Purple Cap, IPL 2024: Harshal Patel extends lead, Varun Chakaravarthy lone spinner in top five
Harshal finished his season with 24 scalps in his kitty and is the top contender for the Purple Cap for the second time in his career.
Punjab Kings seamer Harshal Patel extended his lead in the Purple Cap race with two wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad in his team's final league stage match of the season. Patel claimed the wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Reddy but Punjab lost the match by four wickets. Meanwhile, Harshal finished his season with 24 scalps in his kitty and is the top contender for the Purple Cap for the second time in his career.
Second-placed Jasprit Bumrah has also finished his season and he had to wait for another season to win the coveted prize. The Mumbai Indians paceman claimed 20 scalps this year. Bumrah was the standout bowler for MI, as he did incredibly well in terms of controlling the scoring rate of the opposition.
Punjab Kings paceman Arshdeep Singh also claimed a couple of wickets against SRH as he jumped to the third spot in the Purple Cap race. He finished with 19 wickets which is a good sign for Team India ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy didn't get a chance to bowl in the last couple of matches due to washout, but he is still leading the tally with 18 wickets in 12 matches. The mystery spinner has done incredibly well for two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders and has been the go-to bowler for Shreyas Iyer this season.
Chennai Super Kings bowler Tushar Deshpande finished with 17 scalps this season. He was the pick of the bowlers for CSK after Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman returned home midway.
However, T Natarajan and Yuzvendra Chahal (17 wickets each) will have a chance to improve their tally as both will feature in the playoffs.
The four team qualified for IPL 2024 Playoffs are - Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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