In the 2026 IPL, there have been some sensational spells by the bowlers in the power play as they are striving to maintain their reputation in the modern game. Kagiso Rabada has been leading the chart with the most wickets in the power play as he picked 3 against the Mumbai Indians today. The bowlers have improved their lengths by keeping it tight in the early overs of the game. The power play bowling charts have been dominated by the foreign seamers but Prince Yadav has managed to make it into the list.
To win matches in the shortest format of the game, the simple method is to have control over the power play. Teams have ensured that bowlers aim for wickets in the power play even if they leak runs in the beginning. Jofra Archer has been one such bowler as he creates pressure on the batting side by picking wickets as early as even the first ball of the innings. Let’s take a look at the top 5 bowlers who have taken the most wickets in the power play in this season of the IPL:
4) Jacob Duffy - 5 wickets
The New Zealand quick was given a tough task by RCB in the opening game of the season as he had to fill in the shoes of Josh Hazlewood and bowl against a star studded SRH batting unit. He carried out his role magnificently well as he dismissed Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the powerplay itself. In the next game against CSK, he got rid of the dangerous opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson. He was a key bowler for RCB in the power play as he picked up some crucial wickets.
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3) Prince Yadav - 5 wickets
The Lucknow Super Giants found a gem amongst the Indian bowling talent as Prince Yadav has been brilliant alongside Mohammed Shami with the new ball. In the opening game against the Delhi Capitals, Prince Yadav got the wicket of Pathum Nissanka early on. Then, he dismissed Axar Patel with a fiery delivery that he chopped back on to the stumps. He then bowled an absolute peach to Ishan Kishan in the following game and hit the off stump. Prince Yadav got rid of Finn Allen and Phil Salt in the following games, and turned it into a nightmare for the opposition.
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2) Jofra Archer - 6 wickets
The Rajasthan Royals quick, Jofra Archer has been tremendous with his lengths and he has surely returned back into form. He opened his wicket tally by dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad off a fuller length delivery. Against the Mumbai Indians, Archer bowled a hard length and Ryan Rickelton skied the ball straight into the fielder’s hand. Against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he repeated a similar delivery but it took Phil Salt by surprise as he gave a simple catch to Dhruv Jurel. He took wickets on the first ball of the innings in the following two matches as he got rid of Abhishek Sharma and Tim Seifert with cracking deliveries.
1)Kagiso Rabada - 7 wickets
The South African seamer has picked up the most wickets in the power play in this edition of the IPL and he has been in some exceptional form. In the first game against the Punjab Kings, he got rid of Priyansh Arya with a fine short ball. Against LSG, Kagiso Rabada was hit for 10 runs off two balls and he bounced back to dismiss Mitchell Marsh. Rabada ripped apart the KKR top order with two quick wickets of Tim Seifert and Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
In today’s match against the Mumbai Indians, he got rid of the dangerous Quinton de Kock and the debutant Danish Malewar early on. In the 2nd last ball of the power play, Rabada bowled an absolute ripper to break the stumps of Suryakumar Yadav and became the highest wicket taker in the power play in this season.
