Bowling Performances of Dhawal Kulkarni in IPL

Dhawal Kulkarni‘s journey in IPL started as a teenage pace prodigy for Mumbai Indians, in the inaugural season of the tournament. Since then, he has represented teams like Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions. After all these years, Kulkarni is back at Mumbai Indians once again, now as an ageing 30-year old at the dusk of his career.

In between is an international career that never quite took off, and an IPL career that never really had a spark to it. Despite that, Kulkarni has managed to stay in the mix, always managing to find a franchise and play a few games every season. Though he has not often been out of the ordinary, he does boast of a few extraordinary spells to his name.

Let us have a look at the top 5 bowling performances of Dhawal Kulkarni in IPL:

5. 3/26 vs Deccan Chargers

After an impressive debut season, Kulkarni’s graph in IPL began to decline from 2009. He hit rock bottom in 2010, where he featured in only a single game. The 2011 season was not spectacular, but it was at least a step up from the miseries of ’10. This match is from that particular season.

Mumbai Indians hosted Deccan Chargers at the Wankhede Stadium. After losing Michael Lumb in the first over, Kumar Sangakkara and Sunny Sohal set up a good partnership. Kulkarni broke the partnership in the eighth over, as he dismissed Kumar Sangakkara. His next wicket was Bharat Chipli in the 15th over. To complete his 3-wicket haul, he dismissed Dan Christian in the 19th over. His spell helped Mumbai restrict Deccan Chargers to a mere 135.

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4. 3/18 vs Rajasthan Royals

The next entry on our list of top 5 innings of Dhawal Kulkarni in IPL is from 2012, where Kulkarni played only 2 matches. But that was because of no fault of his own, as he was brilliant on both the occasions. Bowling first against Rajasthan Royals, Kulkarni gave Mumbai their first breakthrough in the form of Rahul Dravid.

Very soon, he also got the better of another opener Ajinkya Rahane. His third wicket came in the penultimate over the game, in the form of Ashok Menaria. He conceded only 18 runs in this match, which helped Mumbai restrict Rajasthan to 162.

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3. 3/19 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

After four consecutive poor seasons, Kulkarni made somewhat of a comeback in 2013. In this match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium, his side batted first and put up a colossal total of 194. Bangalore had a steady start, and their first wicket fell in the 6th over, when Kulkarni dismissed Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Even then, Bangalore was well in the game. But much of their zeal was lost when Kulkarni dismissed two of their batting kingpins in the next over – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. He was once again very economical and conceded only 19 runs from his 4 overs, as Mumbai secured a thumping victory.

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2. 4/14 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Though he has represented them for a couple of seasons only, Kulkarni’s best performances in IPL came in the orange shirt of Gujarat Lions. This spell in question is from the Qualifier 1 encounter of 2016, between Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Batting first, Kulkarni’s side scored 158. He pegged the Challengers back in their chase very early on, as he got rid of Virat Kohli with just his second ball. In his next over, he also got rid of Chris Gayle. In the next ball, he completed his 3-wicket haul by getting KL Rahul dismissed. In his next over, he completed his first 4-wicket haul of IPL by dismissing Sachin Baby. Unfortunately, despite his personal feat, his side eventually lost the game.

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1. 3/19 vs Delhi Capitals

Despite not being a 4-wicket haul, this entry on our list of top 5 innings of Dhawal Kulkarni in IPL is at the top because it didn’t go in vain. Against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Gujarat Lions batted first and scored 172 runs.

Kulkarni was brilliant from the start and dismissed Sanju Samson in his first over. In his second over, he picked up two more wickets, thereby completely demolishing Delhi’s top-order. Quinton de Kock and Karun Nair were on the receiving end of Kulkarni’s brilliance this time. His wickets, alongside his economical bowling, helped Lions win the game by one run.

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