IPL 2022, India’s Pace Bowling Revolution: Top 5 Bright spots from Kuldeep Sen to Arshdeep Singh

IPL 2022: Top five young Indian fast bowlers to watch out in future.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is new in many ways, with two more teams, a mega-auction that changed the combination of many sides. It is good for young Indian players to have ten teams in IPL, as it can provide more opportunities to them.

In IPL, every franchise has to follow the rule of having maximum of four foreign players in the final playing eleven. So, many Indian youngsters who have proven themselves in Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class competition of the country, have got the opportunity to showcase their talent on the world stage.

Several Indian youngsters took this opportunity with both hands in this season of IPL. Here, we look at the top five young pacers who have impressed cricket fans and announced to the world about India’s pace bowling talent.

Umran Malik has taken 15 wickets from 9 games in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

The Jammu & Kashmir Express - Umran Malik

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Umran Malik has created a sensation in the cricket world with his express pace bowling. Malik, who hails from Jammu & Kashmir, has continuously clocked about 150 kmph in this season for Sunrisers. Out of the five highest speed deliveries in this season of IPL, Umran has recorded four of them. The fastest delivery in this season of IPL has been bowled at 154 kmph, bowled by Malik on two instances.

It is not that Umran is only a pace machine, he has a method to make the most from his express pace bowling. He has troubled batters continuously in this season, and bagged plenty of wickets too. He scalped a phenomenal fifer against Gujarat Titans to tilt the match in Sunrisers’ side.

The 22-year-old pacer has bagged 15 wickets in nine IPL games till now in this season. He is very much in the race for winning Purple Cap as he is the fifth-highest wicket taker in this season of IPL. Even there are talks among cricket pundits of grooming him as a Test match prospect for India.

In a few matches, he failed to make much impact for his side or he went for plenty of runs, however, he showed great promise throughout the season which needs final polishing. The right-arm pacer was a replacement signing in last year's IPL in place of injured Thangarasu Natarajan by the Sunrisers. This year he was retained by the southern franchise for a price of INR 4 crores.

Read More: IPL 2022, Top Indian Bowlers: Pacers Natarajan, Umran, Khaleel impress besides resurgent ‘Kulcha’

Mukesh Choudhary has taken 11 wickets for CSK from 9 games in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Chennai Super Kings’ new find - Mukesh Choudhary

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Mukesh Choudhary can be called a find of this season of IPL. He was the leading wicket-taker for Maharashtra in the List A Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22 with 10 wickets in just five games.

CSK signed him for the base price of INR 20 lakhs in a mega-auction scheduled ahead of IPL 2022. The 25-year-old made his IPL debut against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) a month back but went wicketless in the game. However, CSK kept patience and Chaudhary paid back his side with impressive bowling figures of 3-19 in four overs against Mumbai Indians in his sixth IPL game. Choudhary snared a four-wicket haul in the recently concluded game against Sunrisers Hyderabad to prove his mettle. He has bagged 11 wickets in nine matches in this season of IPL.

Choudhary is a left-arm pacer which makes him a unique bowler among other right-arm pacers in the CSK camp.

Read More: IPL 2022: Incumbent Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler exemplifies Power and Purpose in T20 Cricket

Kuldeep Sen takes 4-20 against RCB in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Madhya Pradesh Mail - Kuldeep Sen

Rajasthan Royals (RR) speedster Kuldeep Sen hails from Madhya Pradesh. Royals signed him for the price of INR 20 lakhs before this season of IPL.

The 25-year-old pacer can bowl above 140 kmph comfortably. Kuldeep can move the ball on both sides. He has bagged eight wickets in five matches in this edition of IPL. Kuldeep Sen took a four-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bangalore a week back to impress fans.

His best moment, however, was when he bowled a terrific final over for RR against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 10 in the 20th game of IPL 2022. LSG required 15 runs from the last over to win the game with the hard-hitting Marcus Stoinis and Avesh Khan in the middle. Kuldeep was assigned the task of bowling the last over by LSG skipper KL Rahul. He bowled the first delivery to Avesh off which the latter took a single. Now, Stoinis was on strike and LSG required 14 runs off 5 deliveries, which was quite doable by today’s standards.

The Madhya Pradesh pacer was unfazed and did what the doctors ordered, kept the ball full and wide of off-stump for three continuous deliveries, disallowing the redoubtable Stoinis any run. The equation was now an improbable 14 off 2 deliveries, and even though Stoinis hit a four and a six off the last two deliveries, Kuldeep had already pocketed the match for his franchise by then. RR ended up winning the game by three runs.

Read More: IPL 2022, RR vs RCB, Top Performances: Riyan Parag's late surge (56*), Kuldeep Sen's 4-20 take RR back to number 1

Mohsin Khan gets player of the match against DC for his 4-16 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Uttar Pradesh’s young pacer - Mohsin Khan

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mohsin Khan hails from Uttar Pradesh. He was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2018 but didn’t get any opportunity in the playing eleven for the western franchise.

However, when Lucknow signed him before the ongoing edition of IPL, destiny changed its path for him. Lucknow provided Mohsin first opportunity to play in the IPL. Mohsin didn’t take much time to make the most of the opportunity given by Lucknow.

The left-arm seamer bagged three wickets while conceding only 24 runs in four overs against Punjab Kings. He followed it with a four-wicket haul in the next game against Delhi Capitals. He conceded only 16 runs while taking those four wickets in his quota of four overs.

Lucknow won their last two games due to the threatening bowling of Mohsin. Mohsin Khan has bagged eight wickets in four matches in TATA IPL 2022. Fans and cricket pundits would keep eye on his performance in the next few games.

Read More: IPL 2022, LSG vs DC Top Performances: Rahul 77, Hooda 52, Mohsin 4-16 take LSG to 2nd place

Arshdeep Singh carries an economy of 7.85 runs per over in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Economical Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings seamer Arshdeep Singh has been a vital cog for the northern franchise for the last three years. He made his IPL debut for Punjab against Rajasthan Royals in 2019. He has taken 34 wickets in 33 IPL games for Punjab till now.

The 23-year-old pacer was born in Guna, Madhya Pradesh but plays first-class cricket for the Punjab Ranji team. He uses his left-hand angle well to trouble opponent batters.

Arshdeep was one out of two players, whom Punjab Kings retained before this edition of IPL. Punjab Kings retained him for INR 4 crores in their squad. He could take only four wickets in 10 IPL games in this season but he has kept opponent batters under control by conceding only 7.85 runs per over.

One example of how Arshdeep troubled opponents in death over to help his side to come out on top was evidenced when Punjab Kings were battling hard against Chennai Super Kings for two points on April 25. Arshdeep was given the vital penultimate over to bowl against experienced finishers like MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. Punjab needed to defend 35 runs in the last two overs of the game. Arshdeep conceded only eight runs in the 19th over to practically remove the opponents from the game.

Arshdeep can be a part of India’s T20I team in the future purely on the basis of his superb economy and death over bowling skills.

Read More: IPL 2022, PBKS vs GT, Top Performances: Rabada's incisive 4-33, Dhawan 62* catapult PBKS to 5th spot