In T-20 format pacers play an important role. Their role is to intimidate the opening batsmen and make them commit mistakes of edging the bal,l thus picking wickets at the start. At the end of the innings, they need to bowl yorkers or variations to deceive the batsmen , minimizing the number of 4’s and 6’. So let us take a look at the top 5 T20 pacers in modern day cricket:
1. Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Lasith Malinga is one of the finest pace bowler for Sri Lanka in modern day cricket. He has played 57 T20 matches and taken 68 wickets. The biggest strength of the bowler is that he can bowl Yorker’s at will and wish deceives the batsmen with his slower delivery which is very tough to handle. He made his T-20 debut against England in 2006. His best figures in this format are 5 wickets for 31 runs against England in 2012. He plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. His performance in the IPL have been exceptional, picking 5 wickets two times. He bowls at economy of 7.25.
2. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
Dale Steyn is the quickest bowler that World has today. He has played 38 T-20 internationals picking up 55 wickets. His economy is 6.45 runs per over which shows the talent of bowler. He made T-20 international debut against NewZeleand in 2007. Dale Steyn has picked up 4 wickets twice which are great as a fast bowler. His 4 wickets came against England in 2010 and against West Indies. He plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. His biggest strength is that he bowls with pace and delivers the yorkers.
3. Tim Southee (NewZeleand)
Tim Southee is an excellent new ball bowler for NewZeleand. He can swing the ball and can trouble the best batsmen in the World. He made his T-20 debut against England in 2008. He bowls at economy of 8.54 runs per over. So far he has taken 45 wickets in his carrier. The best figures for him in T-20 internationals were picking 5 wickets giving away 18 runs against Pakistan in 2010. He has played for 4 different franchises in this format. So far he has played 8 matches in the Indian Premier League picking up 4 wickets only.
4. Krishmar Santokie (West Indies)
Krishmar Santokie is a left arm bowler from West Indies. He has played 12 T-20 matches taking 18 wickets. He bowls at an economy of 6.80.He made his T-20 debut against England in 2011. His best figures in T-20 are picking 4 wickets giving 21 runs. His biggest strength is to bowl good slower deliveries and deceive the batsmen. He plays for 3 different franchise in World. In the Indian Premier League he played for Mumbai Indians.
5. Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan)
He is an excellent left bowler with an unorthodox action who plays for Pakistan. He has played 42 T-20 internationals picking up 36 wickets. He made his T-20 debut against India in 2007. His best figures in T-20 internationals are picking 3 wickets giving away 12 runs. He bowls at an economy of 7.10. He has played for 9 different franchises all over the world. His biggest strengths are bowling slower deliveries which the batsmen are not able to pick up.
It is not surprising that no Indian figures in this pacers list. This emphasizes the need for BCCI to encourage ‘ pacers nurseries’ in the country to overcome the biggest weakness in Indian Cricket.