ICC T20 World Cup: Bowlers to watch out for : Daniel Vettori

Sunday, July 13, 2025

ICC T20 World Cup: Bowlers to watch out for

Saeed Ajmal

It is not easy to dominate against the Aussies on a consistent basis. But Saeed Ajmal is one of modern day’s spinners who has troubled all the teams of late.

In the recently concluded ODI series, Ajmal made the Aussies look like a bunch of ordinary cricketers and Pakistan who are one of the favourites will huge rely upon him. Ajmal is just five points behind Swann’s top spot in the T20 bowler’s rankings.

Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann is currently ranked as the No. 1 bowler in T20’s. The off-spinner who often strikes in his first over has so far taken 41 wickets from 32 T20 international matches. He makes a significant contribution with the bat as well which is something that makes him an inseparable part of the English squad.

The defending champions would once again have huge expectations from the 33-year-old.

Sunil Narine

The mystery hasn’t been solved yet. Many said that once he is exposed in the IPL, the batsmen would find it easy to handle his variation. But that was not the case and Sunil Narine can be easily expected to be among the top five wicket takers in the T20 World Cup.

Even though he has played just 5 T20 matches so far, Narine has the potential to become one of the most feared bowlers over the years.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Apart from winning two Indian Premier League titles for the Chennai Super Kings, Ravichandran Ashwin has got crucial breakthroughs for MS Dhoni on several occasions. With his deceptive carrom ball, Ashwin continues to be one of the better spinners at the moment.

Even though he doesn’t have a good record in the international T20’s (7 wickets from ten matches), the batsmen will find it difficult to score runs against him on the Sri Lankan pitches.

Brad Hogg

Don’t judge him by his age. Even at 41, Brad Hogg has a variety of deliveries to deceive the best batsmen in the world. The Australian selectors surprisingly included the veteran who continues to play T20 matches and can be a very handy bowler for the Kangaroos on turning tracks in Sri Lanka.

Lasith Malinga

He might have been struggling against the Indians in all formats of the game, but slinger Malinga is someone who can change the course of a game in just one over.

The best part of his bowling is that the batsman anticipating a toe-cracking Yorker, still ends up being clean bowled off the same delivery. Malinga is also a favorite of the crowd as he guarantees entertainment.

Dale Steyn

The deadly duo of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn is probably the best pair at the moment. Morne was very successful in the Indian Premier league while Steyn needs to specific turf to prove his mettle. Steyn has taken 30 wickets from 22 T20 international matches and in spite of being 29-year-old, he can make all the youngsters run for their money.

Daniel Vettori

The 33-year-old veteran Kiwi spinner had announced retirement from the limited overs game to prolong his Test career but found the T20 World Cup too tempting and was later included in New Zealand squad.

With an economy rate of 5.36 from 28 matches, the former New Zealand skipper still has a lot left to deliver.

By Suyash Srivastava