The shortest form of cricket, T20, is the favorite format of the batsmen as they have the license of smashing the big shots right from the word go. This format has made life difficult for the bowlers. Besides their bowling skills, the bowlers need to make use of their wit to get the better of batsmen in the T20 matches. Only a few bowlers have mastered the art of reading the batsmen’s mind.
Here’s a list of the top five bowlers who have cleaned up the stumps of the opposition batsmen the maximum times in T20 cricket.
Sunil Narine – 95 times:
The most successful overseas spinner in IPL history, Sunil Narine has achieved a lot of success in the shortest format of the game. He has played 336 matches in his T20 career and picked up 379 wickets at a splendid economy rate of 6.02. Out of those 379 wickets, he dismissed the batsmen ‘bowled out’ on 95 occasions.
Rashid Khan – 96 times
The magician from Afghanistan, Rashid Khan, has quickly established himself as one of the best all-rounders of the modern era with his match-winning performances in T20 cricket. Khan has been more successful in the bowling department as he scalped 296 wickets, with the 96 of them being through the way of uprooting the batsmen’s stumps.
Shahid Afridi – 99 times:
Former Pakistani all-rounder, Shahid Afridi is still active in the T20 format as he recently featured in the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League. In his career, Afridi has played 317 T20 games, dismissing the opposition 339 times, on 99 occasions he disturbed the balance of the stumps to send the batsman back to the pavilion.
Wahab Riaz – 108 times:
Another bowler from Pakistan to feature on this elite list is the left-arm seam bowler from Lahore, Wahab Riaz. The quick gun has bowled in 248 T20 innings of his career, picking 296 wickets. The fact that he has dismantled the batsmen’s stumps 108 times in this format highlights how lethal his left-arm pace is.
Lasith Malinga – 152 times:
Sitting at the number one position is the greatest T20 bowler in cricket history, Lasith Malinga. The most successful bowler in IPL has 390 wickets to his name in the shortest format of the game. A majority of those dismissals had occurred when Malinga destroyed the opposition batsmen’s stumps with his pace.
