Recalling the five most expensive spells by overseas bowlers in the history of the IPL, when economy rates went through the roof.

Even before they were welcomed to Sharjah’s notoriously short ropes, IPL bowlers have been subjected to some serious beatings on Indian pitches. Franchises would pay hefty amounts to rope in overseas bowlers, but sometimes, the ‘expensive’ tag ends up getting a whole different meaning altogether.

The most expensive spell, overall, was sent down by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Basil Thampi in 2018, who gave 70 runs off his 24 deliveries against Royal Challengers Bangalore. While the following five bowlers didn’t concede as many, they had equally painful outings with the ball at different points of time.

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Ryan McLaren (4-0-60-2)

Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2013

It turned out to be McLaren’s last-ever IPL game, and the only instance on this list where a bowler picked up a wicket. McLaren, in fact, captured two – Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard – but the rest of the game was a flurry of boundaries for him, five of which came off Sachin Tendulkar’s bat in a single over. The last over of the innings saw him concede 25 runs, five wides and two sixes included. The 60 runs conceded by McLaren accounted for 35.29 per cent of Mumbai’s score. He went unsold in the following year’s auction.

Shane Watson (4-0-61-0)

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016

The final of IPL 2016 went sideways for RCB as soon as David Warner came out all guns blazing, helped along by Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting’s fiery cameos. At the receiving end were RCB’s unfortunate bowlers, victims of the Chinnaswamy ground, but it was Shane Watson who went home with the worst figures of the season, conceding 61 runs (six sixes, four fours) in a forgettable first-change spell.

Tim Southee (4-0-61-0)

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2013

RCB’s death-bowling duties have been a game of musical chairs for years – Tim Southee was considered for the role in 2018 and 2019, but the move ended with an excruciatingly high economy rate of 13.11 for the Kiwi quick in the 2019 IPL. Facing Andre Russell on Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy ground is a hapless situation for most bowlers, and Southee’s eye-watering figures of 4-0-61-0 completed a five-match streak of wicketless spells in the IPL for the New Zealander. The expensive spells weren’t forgotten quickly as he found no takers in the IPL this year.

Michael Neser (4-0-62-0)

Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013

Not many would remember that Michael Neser had an IPL career – well before he made his ODI debut, or made it to Australia’s Ashes squad. He got a solitary game in 2013, running into the blistering trio of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Neser’s tally was one short of the then-most expensive IPL spell, giving away 21 of the 62 runs he conceded in the final over of the innings, where Henriques and de Villiers tonked him for three fours and a six. It remains his only IPL appearance to date.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (4-0-66-0)

Kings XI Punjab v Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2019

Mujeeb’s impressive T20 economy of 6.60 could have been even lower had he not endured a rather forgettable 2019 IPL season, where his three wickets in five games came at a rate of 10.05 runs an over. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad, R Ashwin’s ploy to bowl him in the powerplay backfired dramatically, when the off-spinner was looted for 66 runs in David Warner’s early assault, and at the back end by compatriot Mohammad Nabi. The result – the rather dubious distinction of sending down IPL’s most expensive spell by a spinner.