On Saturday, October 24, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Varun Chakravarthy became the first bowler to get a five-wicket haul in the ongoing edition of the IPL. The tweaker accomplished the feat against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Chakravarthy got his first wicket when DC needed around 12 runs per over. The spinner dismissed Rishabh Pant, who tried to smash him over the square leg region. From there on, Varun didn’t look back. He dismissed DC skipper Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel.
On the back of his spectacular spell of bowling, KKR restricted the Capitals to 135 for nine, winning the match by 59 runs.
The record of the bowling figures by an Indian in the history of IPL, meanwhile, is still with spin great Anil Kumble who featured in three seasons of the tournament between 2008 and 2010, capturing 45 wickets in 42 matches.
In 2009, Kumble steered Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a thumping 75-run victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Newlands, Capetown. RCB was defending a modest total of 133 and had reduced RR to 28-5 after 4.5 overs. Kumble was then introduced into the attack and he wrapped up the middle order and tail by picking up all the remaining five wickets.
Here are the top-ten bowling figures by an Indian in the history of IPL:
- Anil Kumble for Royal Challengers Bangalore – 5/5 from 3.1 overs against Rajasthan Royals on April 18, 2009
- Ishant Sharma for Deccan Chargers – 5/12 from three overs against Kochi Tuskers Kerala on April 27, 2011
- Ankit Rajpoot for Kings XI Punjab – 5/14 from four overs against Surnrisers Hyderabad on April 26 2018
- Ravindra Jadeja for Chennai Super Kings – 5/16 from four overs against Deccan Chargers on April 7, 2012
- Amit Mishra for Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) – 5/17 from four overs against Deccan Chargers on May 15, 2008
- Harbhajan Singh for Mumbai Indians – 5/18 from four overs against Chennai Super Kings on April 22, 2011
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Surnrisers Hyderabad – 5/19 from four overs against Kings XI Punjab on April 17, 2017
- Varun Chakravarthy for Kolkata Knight Riders – 5/20 from four overs against Delhi Capitals on October 24, 2020
- Munaf Patel for Mumbai Indians – 5/21 from four overs against Kings XI Punjab on May 10, 2011
- Laxmipathy Balaji for Chennai Super Kings – 5/24 from four overs against Kings XI Punjab on May 10, 2008
