From Kuldeep to Varun Chakravarthy: Watch out for these spinners in IPL 2019

Kuldeep Yadav could a leading spinner of IPL 2019

IPL 2019: 3 mystery spinners to watch out for

Bengaluru, March 19: The IPL 2019 is five days away and will kick off with an adrenaline match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday (March 23). There will be several players who are eager to leave an impression on the big stage, and here MyKhel takes a look at five spinners who can rock this edition of the IPL.

1. Kuldeep Yadav (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The Chinaman bowler continues to be a threat despite being around for a couple of years as reading him has not exactly been an easy task. Last year Kuldeep took 18 wickets from 16 matches though economy hovered 8 runs per over in IPL 2018. The Kolkata outfit will hope that Kuldeep would come up with another round of wicket-taking frenzy.

2. Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

The Afghanistan leg-spinner keeps the batsmen guessing with his variations. It is almost impossible to pick him off his hand and he was one of the highest wicket-takers in the last edition of the IPL. If the Hyderabad team are to make a charge towards title, then Rashid would have to make a big contribution.

3 Mujib ur Rahman (Kings XI Punjab)

The Afghan spinner had a dream debut season in IPL 2018, bagging 14 wickets in the 11 matches he played. The right arm off-spinner bowled with an average of 20.64 and an economy rate of just under seven. Rahman also bowls some unbelievable googlies and under the guidance of his skipper and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to only get better with every outing.

4. Varun Chakravarthy (Kings XI Punjab)

All eyes will be on this mystery spinner who was bagged by the Kings XI Punjab for a whopping Rs 8.4 crore in the auction - 42 times his base price of Rs 20 lakh. Varun bagged 22 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and is known to have 6 variations in his kitty: off-break, leg-break, flipper, top-spinner, carrom ball and the googly. The 27-year-old shot into limelight in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2018, scalping nine wickets from 10 matches, with a decent economy rate of 4.7. Looking at his record, Varun is expected to give batsmen a difficult time this IPL season.

5 Washington Sundar (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be banking on young right-arm off-spinner Washington Sundar to play perfect second fiddle to India's limited-overs leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. At 19, Sundar is presumably one of India's next generation players. He had a good start to the league in 2017, and scalped 8 wickets from 11 games, with a decent economy of 6.16. The Tamil Nadu boy however, faltered in the following season as he managed just four wickets from seven game with a poor economy. Sundar will look to leave that behind and start afresh in this year's league. RCB have shown faith in the youngster and picked him for Rs 3.20 crore in the auction, and Sundar will surely look to perform to the expectations of the franchise.