table of contents
Mitchell McClenaghan crowned his former teammate as the IPL’s greatest left-arm fast bowler; The Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) is the longest and oldest running franchise league in world cricket. It started with Brendon McCullum’s explosive innings while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2008, as the Kiwi batsman scored 158* in the opening game of the inaugural edition of the league.
Since then, the league has seen some great players take the field and perform consistently. Despite the game being skewed more towards the batsmen, over the years it has seen some amazing bowlers dominate the competition and still continue to do so with unreal consistency. Left-arm fast bowlers are always special to watch in any format of the game.
Mitchell McClenaghan chosen the best left arm fast bowler of IPL
Former New Zealand and Mumbai Indians (MI) fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has identified the greatest left-arm fast bowler in the IPL. Mitchell McClenaghan was asked to choose a fast bowler from two names in the format and he did not know who was coming next, standing as the winner meant that the name he chose would remain and the other would be dropped.
Who is the greatest left arm fast bowler of IPL according to Mitch McClenaghan? pic.twitter.com/AIrAHV8rkj
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 30, 2026
Mitchell McClenaghan picked his former teammate Trent Boult as the greatest left-arm fast bowler in the IPL over Mitchell Starc, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and himself. Boult has been playing in the competition for a long time and won the IPL with MI in the 2020 season.
McClenaghan leaves Mitchell Starc off best list
Mitchell McClenaghan started off with Australian fast bowler Dirk Nannes, who played for Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils). Then another CSK bowler Doug Bollinger was selected and later he selected himself over James Faulkner and selected Zaheer Khan until Trent Boult came and selected him as the winner over Mitchell Starc who has been one of the best players.
Trent Boult has been one of the most consistent bowlers with the new ball, but this season he has failed to swing the new ball, which has led to him losing runs and may even be released by his franchise before the next mini-auction.
I think I’ll go with Fizz – McClenaghan
“Mitchell McClenaghan, let’s be a winner as a left-arm fast bowler in the IPL. Dirk Nannes or Pradeep Sangwan? Dirk Nannes. Dirk Nannes or Team Natarajan? Dirk Nannes.”
“Dirk Nance or Doug Bollinger? Doug was great, wasn’t he? Let’s go to Doug the Rag. Bollinger or James Faulkner? James Faulkner. James Faulkner or Mitchell McClenaghan? Sorry Jimmy, I’ll take it on myself.”
“McClenaghan or RP Singh? I’ll go myself. You or Ashish Nehra? Ashish Nehra. Nehra or Unadkat? Nehra. Nehra or Khalil Ahmed? Nehra. Nehra or Irfan Pathan? Oh, God, it’s really tough.”
“Let’s pick Irfan because of his all-round abilities. Irfan Pathan or Sam Curran? Irfan. Irfan Pathan or Mitchell Johnson? Oh, I’d have to go with Mitchell Johnson. He’s my favourite. Mitchell Johnson or Zaheer Khan? Ah, God. Overall performance, you’d probably have to go to Zaheer.”
“Zaheer Khan or Arshdeep Singh?
Also read: Rishabh Pant chosen as LSG captain’s successor