We are 36 matches into IPL 2025, and the Purple Cap table is led by a Gujarat Titans (GT) man, one of his team-mates is at No. 6 on that list, and another is at No. 9. Between them, the three of them - Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore and Mohammed Siraj - have 36 wickets in seven games each. But after Saturday's win over Delhi Capitals (DC), the most interesting talking point was perhaps the overs Sai Kishore wasn't given a chance to bowl.
"It was quite strange," Ambati Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut after the game. Sai Kishore bowled just one over in the game. It was the last over of the DC innings. He gave away just nine runs and got the wicket of the big-hitting Ashutosh Sharma. With Rashid Khan hardly setting the IPL on fire - he had none for 38 this time - why hide Sai Kishore away?
"Given the conditions - it was an afternoon game - you would expect the ball to grip a little bit, especially with the new ball when the seam is hard and slightly elevated," Rayudu said. "He should have bowled at least one over in the powerplay and definitely through the middle. He's been their best spinner so far; he's been bowling better than Rashid in this competition. Doesn't make sense to me."
The answer, not unsurprisingly, could be match-ups, since the left-handed Axar Patel was batting from the fifth over onwards, till the 18th, and Nicholas Pooran, a left-hand batter like Axar, had given Sai Kishore a hiding in GT's previous match - he ended with 1.3-0-35-0.
"Spooked by match-ups and perhaps what's happened before. I think the last time we saw him bowl, [he was] put under the pump, but it was Pooran. And that's why we're all scratching our heads, going 'why didn't he give him a go?' Especially when three of your topline seamers are all going at more than ten runs an over," Mark Boucher said on the same show.
"Even if he's bowling to a match-up like Axar, he's still got the mindset that 'I can bowl it outside his eyeline' and I think he might still have created opportunity there. Yes, your best spinner in the competition at the moment and he only bowled one over, in a day game - it is very strange not to have given him the opportunity, or a better opportunity."
With Rashid well off his best, Shubman Gill, the GT captain, might have a job to do to make sure Sai Kishore doesn't lose his confidence.
"One of the biggest things as a spinner is the knowledge of your captain backing you in situations," Boucher said. "There are certain times when, unfortunately, you're going to have to bowl against a left-hander. And you get put under pressure. But the one thing as a captain you can do is go to him and say, 'listen, I know it's a match-up you don't enjoy but you're actually bowling really well, picking up wickets, so just bowl your best ball to him; you're clever enough to bowl balls and deliveries that are going to make it tough for him to hit'."
On the day, Gill didn't think so. And they won in the end to go to the top of the table, so who can question the plan?
Ambati Rayudu and Mark Boucher on the GT pacer's four-wicket haul
Boucher: 'Prasidh is bowling with good heat'
The bowler who is only providing answers to GT is Prasidh. He started with a wicketless game, but has been a star since, the constant in an attack that is often shuffled around based on conditions. On Saturday, he went off his plan of bowling into the pitch for a moment and bowled one of the deliveries of the tournament, nailing the inswinging yorker to KL Rahul and catching the batter lbw.
"He looks in great rhythm. His strength is hitting the pitch hard, but the ball he has bowled to KL Rahul was quite surprising and also it moved right at the end," Rayudu said. "He surprised KL Rahul, and he has a lot of variations - his slower ball is quite effective as well. I think he's a great prospect not only for GT but for India also going forward."
Prasidh had been out with an injury for the longest time, but made an impressive comeback in the Sydney Test against Australia earlier this year, picking up six wickets, and hasn't looked back.
"I think he really enjoys bowling with Siraj in his team. He takes a bit of pressure off him, as a sort of wicket-taker," Boucher said. "His pace is up. He gets good bounce obviously because of his height. He's also getting nice and tight to off stump when he's delivering. So the ball doesn't have to do a lot.
"KL's ball didn't swing a lot, but just swung enough. I think he's high on confidence at the moment, his release points are good, he's bowling with good heat, and it's a great position for him to be in and it's a great position for GT to have a guy who's not taking the new ball but is coming in the middle overs and taking wickets for them."