Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has picked Ravichandran Ashwin as his best bowler in 2021. Ashwin picked 54 wickets in 9 Tests last year with an average of 16.64 which included three fifers.
Speaking on his Youtube Channel, Brad Hogg reviewed the year 2021 as he picked Joe Root as his no-brainer choice for best batter for the year 2021. Root scored 1708 runs with an average of 61 which included 6 hundreds. But as far as bowling is concerned, Brad Hogg stated that India’s off-spinner was head and shoulders above the rest.
Ravichandran Ashwin picked 54 wickets in 9 Tests in 2021:
“Spin to win, he’s the number 1,” Brad Hogg said.
“Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali, 47 and 41 wickets for them (respectively). They have been carrying Pakistan in the bowling department, so you can’t beat those 2,” he added.
Notable that Ravichandran Ashwin also made a comeback for T20Is after 4 long years and he returned with figures of 9 wickets in 5 games as he played in T20 World Cup and a home series against New Zealand.
Shaheen Shah Afridi picked 47 wickets in 9 Test matches as he picked a fifer against West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. On the other side his fellow pacer Hasan Ali also returned with exceptional figures as he picked 41 wickets in 8 Test matches with an average of 16.07 as the 27-yeat old returned with 5 fifers- 2 each against South Africa and Zimbabwe while one was against Bangladesh last month.
The duo also had exceptional figures in T20Is as well. Shaheen Shah Afridi picked 23 wickets in 21 games with an economy of 7.86 which included his famous 3/31 against arch-rivals India which scripted Pakistan’s first-ever win against India in a World Cup game. While Hasan Ali got 25 wickets in 18 T20Is with an economy of 8.07.
Other noteworthy mentions for the best Test bowler would be Jimmy Anderson as the 39-year old picked 39 wickets last year with an exceptional average of 21 which included two fifers as well.
Axar Patel also created havoc in his debut year as a Test cricketer as he picked 36 wickets in 5 games with an average of 11.86 which included 5 fifers.
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