldeep Yadav also has the IPL to thank for his Indian team call-up but who are the most successful leg-spinners in the glorious ten-year history of the IPL?
Let's have a look.
#5 Karn Sharma
The 30-year-old leg-spinner from Meerut has been around in the Indian domestic circuit since 2007 but it was only after the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, where he took 21 wickets at 19.04 in just three matches, that an IPL opportunity came Karn Sharma's way.
He did make his IPL debut back in 2009 for Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) against Deccan Chargers, but he didn't get an opportunity to bowl that day.
However, in the 2013 edition of the IPL, Sharma capitalised on the chances that came his way, picking up 11 wickets from 13 matches, conceding runs at a miserly 6.60 runs-per-over, proving to be an excellent foil to the senior leg-spinner in the side, Amit Mishra.
The testament for his consistency came in the way of being the highest paid uncapped Indian player in IPL 2014 when Sunrisers Hyderabad retained his services for a sum of Rs 3.75 crore.
Sharma responded with 15 wickets and 10 wickets in the next two editions of the IPL but after a disappointing 2016 season, where he failed to pick a single wicket during Sunrisers Hyderabad's successful IPL campaign, the franchise chose not to retain the leg-spinner for the 2017 edition.
SRH's loss was Mumbai Indians' (MI) gain as Karn Sharma played an instrumental role in helping the side achieve IPL glory in 2017 picking up 4 wickets in their semi-final win over KKR.
The leg-spinner also played a key role in the low-scoring final against Rising Pune Supergiants (RSP), conceding just 18 runs in 4 overs, bowling as many as 12 dot balls.
Despite his brilliant performances, MI chose not to retain Sharma and the 30-year-old leg-spinner will represent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2018.