Unadkat, Stokes, Ferguson: Bowlers With Worst Economy in IPL 2019

Here’s a look at the four most expensive bowlers in the current edition of the IPL.

Very often in any sport, the focus is on the performers; it is generally the century-makers, the wicket-takers, the goal-scorers who make headlines – and rightly so. In the context of the Indian Premier League, the spotlight is always on the Orange Cap holders and the Purple Cap holders.

But every once in a while, it is also important to scan through the list and cast an eye on the players who’ve failed, batsmen who haven’t scored runs or haven’t kept pace with the demands of the T20 format and bowlers who haven’t picked up wickets or haven’t been able to contain the runs.

We look at the four most expensive bowlers in the current edition of the IPL.

Jaydev Unadkat

Considering bowlers who’ve bowled a minimum of 10 overs, Jaydev Unadkat finds a place at the floor of the bowling stats – or in other words tops the list of the bowlers with the poorest economy rates. Unadkat was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals at the IPL player auction for a salary of Rs 8.4 crore. He was among the team’s first-choice players, and played the team’s first three matches. However, he was unsurprisingly benched thereafter considering his economy rate which was a dismal 12.40.

In his three matches, Unadkat returned figures of 0-44 from three overs, 1-26 from three overs, and 1-54 from his four overs. Interestingly, he was only introduced into the attack as the fifth or sixth bowler, and had the responsibility of bowling the death overs. In the match against the Chennai Super Kings, he bore the brunt of MS Dhoni, who smashed him for three sixes in the final over.

Ben Stokes

Second on the list is another Rajasthan Royals’ bowler. The English all-rounder Ben Stokes had an economy rate of 10.84 in his first five matches. In four of the five matches he has bowled in, he has leaked runs at more than nine runs per over – this despite having to bowl the majority of his overs within the 16th over.

Stokes’ four scalps so far include Chris Gayle, David Warner, Nicholas Pooran and Shane Watson.

Lockie Ferguson

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Lockie Ferguson has the third-poorest economy rates so far this season. The New Zealand pacer had an economy rate of 10.43 at the end of the four matches he played in before getting dropped.

Ferguson, who was signed up for a salary of Rs 1.60 crore, has run in hard and generated a lot of pace – at one point in time, he held the record for the fastest ball this season, clocked at 151.69 kph. But as the numbers suggest, pace by itself can’t buy you success – not in T20 cricket.

In his four matches, Ferguson’s figures read: 0-34 (4 overs), 1-42 (4 overs), 1-38 (4 overs) and 0-32 (2 overs).

Mitchell McClenaghan

The Mumbai Indians pacer Mitchell McClenaghan began the tournament with a bang picking up three wickets in his team’s season opener against the Delhi Capitals. The left-armer from New Zealand dismissed Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer early on, and then came back to pick up the wicket of Keemo Paul at the death.

After returning figures of 4-0-40-3 in his team’s opener, McClenaghan went wicket-less in the following two matches, and given the plethora of options in the MI squad, was duly benched. McClenaghan conceded 24 runs in two overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore and returned figures of 0-35 against Kings XI Punjab.