In a league where even the Purple Cap leader is leaking an economy of over 10, a few bowlers are leaving the batters disheartened
In a league where nearly,
every match concludes with 200 or 250 runs on the board, it is evident that the tournament is unbalanced, favouring batters while disadvantaging bowlers. Unfortunately, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going through a phase where, in pursuit of making the tournament exciting, it has become rather boring, with all the show from the batters and no positives for the bowlers.
However, despite the one-sided nature of the game, a few bowlers are now doing their best to avoid giving away runs, leaving batters disheartened. In the following paragraphs, let us look at those bowlers whose economies are better than those leading the Purple Cap race.
Sunil Narine
🗣️Ambati Rayudu on Sunil Narine:
— Rokte Amar KKR (@Rokte_Amarr_KKR) April 24, 2026
“I tried doing everything against Sunil Narine but I had no success. At one point, all I wanted was a single just to escape him.”pic.twitter.com/5FN4JFPodW
14 years of bowling in the IPL, and yet batters are still confused about how to deal with Sunil Narine. Narine has only seven wickets from seven matches, but among regular bowlers, his economy rate of 6.66 is the best in the tournament so far. Yes, bowlers like Harpreet Brar and Mohsin Khan have better economies, but they have played only 1 and 4 matches, respectively. Therefore, Narine’s economy stands at the top.
Ravindra Jadeja
0 W 6 0 0 W : WHAT A OVER BY JADDU.
— Maina Singh (@Maina_Singhx77) March 30, 2026
- Sarfaraz Khan. ✖️
- Shivam Dube. ✖️
Typical Ravindra Jadeja Bowling.🔥 pic.twitter.com/sLOEcJHdjn
Few people are talking about Ravindra Jadeja, but he is one of the three bowlers who are keeping runs conceded to a minimum. Jadeja, for the Rajasthan Royals, has played nine matches so far, and his economy rate stands at 7.21. Jadeja has also taken six wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
At the age of 36, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been forgotten in the international circuit, is achieving remarkable feats as a pace bowler. In eight matches, his economy stands at 7.61, but it's not just his economy that's making headlines. Apart from not giving away tonnes of runs, Kumar has 14 wickets and is second in the Purple Cap race behind Ehsan Malinga.
How do you even play that? 😳
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 27, 2026
Absolute peach from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get the first wicket of debutant Sahil Parakh, putting RCB on top.💪🏻#TATAIPL 2026 ➡️ #DCvRCB | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/X3thbSdHkS pic.twitter.com/n3QK1r3bse
For the record, Kumar has been regularly bowling in the death overs between 16 and 20, yet he is managing his economy while taking wickets. There is no doubt that he was instrumental in Bengaluru’s win last season and is once again a crucial cog for RCB.
🔴 R ASHWIN EXPLAINS HOW TO BOWL ON FLAT PITCHES IN IPL 🗣️:
🎙️- On flat IPL pitches, focus on executing a good ball with clear intent (like hard length on off). Don’t depend only on the captain. Always have Plan B and C with multiple variations ready.pic.twitter.com/CHdCRkyw9t— Sam (@Cricsam01) April 26, 2026
Apart from Kumar, none of the bowlers in the top four for the Purple Cap race has an economy below 10.
In the coming years, IPL must find ways to balance affairs between bowlers and batters, or quality foreign bowlers may refrain from taking part, as nobody likes to play on an unfair pitch.
