Anil Kumble to Harshal Patel – top 3 bowling performances for RCB

As the clock ticks faster than ever for the fifteenth installment of the franchise extravaganza, it is always special to take a long walk down to the memory lane and inhale the sweet fragrances of all those special moments created in time.

T20 being a batter’s paradise always rivets all the focus in the world when a bowler strikes a bell that sends ripples down the cricketing fabric across the face of the planet. May it be the magical figures of P Aho in the international roster or may it be Alzarri Joseph’s incredulous showdown in the IPL, bowling has been a rarely glorified art in the shortest format of the game and the artists of this form have to walk through hell to get themselves inducted into the bowling hall of fame.

As we talk about the best bowling performances in the shortest format of the game with the clock ticking more vehemently than ever, let us all take a walk down the memory lane that has the frames with the cherry wielders' snaps being laminated in all its glory.

Anil Kumble – 5/5 versus Rajasthan Royals, 2009, Cape Town

Defending a modest total, Praveen Kumar dealt a couple of early blows to leave the Royals teetering, a move that was well complemented by Kiwi all-rounder, Jesse Ryder. However, it was the injection of Anil Kumble that left the Royals scrambling desperately for a fire-extinguisher as the veteran spinner set them ablaze with a superhuman effort. Kumble’s first big blow of the night was the big-hitting sensation, Yusuf Pathan, as a miscued loft went straight into the safe arms of Jesse Ryder. He followed it up with a fuller delivery that was completely misjudged by Jadeja as his sweeping effort ended up in the arms of Virat Kohli. 

The ace Indian leg-spinner trapped Shane Warne next as he completely lost his plot and his effort to dance down the pitch fell short with Uthappa completing a comfortable stumping at the end of the day. Tempting Munaf Patel with a flighted delivery, he simply took away the pace from the ball, and the latter holed out to Dale Steyn in the process. Kamran Khan’s scalp was a wrap from the RCB skipper as a clueless Khan ended up edging to Uthappa.

Jaydev Unadkat – 5/25 versus Delhi Daredevils, 2013, Delhi

The Challengers posted a fine total of 183 on the cards, thanks to a mind-blowing 99 from Kohli and a late blitzkrieg from ABD. Jayawardene was off to a fine start and was looking to impose an early rampage until Unadkat forced him to bring out a cheeky effort from his armor and the cherry clattered onto his stumps. Being the ardent striker of the ball that Sehwag really was, Unadkat offered him something slow and the former Indian opener was quick to jump onto the width and Pujara completed a comfortable take to remove another danger man. 

With Unmukt Chand slowly getting into the grove, it was the fast bowler’s presence of mind that forced a hand from the erstwhile U19 skipper and Karthik grabbed a fine catch. It was once again lack of pace from Unadkat that took out Jaydev Unadkat. With nine needed from two balls, a raging Morne Morkel pushed for a desperate lunge. Unadkat lined Morne Morkel up with a perfect yorker that kissed his timbre in its flight path.

Harshal Patel – 5/27 versus Mumbai Indians, 2021, Chennai

Harshal Patel took quite a hammering in his opening over as he leaked a staggering 15 runs. However, his second spell saw him bounce back as he started his exploits with the big scalp of Hardik Pandya. A dipping slower delivery caught him completely off-guard and it was headed dead-on to the stumps. His next victim was Ishan Kishan as his picture-perfect yorker splashed onto his pads leaving the umpire with no choice whatsoever but to point his finger towards the sky.

A struggling Krunal Pandya was put out of his misery as a shorter ball from Patel forced him to play it big but Dan Christian was stationed at the right place to finish the catch. Kieron Pollard hammered a delivery on the leg-stump straight to Washington Sundar to give the fourth to Harshal. As his final scalp, he stunned Marco Jansen with an absolute peach that saw him whipping out the slow yorker and the South African quick was no match for the same.