Top 5 Bowlers likely to be the highest wicket-takers in IPL 2024

The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League will kick off in a week’s time with a battle between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. While the 74 matches on offer promise a lot of runs, several fans and pundits would also be looking at key bowlers who could take prized wickets.

Mohammed Shami took the most wickets in the 2023 IPL season and won the Purple Cap award but the fast bowler has been ruled out of the upcoming league season after a surgical procedure. The unfortunate news for Gujarat Titans has opened up the doors of opportunity for the other top bowlers who would be gunning to win the award in IPL 2024.

Let's take a look at the top 5 bowlers who could clinch the Purple Cap in the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league:

5. Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi is arguably the frontrunner for the lead spinner slot in the Indian playing XI during the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the USA and the West Indies. The wrist-spinner has scalped 36 wickets in 24 T20Is for India and would be hoping to add to that tally in June.

Bishnoi has produced several coming-of-age performances for the Lucnkow Super Giants picking 29 wickets across two seasons helping the KL Rahul-led side qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2022 and IPL 2023.

The young Indian spinner is rivalling the likes of Amit Mishra, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Manimaran Siddharth for the lead spinner role in the LSG squad and Bishnoi would be entrusted with the responsibility of bowling in the middle overs once again for the Supergiants.

4. Rashid Khan

One of the most lethal bowlers in world cricket, Rashid Khan has accomplished innumerous feats in the last decade. The Afghan spinner has 130 wickets in 98 T20Is with 47 of those wickets coming on Indian pitches which would certainly be a boost for the Titans.

Since his IPL debut in 2017, Rashid played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad till the 2021 IPL season before shifting his base to Gujarat Titans where he won the title in his inaugural season. After taking 93 wickets in 5 seasons for SRH, the wrist-spinner took 19 wickets for GT in the title-winning season before scalping 27 wickets in IPL 2023.

3. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best fast bowlers in international cricket but the 30-year old has surprisingly never laid his hands on the purple cap award at the end of the season and the Mumbai Indians ace would be fired up to achieve the same in IPL 2024.

The MI fast bowler dismissed former Indian and RCB skipper Virat Kohli on debut and has scalped a total of 145 wickets in 120 IPL matches apart from taking 74 T20I wickets in 62 matches for India.

The vice-captain of the Indian test side would be assisted by Hardik Pandya, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Nuwan Thushara, Dilashan Madhushanka, Jason Behrendorff, and Akash Madhwal in a well-stacked bowling unit.

2. Mitchell Starc

Kolkata Knight Riders shelled a total of Rs. 24.75 Crores on one player breaking all records for the highest-paid player in the history of the cash-rich league. Sunrisers Hyderabad scripted records by paying Pat Cummins upwards of Rs. 20 Crores but that milestone was breached by the two-time IPL champions under the guidance of Gautam Gambhir.

The Titans were after Starc to boost their bowling resources but had to settle for Spencer Johnson as KKR bought the highly valued asset at the auction in Dubai. Starc has not played in the IPL since 2015 when he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Starc has 74 wickets in 60 T20I matches for Australia with 44 of those wickets taken against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies while the left-arm fast bowler has only 34 wickets in 27 IPL matches.

1. Yuzvendra Chahal

The 2022 IPL Purple Cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal hasn’t featured in T20Is for India for a long time and the wrist spinner’s dreams of representing India in an ICC T20I World Cup are hanging by a thread.

The former Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler has 187 wickets in 145 IPL fixtures, the most by any bowler in the IPL history which makes the Rs. 6.5 Crores paid by Rajasthan Royals at the IPL 2022 Auction, a paltry amount.

Chahal also has 96 T20I wickets in 80 matches for India with 39 of those scalps coming against Sri Lanka and England. The RR bowler would be bowling in tandem with Ravichandran Ashwin and Adam Zampa with the likes of Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, and Nandre Burger taking on the fast-bowling responsibilities for the Royals.

Article written by Mohak Arora, Parimatch Sports Expert