Top 5 wickettakers

Lasith Malinga retired from Test cricket and invested all his attention on the limited overs formats of the game. The maverick Sri Lankan speed ace has been particularly lethal in the IPL, leading the attack for defending champions Mumbai Indians. Slinga Malinga has so far snared 103 wickets from 73 matches and happens to be the most successful bowler in the tournament's brief history. Come the seventh edition, Malinga will be another force to reckon with. (All images AFP & BCCI)

Amit Mishra started off with Deccan Chargers, moved over to Delhi Daredevils and then was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad but in the frenetic three-team journey through the existence of the IPL, the wily leg-spinner has always held his own, and showed why the slower-bowlers can still make a difference to the slam-bang version of the game. With 95 wickets in 76 games, Mishy is the most successful spinner in the IPL.

RP Singh has been there, done that. After playing for Deccan Chargers, Kochi Tuskers Kerela, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the discarded India seamer ended up with an impressive 87 wickets from 78 IPL games but RP now finds himself in the cold - strangely, no team showed the inclination to buy him in the auctions this year after just one poor season in 2013. Did he have any more cricket left in him?

Pragyan Ojha has made his mark whenever he has got an opportunity, be it for Team India or any of the two IPL sides he has played for. The left-arm spinner started off with Deccan Chargers but over the years, he has become an asset for the Mumbai Indians as his tally of 85 wickets from 79 games would tell you.

Vinay Kumar's sheer inconsistency at the international level has cost him a permanent place in the Indian side, but the Karnataka medium-pacer has been a heavyweight in the Indian Premier League. After Kochi Tuskers Kerela were dissolved, RCB wasted little time in snaring their local boy, who was only too happy to be bowling in the seam-friendly conditions of Bangalore. With 84 wickets from 77 IPL matches, Vinay is the fifth on the list of all time highest wicket-takers in the IPL.