Bowlers are left and right knights of the cricket for both fast and spin balls. Their left or right arms break can change the total expected view of the match within no time. The best bowling figures in T20 cricket history make the sport more attractive and entertaining. One ball seems to be as one bullet to the batsman. Many victories have come just through hardest bowling action in cricket.
Every bowler wants to pick up five or more wickets in their quota and four overs during a T20 match. But, only a few players have achieved this feat till now.
Here are the top 10 bowling figures of T20:
1. AJANTHA MENDIS, SRI LANKA(6/8)
Ajantha is a Srilankan spin bowler who is mostly known for his action striking and style of bowling Googly and Doosra. He is popularly known as one of the best spin bowlers in the whole world. He is a right-arm leg-break bowler with huge wicket-tacker. In T20 he has got 66 wickets from 39 matches.
Mendis although classified a slow medium bowler, bowls a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-break, top-spinners, flippers and leg break, and as well as carrom ball released with a flick of his middle finger.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 39 T20I matches and scored around 8 runs with a batting average of 2.66. His top score is 4 *. He bowled 885 balls in T20I and took 66 wickets with a bowling average of 14.42. His best bowling performance in T20I is 6/8.
2. SHAHID AFRIDI, PAKISTAN(4/11)
The Pakistani spinner shahid Afridi is mostly known for his action striking boom boom. He is popularly known as an all-rounder but is one of the best spinners in the world. He is right arm leg break bowler with huge wicket-taker. In T20 he has got 97 wickets from 98 matches.
Shahid is a world record holder for the fastest ODI century in 37 deliveries and holds the distinction of having hit most sixes in the history of cricket. He is popularly known as boom-boom.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 99 T20I matches and scored around 1416 runs with a batting average of 17.92. His top score is 54 *. He bowled 2168 balls in T20I and took 98 wickets with a bowling average of 24.44. His best bowling performance in T20I is 4/11.
3. LASITH MALINGA, SRI LANKA(5/6)
The Srilankan fastest bowler is popularly known for his action striking and style of bowling. He is known as one of the best fastest bowlers in the world. He is right arm leg break bowler with huge wicket-taker. In T20 he has got 78 wickets from 62 matches.
He is commonly used as a specialist death bowler. He is also called a yorker king due to continuous ability to deliver yorkers. He is the only bowler to take 5 hat-tricks in the history of the game.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 76 T20I matches and scored around 98 runs with a batting average of 5.76. His top score is 27*. He bowled 1643 balls in T20I and took 104 wickets with a bowling average of 19.2. His best bowling performance in T20I is 5/6.
4. UMAR GUL, PAKISTAN(5/6)
This Pakistani fast bowler is popularly known for his action striking line and length. He is also the fastest bowler known in the world. He is right arm leg break bowler with huge wicket-taker. In T20 he has got 85 wickets from 60 matches.
Umar plays all three formats of the game as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. Umar is the second-highest wicket-taker in T201. He won T20 international performance of the year in 2013.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 60 T20I matches and scored around 165 runs with a batting average of 9.16. His top score is 32 *. He bowled 1203 balls in T20I and took 85 wickets with a bowling average of 16.97. His best bowling performance in T20I is 5/6.
5. SAEED AJMAL, PAKISTAN(5/18)
Ajmal is a Pakistani spin bowler who is mostly known for his action striking Googly and Doosra. He is popularly known as one of the best spin bowlers in the whole world. He is a right-arm leg-break bowler with huge wicket-tacker. In T20 he has got 85 wickets from 64 matches.
He is a Pakistani cricket coach and a former cricketer, who have played all form of games. Ajmal was rated as best ODI and T20I bowler in the world and second in test at various times in between 2011 and 2014.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 148 T20I matches and scored around 2007 runs with a batting average of 13.11. His top score is 53*. He bowled 34,496 balls in T20I and took 578 wickets with a bowling average of 26.87. His best bowling performance in T20I is 5/18.
6. SHAKIB AL HASSAN, BANGLADESH(5/20)
The Bangladeshi spinner is known for his action striking googly and doosra. He is popularly known as an all-rounder but is one of the best spinners in the world. He is a left-arm leg break bowler with huge wicket-tacker. In T20 he has got 65 wickets from 54 matches.
He is a record holder being ranked first as an all-rounder in ODI format for 10 years and is still third highest in the ranking of all three formats of the game(test, ODI, T20I). He was ranked as world's famous athlete by ESPN in 2019.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 76 T20I matches and scored around 1567 runs with a batting average of 23.74. His top score is 84*. He bowled 1667 balls in T20I and took 92 wickets with a bowling average of 20.58. His best bowling performance in T20I is 5/20.
7. STUART BROAD, ENGLAND(4/24)
The English fastest bowler Stuart is known for his action striking and style of bowling. He is right arm middle wicket break bowler with huge wicket-tacker. In T20 he has got 65 wickets from 56 matches.
He is a right-hand seam bowler and left-handed batsman. Broad was rewarded as the man of the match in the fifth match of 2009. He is England's highest wicket-taker in test cricket.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 56 T20I matches and scored around 118 runs with a batting average of 7.37. His top score is 18*. He bowled 1173 balls in T20I and took 65 wickets with a bowling average of 22.93. His best bowling performance in T20I is 4/24.
8. DEL STEYN, SOUTH AFRICA(4/9)
The South African bowler is known for his action striking and style of bowling. He is right-arm middle wicket break bowler with a huge-wicket taker. In T20 he has got 58 wickets from 42 matches.
He is wildly regarded as one of the greatest fastest bowlers of all time. He was named one of the Wisden cricketer of the year in 2013 and Wisden leading cricketer in the world of the year 2013 and also Wisden's cricketer almanack 2014.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 44 T20I matches and scored around 16 runs with a batting average of 3.20. His top score is 5*. He bowled 943 balls in T20I and took 16 wickets with a bowling average of 17.50. His best bowling performance in T20I is 4/9.
9. NUWAN KULASEKARA, SRI LANKA(4/31)
He is also known for his action striking and style of bowling. He is right-arm middle wicket break bowler with a huge-wicket taker. In T20 he has got 56 wickets from 50 matches.
He is regarded as one of the best swing bowler in the world cricket. He is a useful and effective medium-pace bowler who can swing the ball in both ways in the first few overs and also can bat in the later overs.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 58 T20I matches and scored around 215 runs with a batting average of 10.23. His top score is 31*. He bowled 1231balls in T20I and took 66 wickets with a bowling average of 23.18. His best bowling performance in T20I is 4/31.
10. R.ASHWIN, INDIA(4/8)
The Indian spinner is known for his action striking googly and doosra. He is an all-rounder but is famous for his spin bowling. He is right-arm leg break bowler with a huge-wicket taker. In T20 he has got 54 wickets from 46 matches.
He became the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50-, 100-, 15-, 200-, 250- and 300- wicket mark in test cricket. he became third Indian to win ICC cricketer of the year award.
T20 CAREER STATISTICS
He played about 46 T20I matches and scored around 123 runs with a batting average of 30.75. His top score is 31*. He bowled 1026 balls in T20I and took 52 wickets with a bowling average of 22.94. His best bowling performance in T20I is 4/8.
