ICC ranks Strike Bowlers of all 16 T20 WC 2022 Teams: Rashid Khan and Mujeeb of Afghanistan at the Top

The current bowling T20I ranking offered by the International Cricket Council (ICC) is led by Kangaroo pacer Josh Hazlewood. However, an individual wicket-taker will not define the strength of the overall bowling arsenal of any Team at the 2022 T20 WC.

Since wickets are very important in T20Is and bowlers often hunt in tandem, the ICC has ranked the strike bowling (wicket-taking) combination of all 16 sides taking part in a pair of 2 bowlers each.

Hereon, we’ll look at different teams’ strike bowling rankings as shared by the ICC on October 12.

Team-wise Strike-bowlers in 2022 T20 WC (Rank 01 to 05)

1. Afghanistan (Mujeeb Ur-Rahman and Rashid Khan)

ICC T20I Bowling Ranking

Mujeeb Ur-Rahman: 8.

Rashid Khan: 2.

Rashid has the 2nd-most T20I wickets (118) in history while also boating of a really good bowling strike-rate (13.6). Together with Mujeeb (SR 16.2) who controls the powerplay overs of the game, Rashid makes Team AFG the most potent strike-bowling side at the 2022 T20 WC.

Both spinners are hard to get away and will be even more dangerous in Australia’s big cricket grounds.

2. India (Bhuvi and Chahal)

ICC T20I Bowling Ranking

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar: 12.

Yuzi Chahal: 34.

Together, Bhuvaneshwar and Chahal make India the 2nd most fearful bowling side in the upcoming T20 WC. While Chahal is an attacking bowler, Bhuvi can alternate between containing runs at death and looking for wickets in the PowerPlay.

Bhuvi and Yuzi together have 170 T20I scalps and impressive strike-rates of 19.2 and 18.2 respectively.

3. South Africa (Lungi Ngidi and Shamsi)

ICC T20I Bowling Ranking

Tabraiz Shami: 5.

Lungi Ngidi: 37.

Since the article ranks the ‘strike-bowlers’ (wicket takers) of the team, Lungi Ngidi speeds past Kagiso Rabada for South Africa.

Ngidi has a bowling SR of 12.4 (best of all having 50 or more wickets) and will be a huge threat to the opposition team in the T20 WC 2022.

Tabraiz Shamsi, who was the top-ranked ICC T20I bowler not long ago, has a strike-rate of 17.90 and completes the strike bowling pair of RSA.

4. Australia (Hazlewood and Zampa)

ICC T20I Bowling Ranking

Josh Hazlewood: 1.

Zampa: 4.

Ever since his stint with CSK a couple of years ago, Josh Hazlewood has become a brilliant T20I fast-bowler. Josh has a career strike-rate of 15.10.

Thanks to him and out-and-out wicket taker Zampa (who strikes every 17th ball), the defending champs are the 4th ranked team when it comes to strike-bowler combination at the 2022 T20 WC.

5. New Zealand (Boult and Lockie Ferguson)

ICC T20I Bowling Ranking

Lockie Ferguson: 23

Trent Boult: 26

Boult and Ferguson have T20I strike-rates of 16.5 and 14.1 respectively. Though their bowling styles are very different, they together make Team NZ one of the best strike-bowling attacks for 2022 T20 WC.