The 2022 DC bowling line up was quite a different one, as the mega auction brought a lot of new faces and the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed led the attack with aplomb, with retained DC stars such as Axar Patel and Anrich Nortje making significant contributions as well.
The campaign didn’t turn out exactly the way we wanted it to, but we did witness some extraordinary bowling performances which turned out to be key takeaways as we plan for our next season. Here are the Top 5 performances by the DC bowlers in IPL 2022.
- Kuldeep Yadav 4/14 vs KKR
It was a season of redemption for our left-arm unorthodox bowler Kuldeep Yadav. Having spent the majority of 2 seasons on the sidelines with KKR, a more confident Kuldeep Yadav came roaring back to pick up 4/35 in the first match against his former side, bringing out an emotional celebration.
In the reverse fixture, he went on to register his best bowling figures of IPL producing another 4 wicket haul, giving away only 14 runs this time around.
He dismissed Baba Indrajith and Sunil Narine cheaply in the same over, and then half a dozen overs later picked up both the danger men Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell for another double-wicket over, dismissing the big man from Jamaica for a duck. Kuldeep’s wizardry helped reduce KKR to 146/9 in their 20 overs, which our batters duly chased down.
- Kuldeep Yadav 3/18 vs MI
Kuldeep Yadav turned out to be the pick of our bowlers for the season as he went on to pick 21 wickets in 14 matches, and this had started from the very first game of the campaign.
Against the Mumbai Indians in our opener, Kuldeep scalped the big wickets of Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard at crucial stages in the game, sandwiched by Anmolpreet’s wicket in the middle overs. His 3/18 in the opening encounter set the tone for the rest of the season as he went on to pick 20+ wickets for the first time in his IPL career.
- Shardul Thakur 4/36 vs PBKS
Batting first, DC Men in Blue put on 159 runs on board as we played our 3rd consecutive match at the DY Patil Stadium. Playing the second last game of the league stage, it was a must-win for us to try and find our way into the Playoffs.
Lord Shardul wasn’t having the best of seasons with the ball so far, but playing the do-or-die against PBKS brought out the best of him. He put on an incredible bowling display picking up a four-wicket haul to restrict them to 142 and lead DC to a 17-run win.
Enroute his match winning four-wicket haul, he bowled two double-wicket overs. The first one was in the powerplay. He picked up the wicket of Rajapaksa just as he was trying to maximise the final over of the powerplay. And then, off the last ball of the over he got rid of the consistent Shikhar Dhawan with an absolute jaffa that rose steeply from a length to take Dhawan’s edge through to the keeper.
He came back in the death overs to see the back of Punjab’s last hope in the chase, Jitesh Sharma, and Kagiso Rabada in the space of three deliveries to close out the game barring formalities at the end.
- Mustafizur Rahman 3/18 vs KKR
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Mustafizur wreaked havoc with his death bowling against the Knight Riders as he took three wickets in the innings at an economy rate of just 4.5. His three dismissals all came in the final over, and included Nitish Rana, who was playing on 57, Rinku Singh, who can be dangerous in the death, and Southee, who also has the ability to hit a few big ones in the final overs.
This bowling performance and this 3-wicket final over conceding just one run off the bat, was every bit as important as Kuldeep’s 4-fer. It completely put the brakes on KKR’s scoring and restricted them to a modest total of 146/9.
- Khaleel Ahmed 3/25 vs KKR
Chasing a mighty 216, Khaleel Ahmed just didn’t let the KKR batters get away. He got rid of both the openers, Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane within the powerplay in the 3rd and the 5th over respectively.
Then, he came back towards the end of the middle overs and derailed the chase further with the wicket of wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings in the 15th over. A 3-fer with an economy rate of just 6.25, Khaleel Ahmed had done his job beautifully, complimenting Kuldeep’s 4-fer.
It was indeed a season where we saw Khaleel Ahmed’s stocks rise with him bowling exceedingly well in multiple phases of the game. We cannot wait to see what the left-arm pacer has in store for us come IPL 2023.
Special Mentions
There were many bowling performances that created tremendous impact, but we couldn’t add onto a list of the Top 5.
One of the first that comes to mind is another Kuldeep Yadav spell, a 4/35 in his first game against his former franchise. The emotional roar that came at the end of the 4th wicket told us just how much the spell and the redemption meant to him.
It started with the big fish Shreyas Iyer being stumped for 54 in the 13th over, followed by a triple-wicket over in the 16th. Kuldeep’s IPL 2022 will long be remembered as a turning point in his career for the sheer performances he put out and the confidence that he gained in his own ability.
Another spell that comes to the fore is Axar Patel’s 2/10 against Punjab Kings. Axar Patel is known for being miserly with the ball, but an economy rate of 2.50 is splendid even by his standards!
He also took two crucial wickets to go with that economy rate. The first one of the dangerously in-form Liam Livingstone with a clever delivery to draw him forward and get him stumped. The second one of Jitesh Sharma came at a crucial stage in the middle overs as it helped restrict Punjab to a paltry 115.
These bowling performances will stay etched in our memories for a long time, until we see them back doing what they do best in IPL 2023!
