The Indian Playerzpot League has witnessed many extraordinary bowling performances, with some leaving indelible marks by most wickets in the history of the tournament. There always has been a huge celebration whenever a bowler takes the wicket. Bowlers have played a very crucial role in the overall team’s performance and success and have demonstrated their skills against the best batsmen in the world. Many players went on to become the best bowlers in the world through Indian Playerzpot League, including J Bumrah, Y Chahal, H Patel, R Khan, A Singh and to name a few.
Purple Cap is a prestigious award given to a bowler who consistently performs and has taken the most number of wickets throughout the tournament. The purple cap passes one player to another player on the basis of the number of wickets taken by a bowler. The current holder of the Purple Cap wears it in order to indicate their standing as the highest wicket-taker. At the end of every season of the Indian Playerzpot League, the bowler with the highest number of wickets will be officially awarded the Purple Cap. The Purple Cap has become an exciting element that adds another layer to the competition among the bowlers.
Here are the top five current wicket-takers of the Indian Playerzpot League 2023
#1 M Shami (Gujarat):
M Shami has been consistently performing well over the last five seasons of the Indian Playerzpot League. Shami is the leading wicket-taker of the season, scalping 23 wickets, including two four-wicket, at an average of 16.73 and an economy rate of 7.54 in 13 matches. His best bowling figures of the season as well as in the tournament (4/11) came against Delhi. This season, Shami completed taking 100 wickets and became the 14th Indian bowler to achieve this feat in the tournament. In the last season of the Indian Playerzpot League, M Shami was the seventh-highest wicket-taker. This season, Shami is leaving no stone unturned to take home the Purple Cap.
#2 R Khan (Gujarat):
R Khan is currently the highest wicket-taker among spinners and second overall in this season of the tournament. The 24-year-old has scalped 23 wickets, including a four-wicket haul, at an average of 18 and an economy rate of 7.96 in 13 matches. His bowling figures of the season (4/30) came against Mumbai. R Khan has been one of the best bowlers ever since he made his debut in the Indian Playerzpot League in 2017. He has scalped 20+ wickets thrice in the tournament, previously in 2018 and 2020. Over the last few years, R Khan has been consistently among the leading wicket-takers in every season of the tournament. R Khan will look to take more wickets to win his first Purple Cap.
#3 Y Chahal (Rajasthan):
Y Chahal has been consistently performing in the Indian Playerzpot League over the last several seasons. The 32-year-old is currently the third-leading wicket-taker in the ongoing season of the tournament, scalping 21 wickets, including three four-wicket hauls, at an average of 18.66 and an economy rate of 8.02 in 13 matches so far. His bowling figures of the season (4/17) came against Hyderabad. Y Chahal was the Purple Cap holder in the last season of the tournament. Recently, he surpassed D Bravo’s tally of 183 wickets to become the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. His tally currently stands at 187 wickets from 144 matches.
#4 P Chawla (Mumbai):
P Chawla is having a comeback season in the Indian Playerzpot League after missing out on playing the last edition of the tournament. The 34-year-old is undoubtedly one of the most prolific bowlers in the history of the tournament. Chawla is currently the fourth leading wicket-taker of the season, scalping 19 wickets at an average of 18.79 and an economy rate of 7.60 in 12 matches. This is the most number of wickets he has taken in a single season of the Indian Playerzpot League, bettering his tally of 17 scalps in 2008. His best bowling figures of the season (3/22) came against Delhi. P Chawla is leading Mumbai’s bowling attack and carries the burden of taking wickets for the team. Chawla has already sprung a surprise not just with his brilliant bowling in his comeback season but also being among the leading wicket-takers of the season.
#5 V Chakravarthy (Kolkata):
If we have to pick one bowler who has improved his game from the previous season, then it is V Chakravarthy. The 32-year-old has been performing well this season and is currently the fifth-leading wicket-taker of the season, scalping 19 wickets, including a four-wicket haul, at an average of 20.57 and an economy rate of 8.03 in 12 matches. His best bowling figures of the season (4/15) came against Bangalore. V Chakravarthy is often considered a ‘mysterious’ spinner as his spin bowling has often the batsmen bamboozled. Many wouldn’t have expected Chakravarthy to perform so well as compared to the previous season where he scalped just 6 wickets from 11 games. V Chakravarthy will look to take more wickets in the remaining matches.
