IPL 2022 Pace Revolution
Written by: Shivani Shukla
Every year, the Indian Premier League come up with several talents to justify its motto “Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi”, which means “Where talent meets opportunity” and this year was no exception.
The world’s richest T20 league was introduced to provide young players with an opportunity to rub shoulders with the best of the best and over the years, several youngsters have made their name on the biggest stage, thanks to the T20 cricket’s biggest extravaganza.
The Indian Premier League, this year too put the limelight on some incredibly talented young guns, especially the fast bowlers, who have had a much larger impact in the games as compared to the last few years.
Here is a look at all the young pacers who have impressed the cricket fraternity in IPL 2022 so far:
1. The Jammu Express – Umran Malik
SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) pace sensation Umran Malik has proven his mettle with brilliant performances in this IPL. He consistently clocks 150 kph and has been keeping the batters on their toes with his sheer pace.
The Srinagar pacer, who is bowling with more control and accuracy has recently clocked 157 KPH during a match against Delhi Capitals, which left the entire cricket fraternity in shock as no Indian pacer has touched this mark in the past 20 years or so.
Malik’s best performance with the ball came against the Gujarat Titans where he picked up a maiden five-wicket haul. Overall, the SRH speedster has picked up 15 wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 9.1.
His performance this season has proved that he is not just a one-season wonder and with Dale Steyn, the legendary South African pacer being his mentor, his performance will only elevate from here on.
2. CSK’s Latest Pace Sensation – Mukesh Choudhary
The leading wicket-taker for Maharashtra in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, Mukesh Choudhary has been an absolute revelation in the ongoing season of IPL. In the absence of their main man, Deepak Chahar, the yellow brigade quickly needed an Indian bowler to fill his shoes and the left-arm pacer did that with utmost perfection.
Mukesh, who was signed by CSK for the base price of INR 20 lakhs in a mega-auction, can swing the ball both ways and trouble the batters with awkward angles and deviations.
His best bowling performance came against SunRisers Hyderabad where he picked up a four-wicket haul. His 3/19 against Mumbai Indians is his second-best outing, where the left-arm pacer bowled an unplayable yorker to dismiss Ishan Kishan.
Mukesh has so far, bagged 13 wickets in ten matches in this season of IPL and he will take his graph upwards only under the able leadership of MS Dhoni.
3. LSG’s Trump Card – Mohsin Khan
The young left-arm Indian pacer has been a terrific performer with the ball for Lucknow Super Giants. The 23-year old’s most impressive performance came against Delhi Capitals during which he bagged the wickets of big fishes like David Warner, Rishabh Pant, Rovman Powell and Shardul Thakur, to take the Super Giants past the finish line.
The left-armer bowls at different angles with some variations, making it tough for batters to face him. The fact that he has picked 10 wickets in just 6 games at a brilliant economy rate of 5.19, tells you a lot about the temperament of the young pacer.
4. The Economical Arshdeep Singh
The Punjab King’s left-arm pacer might not have enough wickets to boast this year but his impact on the team has been beyond numbers. He has been one of the pillars in the Punjab Kings’ bowling line-up, restricting the leakage of runs, whenever the situation demands.
Arshdeep has maintained a startling economy rate of 7.78 in the ongoing season of IPL, which is among the best in the tournament so far. His ability to bowl at any phase of the game makes him an important asset to the team.
One of his standout performances came against Chennai Super Kings when he was given the penultimate over to bowl against experienced finishers like MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja with 35 needed off 12. The 23-year old conceded only eight runs in that over to rule CSK out of the chase completely.
5. Budding GT Pacer Yash Dayal
From Allahabad to Ahmedabad, the young left-arm pacer has come a long way. He has been performing well for Gujarat Titans and making his name among the star-studded bowling attack. Dayal, who hails from Uttar Pradesh impressed everyone by picking three wickets against Rajasthan Royals.
Just like other top left-arm pacers, Dayal too can swing the ball both ways. He has picked up nine wickets in just five games at an economy of 9.44. The GT pacer is accurate with his lines and hits the length hard while making brilliant use of short balls, a trailer of which we saw during GT vs KKR when he dismissed Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell on similar delivery.
