We are past the halfway stage of the 2020 edition of the Indian T20 League in UAE and quite a few trends have popped up with the large grounds and uncanny wickets. While there have been some remarkable bowling performances from quite a few standout bowlers, some of these names have flown under the radar despite impressing right through the season.
Axar Patel (Punjab)
Delhi were dealt a major blow when Amit Mishra was ruled out of the season and Ravichandran Ashwin missed a couple of games. While the overseas pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje has hogged headlines alongside Ashwin, Axar Patel has done a remarkable holding job. Axar has been impactful with his middle overs bowling where he restricts teams and forces them to take on the death bowling where Rabada and Nortje await. In 21 overs in the middle overs phase this season, Axar has taken four wickets and conceded runs at a miserly rate of 5.67. The economy shows why he has forced teams onto the back-foot and given Delhi a distinct advantage.
Kartik Tyagi (Rajasthan)
After remaining on the bench at the beginning of the season, Kartik Tyagi has walked into the Rajasthan line-up and made a solid impact with the ball to give Jofra Archer some much-needed support. Among bowlers to bowl at least 30 balls in the powerplay this season, Tyagi has the third-best strike-rate, and he has also been terrific in the last five overs of the innings, conceding runs at just 7.50 when most pacers have gone at over 10 runs per over. Tyagi's presence has given Rajasthan a major boost alongside Archer in the pace department. His wickets this season include Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock, Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, Shimron Hetmyer and Shane Watson.
Murugan Ashwin (Punjab)
Punjab started their season with Ravi Bishnoi as their primary spinner but slowly Murugan Ashwin has come in to aid him in the middle overs. With lots of guile and a well-disguised googly, Ashwin has been brilliant for Punjab in cutting down the run-flow and picking up wickets when needed. Ashwin has complemented Bishnoi perfectly for Punjab and the dual leg-spin threat in the middle overs has worked well for Punjab. Murugan Ashwin has picked up big wickets this season including that of AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch, Riyan Parag and Washington Sundar among others.
Varun Chakravarthy (Kolkata)
When Kuldeep Yadav once again failed to make a big impact for Kolkata, they brought Varun Chakravarthy into the starting XI and the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu has proved more than handy. He is the sixth-most economical spinner in the season with an economy of 7.31 and has picked up seven wickets. With Kolkata's performances going awry, Chakravarthy's contributions have flown under the radar. His victims this season include David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav among others.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @IndianT20League
