Kagiso Rabada finds himself at the top of the bowling chart having picked up 23 wickets in 11 games and the distance between the first and the second rank in the purple cap is quite large as Jofra Archer has picked 17 wickets in 12 matches with an impressive economy rate of 6.71.
It may seem from the numbers that Rabada has been a standout performer for his team Delhi Capitals but numbers don’t tell you the entire story.
Rabada has been aided by DC having a well-rounded bowling attack complemented by the likes of Anrich Nortje, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel while Archer at RR doesn’t have that privilege.
He has been the lone warrior for them. If they need wickets at the powerplay, they entrust Archer with the job. They need to break a partnership, call upon Archer, they need to bowl quite overs at the death, who else but Archer to do the job. Guess what, Archer has even provided late order flourishes to RR, most notable being his hammering of Lungi Ngidi, whom he clubbed for 4 sixes in the final over against CSK.
While he has been tirelessly doing the job for them this season, his wickets tally doesn’t entirely do justice to his skill and effort.
So while Rabada may eventually wear the purple cap at the end of the season, but was he the best bowler, that is debatable!
