Pacers form the cornerstone of a bowling inning in the T20 format of the game, as they are the main architects of keeping the scoring rate of the opposition intact.
They are the ones who will be enlisted by their respective captains to bowl at various facets of bowling in the inning, be in the powerplays or the middle phase, and most crucially, at the death. Each has its own challenge, and a great pacer should be able to adjust to different game situations.
Let us take a closer look at the fast bowlers who have excelled in all these scenarios and emerged successful. An important metric to measure here is the wickets taken, so here are the top 10 wicket-takers among pacers in T20Is.
Most Wickets by Pacers in T20I
| Player | Innings | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 123 | 164 |
| Mustafizur Rahman (BAN) | 106 | 134 |
| Mark Adair (IRE) | 88 | 127 |
| Haris Rauf (PAK) | 83 | 119 |
| Bilal Khan (OMA) | 78 | 110 |
| Chris Jordan (ENG) | 94 | 108 |
| Lasith Malinga (SL) | 83 | 107 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK) | 79 | 102 |
| Arshdeep Singh (IND) | 63 | 99 |
| Karan KC (NEP) | 78 | 99 |
Key Stats
1300: Close to 1300 pacers have scalped at least a wicket in their T20I career, and 519 of them have 10 or more wickets in their kitty. This tally shrinks to 61 if we take into the pacers with 50 or more T20I wickets, but it will definitely increase in the foreseeable future.
145: New Zealand’s Test skipper, Tim Southee, is the leading wicket-taker in T20I history. He has scalped over 145 wickets in 117 games at an astounding average of 23.42, with 2 five-wicket hauls to his credit.
1: The only pacer in both the top 10 list of ODI and T20I wicket-takers is former Sri Lankan T20 World Cup-winning skipper Lasith Malinga. He had a stunning average of 20.79 and an even more remarkable economy rate of 7.42, which makes him special.
2: Players from associate teams who have been featured here in this list are Bilal Khan of Oman and Karan KC of Nepal. Mark Adair represents another emerging team, Ireland, and has more than 100 T20I wickets.
Also Read | 3 Times Karan KC Proved To Be ‘The Miracle Man’ for Nepal
