Lasith Malinga is the IPL’s ultimate yorker king. Across nine seasons—all in Mumbai Indians colours from 2009 to 2019—he scalped 170 wickets in 122 innings, never letting batters breathe at a stunning strike-rate of 16.63 balls per wicket. The sling-armed Sri Lankan terrorised line-ups with 18 three-wicket bursts and a memorable five-for, conceding only 7.15 runs an over despite bowling 2,827 balls of unforgiving yorkers and slower ones at the death. Malinga’s mastery peaked when he nipped out four overs for just 5.1 runs each, a record economy for any 170-wicket bowler in the league’s history. With the bat he was a handy lower-order pinch-hitter, smashing five sixes and six fours in 20 innings for 88 quick runs at a strike-rate of 88. Yet it is with the ball that Malinga became Mumbai’s heartbeat, lifting four IPL titles and finishing as the franchise’s all-time leading wicket-taker—an unbreakable legacy built on 170 scalps, 18 three-fors and one spell for the ages.

Muttiah Muralitharan, the spin wizard from Sri Lanka, rolled his magic across seven IPL seasons from 2008 to 2014, leaving batsmen in knots and scoreboard operators busy. Over 66 bowling innings for Chennai Super Kings, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the off-spin maestro claimed 63 wickets, never needing more than three in a spell to tilt a match. Five times he struck thrice in an innings, proving that in T20 cricket a single over can flip momentum. Operating through 254 dot-filled deliveries out of 1,524 balls, Murali throttled scoring at a frugal 6.68 runs per over while striking every 24th ball—numbers that underline why captains tossed him the new ball in the power-play and again at the death. While his blade rarely flashed—only 20 runs from 30 balls with one boundary—his real art lay in the flight and fizz that brought 1,696 runs of resistance from rival camps. From yellow to purple to sky-blue jerseys, Muralitharan’s enduring IPL footprint is a testament to guile over gas, spin over slog, and wickets over wafts.

Note: This overview is partially generated using AI and is based on statistical data. Please verify with official sources for complete accuracy.