IPL 2017: 5 factors for Rising Pune Supergiant's brilliant run

#3 Imran Tahir’s leg-spin

Tahir has turned out to be RPS’ key bowler

The south African leg-spinner went unsold in the auction but he has proved how wrong the scouts were by being the second highest wicket taker of this year. In his first game, Tahir ran through Mumbai’s top order and had a quiet journey in the next few games. But in the last two fixtures, he has picked up six wickets and has become the spearhead of Pune’s bowling attack.

Tahir bowls close to the stumps, which means if the batsmen miss his googlies or the straighter ones, they become candidates for leg before. The leg-spinner, along with picking wickets, has dried the run flow and it is evident from his economy rate of less than eight.

Playing without any experienced pace bowler, Pune have benefited immensely due to Tahir’s accurate spin bowling. Out of Tahir’s 16 wickets, 11 have been top order batsmen and this clearly indicates the leg spinner’s contribution to Pune’s success.