Top 5 Batsmen With Highest Strike-rate Versus Spin In IPL 2020
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), IPL 2020, was held in UAE from September 19 to November 10, 2020. The world’s most popular T20 league had to be shifted from India to the Middle East due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the matches were secured through bio-secure bubbles.
As always, the eight-team tournament witnessed some riveting battles for places, with the playoffs race closer than ever in the IPL history. Ultimately, powerhouse Mumbai Indians (MI) were able to defend their champions’ crown but even for them, it wasn’t always a smooth ride.
What made the games close and interesting were neutral venues in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. All three grounds posed a different challenge to teams in terms of the surfaces, boundary dimensions and overall conditions. For the batsmen, though, a common most threatening challenge was to counter the spinners, who enjoyed bowling on slow and dry tracks of UAE.
So today we’ll recall five such batsmen who were especially severe on spin bowling in the tournament.
Top 5 batsmen with highest strike-rate versus spin in IPL 2020 (minimum 100 balls).
5. Suryakumar Yadav
Part of the reason why Suryakumar Yadav was able to perform so consistently for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2020 was his ability to not just survive but excel against spin bowling. The right-hand batsman controlled the middle-overs terrifically for MI. He scored runs at a strike-rate of 137.1 versus the spinners in IPL 2020.
Suryakumar’s breakthrough season helped MI reclaim the IPL title and earned him a nod from the national selectors for the T20I series versus England.
4. David Warner
David Warner, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain, has been one of IPL’s most prolific run-scorers. And even though the Australian left-hander didn’t have the best of seasons in UAE, he was still very explosive against spin.
Warner’s overall IPL 2020 strike-rate was 134.64 across 16 innings but while facing spinners, he took his game to another level. Warner scored at a rate of 151.0 per 100 balls against the tweakers during the previous edition of the IPL.
3. Shikhar Dhawan
Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Shikhar Dhawan was again very consistent for his team in IPL 2020. The left-hander made 618 runs in the tournament with an average of 44.14 and a strike-rate of 144.73.
Dhawan was one of the keys to DC’s surge till the final of the competition and a major reason for his personal success was his ability to dominate spin once set.
He had a strike-rate of 153.4 versus spinners in IPL 2020, nearly 10 runs per 100 balls more than his overall rate of scoring in the tournament.
2. Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) middle-order batsman, didn’t enjoy his best IPL season in UAE. Rana was quite inconsistent and averaged only 25.14 from his 14 innings, while carrying a strike-rate of 138.58.
However, Rana still took a special liking to the spinners that bowled to him in IPL 2020. The left-hander had a fantastic strike-rate of 159.8 against spin.
Rana has always faced question marks with regards to his issues against fast-bowling but there is little doubt that when he gets going, he is a very dangerous power-hitter against the spinners.
1. Sanju Samson
Few will forget the sight of Sanju Samson clearing the ropes consistently against spinners in IPL 2020. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman scored 375 runs from his 14 innings at an average of 28.84 and strike-rate of 158.89 in the tournament.
But it was batting against spin where Samson was amazingly explosive, especially when facing them in Sharjah. Samson made runs at a strike-rate of 172.1 versus spinners in the previous edition of the IPL.
Appointed captain by RR now, Samson’s ability to dominate spin on his day will once again make him one of the keys to his team’s success in the forthcoming edition of IPL.
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