The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen the batters dominating their counterparts. The 250-run mark has been breached as many as eight times this season already. Amid the run-fest, only two bowlers — Jasprit Bumrah and Sunil Narine — have managed to contain the flow of runs while also bagging crucial wickets for their team. Bumrah and Narine are the only bowlers with an economy rate of less than 7, while also claiming more than 10 wickets each. Bumrah leads the Purple Cap charts with 17 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 6.25.
Narine, on the other hand, has an economy of 6.72 this season with 13 wickets in the bag as well. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rajasthan Royals and India spinner Ravindra Ashwin lavished high praise on Bumrah and Narine for their prowess this season.
However, Ashwin took a sly dig at Narine’s bowling action, which has been questioned in the past, but refused to delve deep into the topic.
“Bumrah has a really good unique point – He has got a distinct advantage compared to other pacers due to his release point. I won’t talk about Sunil Narine. It’s wrong according to my policy. Narine was also getting hit 2-3 seasons ago. This season he’s been outstanding. But let’s not get into that topic,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
On the contorary, Ashwin has been a tad bit expensive so far this season, leaking runs at nine per over. However, the biggest concern regarding his form has been the lack of wickets.
In nine matches, he has picked up just two wickets. Despite his struggles, Ashwin recently claimed that taking wickets in T20s is irrelevant.
Reacting to his remark, former India batter Virender Sehwag, however, slammed Ashwin and said that the veteran might go unsold in the auction next season.
“This is the same as when KL Rahul had said that the strike rate doesn’t matter. Same thing. He said it for batting, Ashwin has said it for bowling that it doesn’t matter if you get the wickets. If his stats aren’t good, then he may not even get picked in the auction next year. When you pick a bowler, do you expect him to give away 25-30 runs or do you expect him to give you wickets and become man of the match twice or thrice?” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
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