Alzarri Joseph,Jasprit Bumrah and Fazalhaq Farooqi. (Source – Getty Images)
The T20 World Cup 2024 has been one of the best tournaments for the bowlers. In a format that is built for the batters and the big hitters, the pitches in the ongoing edition of the tournament have aided the fast bowlers. New York in particular has been a graveyard for the batters as scoring has been tough.
Even centers like Antigua and Trinidad, have been able to provide a lot of swing and seam to the pacers under lights. Some bowling performances have aided the teams to nullify the threat of the batters that was widely anticipated this campaign.
With the tournament now set to enter the Super 8 stages, bowlers will be expected to hold the sway. Fast bowlers in particular will look to make use of the quick tracks that have been rolled out in the West Indies and USA and trouble the batters.
We take a look at some of the current fast bowlers in the T20 World Cup:
10. Josh Hazlewood – Australia
The Australian pacer is making his long awaited return to cricket after over four months. In the three matches so far Josh Hazlewood has picked 3 wickets with his best of 2/18 coming against Namibia from four overs to help Australia win the game and reach the Super Eights.
9. Ruben Trumpelmann – Namibia
The left-arm pacer began the T20 World Cup with a stunning 4 wicket haul in the first game against Oman. The youngster stunned the world with his pace and swing and has been a steady bowler for his side.
8. Haris Rauf – Pakistan
One of the fastest bowlers in the world, Haris Rauf has bowled beautifully during the T20 world Cup. The 31-year-old has picked 6 wickets from 3 matches with his best bowling coming in the game against India where he picked 3/21 from his 3 overs.
7. Saurabh Netrawalkar – USA
Once a part of the Indian Under-19 set up, Saurabh Netrwalkar has been a mainstay in the USA time for a long time. The former skipper of USA has bowled well during the T20 World Cup and picked 4 wickets from 3 matches. The 33-year-old has picked 2/18 in each of the games against Pakistan and India and accounted wickets like Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
Also Check: Ranking top 10 No. 4 T20I batters of all-time
6. Nuwan Thushara – Sri Lanka
2024 has been a great year for Nuwan Thushara in the T20I format. The right-arm pacer has picked 5 wickets so far in the T20 World Cup 2024. His best of 4/18 came against Bangladesh, which nearly won the match for his side.
5. Alzarri Joseph – West Indies
West Indies have played attractive cricket so far to reach the further stage of the home tournament. Young pacer Alzarri Joseph has been the best bowler for the hosts so far with 8 wickets. His 4/19 from 4 overs against New Zealand was enough to secure a 13-run win and put the two-time World Cup winners into the next round.
Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024: Ranking jerseys of top 10 teams
4. Anrich Nortje – South Africa
In the early stages of the T20 World Cup 2024, South Africa has been the team to watch out for. Their bowling has been at their ultimate best with Anrich Nortje leading the charge. The South African pacer began with a blistering 4/7 against Sri Lanka to bowl them out for 77. This was followed by 2/19 against the Netherlands and 2/17 against Bangladesh to become the first team to qualify for the Super 8s.
3. Naseem Shah – Pakistan
With Pakistan already having made an early exit from the T20 World Cup, one of the few positives has been the form of Naseem Shah. The young pacer has picked 5 wickets and has troubled some of the best names in the world. His 3/21 against India was one of the best spells of the tournament from the Men in Green.
2. Fazalhaq Farooqi – Afghanistan
Young Afghanistan left-arm pacer, Fazalhaq Farooqi has lit up the T20 World Cup with his blistering bowling. The 23-year-old has picked 9 wickets so far and given just 26 runs from the 2 matches. Farooqi began with 5/9 against Uganda before dismantling the Kiwi top order with figures of 4/17 from his four overs.
1. Jasprit Bumrah – India
There is no doubt who takes the top honours as the best fast bowler in the early stages of the T20 World Cup 2024. Jasprit Bumrah has picked 5 wickets from 3 matches, but it was his spell against Pakistan that will be considered as the best for ages. Defending 120 to win, Bumrah got the wickets of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Iftikhar Ahmed to swing the game towards in his team’s favour. In the first game against Ireland, Bumrah had picked 2/6, however, went wicketless in the recent game against the USA.
