Ajinkya Rahane picks five best IPL bowlers, names two Indians in the list

India’s veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane has picked the five best Indian Premier League bowlers. Rahane named Trent Boult as the best bowler in the Powerplay overs. The left-arm New Zealand pacer has the skills to move the ball both ways and reaps rewards for the same.

The Kiwi fast bowler has scalped 143 wickets in 119 IPL matches at an average of 26.2 and an economy rate of 8.38. Rahane picked his Kolkata Knight Riders teammates – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – as the spinners to bowl in the middle overs.

While Narine has bagged 192 wickets in 189 IPL matches at an average of 25.63 and an impressive economy rate of 6.79 (best among the top 50 wicket-takers of the tournament), Varun has snared 100 wickets in 84 IPL matches at an average of 23.85 and an economy rate of 7.57.

Rahane picked the MI duo battery of Jasprit Bumrah and former pacer Lasith Malinga for the death overs. Both the fast bowlers are/were known to nail their yorkers at the fag end of the innings. Bumrah has picked 183 wickets in 145 IPL matches at an average of 22.02 and an economy rate of 7.24

Lasith Malinga ended his IPL career with 170 scalps in 122 matches at an average of 19.79 and an economy rate of 7.14.

“Boult has a record of bowling the first over and picking up wickets. It’s right up there. For me, I always look at someone who can pick wickets. So Boult with the new ball, Malinga and Bumrah in the end and you have the middle overs covered with Sunil and Varun,” Ajinkya Rahane said on AB de Villiers’ YouTube Channel.

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane led KKR in IPL 2025, but the franchise failed to even qualify for the playoffs.