Bowling is one of the 3 major aspects of the game of cricket and there are several different dimensions involved in it. Bowling during the powerplay, the first half of the middle overs, the second half of the middle overs, and during the death are all very different and have their own challenges.

Death bowling is considered to be the toughest challenge for a bowler as batsmen look to score runs at significantly higher strike rates. Fast bowlers use several variations including yorkers, bouncers, and slower balls in order to restrict the flow of runs.

IPL has seen several world-class death bowlers over the last 13 years in the form of Lasith Malinga, Dwayne Bravo, Jasprit Bumrah, and many more. Teams often focus on buying good quality death bowlers, and such players even tend to attract big bids as was seen when the likes of Chris Morris and Jhye Richardson were sold for Rs. 14 crores or more. Having bowlers who are effective during the death is often the difference between teams that win titles and teams that don’t.

On that note, here’s a ranking of all teams based on their death bowling ahead of IPL 2021:

8. Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB have always struggled with their death bowling and it has been one of the main reasons behind their mediocre results every season. They bought Chris Morris last season to rectify the issue, and he did his bit as he conceded at just 6.63. However, they surprisingly released him ahead of the recently concluded auction and instead replaced him with Kyle Jamieson.

While Kyle Jamieson has been excellent in the few Test matches that he has played till now, he is yet to prove himself as a top-notch T20 bowler.

In his 6 T20Is for New Zealand, he has picked up just 4 wickets while conceding at 9.38. He hasn’t looked in great rhythm during the ongoing series against Australia and conceded 88 runs in just 7 overs. RCB’s Australian duo of Daniel Sams and Kane Richardson has performed well during the death overs in the Big Bash, but whether they will be able to do the same in the IPL remains doubtful.

They are predominantly slower ball bowlers and with an increase in quality of batsmen and decrease in size of grounds, they are likely to struggle in India. The margin of error is very less when bowling slower balls and even a small error in execution could prove to be costly as even mishits can clear the ropes in some of the Indian grounds. Mohammed Siraj isn’t great at the death either while Navdeep Saini hasn’t been in great form over the last few months.

7. Chennai Super Kings

CSK had their worst ever campaign in 2020 as they finished 7th and failed to put up any sort of fight in the battle for a playoff spot. They lacked fire in the bowling department and the fact that none of their bowlers could manage to pick up more than 14 wickets is a testament to this. Given that they have retained most of their players, their death bowling stocks are similar to last season.

Dwayne Bravo has built a reputation for himself as one of the greatest death bowlers in the history of T20 cricket, but his form in recent years has dipped. As a result, he might not even make the XI. Josh Hazlewood and Deepak Chahar are their best with the new ball but aren’t as effective during the latter stages.

Sam Curran hasn’t quite developed into a death-overs specialist yet, while Shardul Thakur has the tendency to give away a few runs. Although Lungi Ngidi does pick up wickets, even he leaks runs every now and then. It remains to be seen how they fare during the death overs, but with MS Dhoni at the helm, he might end up bringing the best out of them.

6. Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR missed out on a playoff spot last season on net run rate, but decided not to change much in their squad and will go into the new season with a pretty similar squad. Pat Cummins was expected to be their go-to death bowler last season, but that wasn’t the case as he was predominantly used during the powerplay, and that might turn out to be the case this season as well.

Lockie Ferguson is one of their best options at the death, but the New Zealander is unlikely to start in their current setup. Andre Russell is also decent during the end overs, but he didn’t bowl much last season due to his injury issues and we might see a repeat of the same.

Their Indian bowlers are still young and raw as was evident last season as well. The likes of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi aren’t developed yet and occasionally bowl a few loose deliveries, which isn’t ideal during the slog overs.

5. Punjab Kings

The KL Rahul-led franchise have changed their name from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings for the upcoming season, and they will hope that it brings a change in fortune as well. They were quite busy during the recent auction and bought quite a few players in order to improve their team, and one area they concentrated on was death bowling.

They spent big on the Australian duo of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith, who have proven themselves in the Big Bash. However, they aren’t just slower ball bowlers and have other variations up their sleeves. Both of them can also bowl yorkers and bouncers, and they are also capable of bowling at over 145 kph.

Mohammed Shami is one of the better Indian fast bowlers and although he is a bit inconsistent during the end, he still manages to pick up crucial wickets. Even Arshdeep Singh showed promising signs last season, while English pacer Chris Jordan is also known as a death-overs specialist.

4. Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH have been known for their bowling might over the years and it has been the most important reason for their success along with their captain, David Warner. Even when their batsmen fail to put up a decent score, the bowlers have often bailed them out.

In the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, they have one of IPL’s greatest pacers of all time. He has been excellent at the death and has often choked the flow of runs. He has one of the best yorkers in the game and along with another yorker specialist in the form of T Natarajan, SRH have a formidable Indian death bowling duo.

Sandeep Sharma and Jason Holder also did decently last season in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Even Rashid Khan chips in with a few overs at the death on occasion and thus, they are 4th on the list.

3. Mumbai Indians

After having won back-to-back titles, the Rohit Sharma-led franchise will be on the hunt for a hattrick of titles and their 6th title overall. Death bowling has been one of their strengths over the last few years given that they have had gun bowlers like Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah is arguably the finest death bowler in the world at present and he has delivered several match-winning performances for both club and country. His yorkers are very accurate and with a bowler like him, the flow of runs is definitely going to be limited from at least one end.

Although Trent Boult isn’t great during these overs, his fellow Kiwi, Adam Milne is excellent at the death. He makes the most of his ability to bowl at nearly 150 kph and his economy rate during this period is among the very best during the last few years. Nathan Coulter-Nile is also good at the death as he has shown in the past while Marco Jansen also showed few glimpses of his talent in the recently-concluded CSA T20 Challenge.

2. Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals made their first-ever final last season after having failed to do so in each of the 12 preceding seasons. Their bowling attack was excellent last season and was the main reason behind their impressive form, especially during the first half of the tournament.

The South African fast bowling duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje is as good as it gets and they certainly showed their worth last season. They picked up a combined 52 wickets last season and conceded at less than 8.5, which is brilliant as most of their overs came during the death.

While their first choice death bowlers are outstanding, their backup options aren’t quite the same and that is the reason for them being 2nd. Chris Woakes has never been particularly great during the slog overs in the shortest format, while Tom Curran hasn’t proved himself in the IPL yet.

1. Rajasthan Royals

RR finished 8th last season and lack of support for Jofra Archer was one of the main reasons behind their dismal performance. He didn’t receive any support during the powerplay and even during the death, which meant that they were conceding a lot of runs in most of the games.

Chris Morris was purchased for a huge fee during the auction, and he is surely going to help RR improve their poor record during the latter part of the innings. He has been one of the most consistent bowlers in the league since his debut and his numbers during the last quarter of the innings are up there with the best.

Mustafizur Rahman is a quality backup for Archer and Morris, and he is the reason for RR’s inclusion ahead of DC as he gives them a proper Plan B. Andrew Tye is also decent when in good form, but he is unlikely to play unless there’s a bit of an injury crisis. All in all, RR have some of the best death bowlers in the world, and it is quite obvious as to why they are number 1 on the list.