ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Five Bowlers Who Can Spell Doom For Batters In Australia

Wahab Riaz’s extraordinary over to Shane Watson at the Adelaide Oval during the 2015 ODI World Cup will forever remain etched in the memory of those who were fortunate to witness raw aggression at its best.

The famous punch line “Pace is Pace Yaar” was born after Wahab’s over and its loose English translation would mean real pace is real deal.

As we move towards the main round of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the business end of the Australian winter, pace will rule the roost although, on slightly slower tracks, fuller lengths will be equally important.

While spinners are expected to play a key role on the Australian tracks despite the soggy weather, those with scary pace will provide an x-factor as there would still be enough bounce.

We look at five bowlers, who have the ability to make a difference for their respective teams.

With no Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian line-up, the ‘Men In Blue’ are missing a trick.

And despite Mohammed Shami’s brilliance in the warm-up game against Australia in Brisbane, the bowling unit doesn’t inspire much confidence.

Hence, in the list, there are no Indian bowlers, although their ability is unquestionable and, on their day, they could certainly get the best batters out. (More Cricket News)

Shaheen Shah Afridi (Pakistan)

Shaheen Afridi is the ‘Crown Prince’ of world cricket’s speed merchants. He is returning from a serious knee injury, but the manner in which he got Afghanistan’s flashy opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz leg-before-wicket showed that he has picked up from where he left before his injury.

There was literally no rustiness, as the yorker landed flush on the batter's left toe, who couldn’t even bring his bat down.

Irfan Pathan would always tell say, if a left-arm seamer is getting the ball back into the right-hander, it’s bad news for the batter.

Shaheen Afridi finished his quota in the last World T20 match against India in his very first spell. There will be pace and at that pace, he will get the ball to swing. India have three right-handers in their top three and all are world-class players. But even then, the Pakistani seamer will start the contest as the favourite to win the battle.

Josh Hazlewood (Australia)

Josh Hazlewood is the unsung hero of this Australian cricket team. While Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are bona fide stars in their own rights, Hazlewood’s discipline gives Aaron Finch’s team the edge that separates them from the pack. He may not be as fast as his contemporaries, but he is deceptively quick enough to create trouble for the batters.

Also, hitting the immaculate Test match length and probing batters on that off-stump channel with a touch extra bounce and just enough lateral movement, Hazlewood is any batter’s nightmare.

With an economy rate of 7.62 in the 37 games in the slam-bang version, he is more than good enough, but more importantly, his stat of 53 wickets with four 4-wicket hauls is phenomenal.

Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand)

Lockie Ferguson is one bowler who is perhaps born to play T20 cricket. He has everything – copious amounts of sustained aggression, extreme pace, and enough variations to be effective on any surface. He has fast, low full-toss, and one needs extreme caution and power to get under that ball to tonk it over.

8 out of 10 times, the batter won’t be able to get away, as Lockie Ferguson’s extra pace does the trick. His yorker is mean and he bowls a pretty lethal bouncer, too. In fact, he has variations in his short balls and if need be, he uses slow cutters to good effect. An economy rate of 6.84 in 21 T20Is is absolutely brilliant.

One of his strengths is adaptability and one saw that during Gujarat Titans’ IPL triumph in which he played a major role on flat decks.

Mark Wood (England)

Just one little piece of information is enough to send shivers down any batter’s spine; less than a month ago, Mark Wood clocked 156 kmph (nearly 97 miles per hour) on a placid deck at the National Stadium in Karachi.

When Mark Wood bowls, there are batters, who are happy to survive without a broken bone.

If there is any pace bowler in world cricket, other than Jasprit Bumrah, who can take the pitch out of the equation, it is Mark Wood. His pace is frightening, and ask Haider Ali, who fended awkwardly in that game trying to avoid a broken nose when a sharp bouncer climbed on him viciously.

If the flip side to Mark Wood’s pace is his high economy rate (above 8.37), the positive side is his strike rate of getting wickets every 14 deliveries. While a ramp shot off his bowling can go for six, the English seamer will always keep the third man in the business.

For a few other bowlers, it might fall short, but in his case, there would always be a chance of a catch at the boundary ropes. For England skipper Jos Buttler, as long as Mark Wood gets him two top-order wickets per game, he won’t mind him conceding 35 to 38 runs in his quota of overs.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

By the time Rashid Khan is done with his career, he will have broken several T20 bowling records, whether it is in franchise cricket, in which he is one of the MVPs, or in international cricket playing for Afghanistan. That he has played for 20-plus teams in the short formats (T20 and T10) shows how desperately teams want him.

The 118 wickets that he has taken from 71 games, at an economy rate of less than 6.5, is mind-boggling. While many teams are trying to play him as an off-spinner by letting his stock delivery to come in, the crafty Afghan, of late, has varied his pace a lot.

He is, at times, consciously trying to be slower through the air and lets the ball hang and then dip.

Rashid played for a new IPL franchise Gujarat Titans this season and despite the batters trying to play his quota of overs out, he managed to get 19 wickets.

At the national level, sometimes, the inexperience of his bowling unit does take a toll on Rashid, but he is still Afghanistan’s ‘One Man Army’ destined for greatness.