The 2022 DC bowling line up was quite a different one, as the mega auction brought a lot of new faces and the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed led the attack with aplomb, with retained DC stars such as Axar Patel and Anrich Nortje making significant contributions as well.
The campaign didn’t turn out exactly the way we wanted it to, but we did witness some extraordinary bowling performances which turned out to be key takeaways as we plan for our next season. Here are the Top 5 performances by the DC bowlers in IPL 2022.
- Kuldeep Yadav 4/14 vs KKR
It was a season of redemption for our left-arm unorthodox bowler Kuldeep Yadav. Having spent the majority of 2 seasons on the sidelines with KKR, a more confident Kuldeep Yadav came roaring back to pick up 4/35 in the first match against his former side, bringing out an emotional celebration.
In the reverse fixture, he went on to register his best bowling figures of IPL producing another 4 wicket haul, giving away only 14 runs this time around.
He dismissed Baba Indrajith and Sunil Narine cheaply in the same over, and then half a dozen overs later picked up both the danger men Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell for another double-wicket over, dismissing the big man from Jamaica for a duck. Kuldeep’s wizardry helped reduce KKR to 146/9 in their 20 overs, which our batters duly chased down.
- Kuldeep Yadav 3/18 vs MI
Kuldeep Yadav turned out to be the pick of our bowlers for the season as he went on to pick 21 wickets in 14 matches, and this had started from the very first game of the campaign.
Against the Mumbai Indians in our opener, Kuldeep scalped the big wickets of Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard at crucial stages in the game, sandwiched by Anmolpreet’s wicket in the middle overs. His 3/18 in the opening encounter set the tone for the rest of the season as he went on to pick 20+ wickets for the first time in his IPL career.
- Shardul Thakur 4/36 vs PBKS
Batting first, DC Men in Blue put on 159 runs on board as we played our 3rd consecutive match at the DY Patil Stadium. Playing the second last game of the league stage, it was a must-win for us to try and find our way into the Playoffs.
Lord Shardul wasn’t having the best of seasons with the ball so far, but playing the do-or-die against PBKS brought out the best of him. He put on an incredible bowling display picking up a four-wicket haul to restrict them to 142 and lead DC to a 17-run win.
Enroute his match winning four-wicket haul, he bowled two double-wicket overs. The first one was in the powerplay. He picked up the wicket of Rajapaksa just as he was trying to maximise the final over of the powerplay. And then, off the last ball of the over he got rid of the consistent Shikhar Dhawan with an absolute jaffa that rose steeply from a length to take Dhawan’s edge through to the keeper.
He came back in the death overs to see the back of Punjab’s last hope in the chase, Jitesh Sharma, and Kagiso Rabada in the space of three deliveries to close out the game barring formalities at the end.
- Mustafizur Rahman 3/18 vs KKR
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Mustafizur wreaked havoc with his death bowling against the Knight Riders as he took three wickets in the innings at an economy rate of just 4.5. His three dismissals all came in the final over, and included Nitish Rana, who was playing on 57, Rinku Singh, who can be dangerous in the death, and Southee, who also has the ability to hit a few big ones in the final overs.
This bowling performance and this 3-wicket final over conceding just one run off the bat, was every bit as important as Kuldeep’s 4-fer. It completely put the brakes on KKR’s scoring and restricted them to a modest total of 146/9.
- Khaleel Ahmed 3/25 vs KKR
Chasing a mighty 216, Khaleel Ahmed just didn’t let the KKR batters get away. He got rid of both the openers, Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane within the powerplay in the 3rd and the 5th over respectively.
Then, he came back towards the end of the middle overs and derailed the chase further with the wicket of wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings in the 15th over. A 3-fer with an economy rate of just 6.25, Khaleel Ahmed had done his job beautifully, complimenting Kuldeep’s 4-fer.
It was indeed a season where we saw Khaleel Ahmed’s stocks rise with him bowling exceedingly well in multiple phases of the game. We cannot wait to see what the left-arm pacer has in store for us come IPL 2023.
Special Mentions
There were many bowling performances that created tremendous impact, but we couldn’t add onto a list of the Top 5.
One of the first that comes to mind is another Kuldeep Yadav spell, a 4/35 in his first game against his former franchise. The emotional roar that came at the end of the 4th wicket told us just how much the spell and the redemption meant to him.
It started with the big fish Shreyas Iyer being stumped for 54 in the 13th over, followed by a triple-wicket over in the 16th. Kuldeep’s IPL 2022 will long be remembered as a turning point in his career for the sheer performances he put out and the confidence that he gained in his own ability.
Another spell that comes to the fore is Axar Patel’s 2/10 against Punjab Kings. Axar Patel is known for being miserly with the ball, but an economy rate of 2.50 is splendid even by his standards!
He also took two crucial wickets to go with that economy rate. The first one of the dangerously in-form Liam Livingstone with a clever delivery to draw him forward and get him stumped. The second one of Jitesh Sharma came at a crucial stage in the middle overs as it helped restrict Punjab to a paltry 115.
These bowling performances will stay etched in our memories for a long time, until we see them back doing what they do best in IPL 2023!
