Jasprit Bumrah the Indian sab that first flying his neighbourhood mate, a duo of retired Pakistani players, and a pair of New Zealand spinners to claim the title of the greatest T20I bowler ever against Australia, this at the five-match series just finished up. The Indians bowler’s figures for the series came to three wickets in three matches and one of those included a brilliant stint at Carrara Oval which was the winning one for the team.
Apart from witnessing Jasprit Bumrah’s togetherness, we have compiled a list of some of the best bowlers in T20I cricket who thrived against Aussie batsmen.
Most Wickets vs Australia in T20I format
5. Adil Rashid (England) – 15 wickets
England’s Adil Rashid was the only one among the Englishmen who could take the Australian batsmen down with ease as he was the leading wicket-taker for his side with 15 victims in 13 innings covering 14 T20Is. The spinner boasts a bowling average of 26.33 and a 7.90 economy against the Australians. One of Rashid’s Pas-de-trois-avec-the-Aussies was the third match at the Rose Bowl in Southampton back in September 2020 where his bowling not only helped his team in winning the series but also he got rid of three top-order batsmen–Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, and Steve Smith– to finish with the enviable figures of 3-21 in four overs.
4. Umar Gul (Pakistan) – 16 wickets
Umar Gul, the former ace pacer from Pakistan seemed to have a special yearning for T20s against Australia, as he reserved by far his best figures for this format against the same oppositions – 16 wickets in 10 matches at a superb average of just 14.06, significantly lower than his career T20I average of just under 17. The speedsters claimed a phenomenal economy rate of 6.19 in T20Is against Australia, which already was a major cut down from his career T20I economy of 7.19. Eight runs was all Gul gave away in May 2009, while taking four of those wickets in one game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
3. Mohammad Amir (Pakistan), Axar Patel (India), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand), Ish Sodhi (New Zealand) – 17 wickets
The former Pakistani paceman, Mohammad Amir, the Indian active all-rounder, Axar Patel, and the New Zealand mystery bowlers, Santner and Ish Sodhi have all taken 17 wickets each against Australia in T20s and thus are featured evenly ranked third on the list. While Amir has taken the list-maintained number of matches, 10, to get his 17 Australian wickets, it is India’s Axar Patel who has the best bowling average, that of merely 15.47 in 11 T20I innings.
Among the four players mentioned above, the two New Zealand bowlers, namely Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, have been able to achieve a T20I four-wicket haul against the Australians at some point in their careers.
2. Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan) – 19 wickets
Over 11 matches, Saeed Ajmal has practically played one-sixth of his entire T20I career against Australia. Of the top eight teams he faced during his era with the Pakistani side, Ajmal has the best average against Australia, which is only 14.26. He also has an impressive low economy of only 6.40.
He has trapped 19 of them in 11 innings, with the pinnacle of his performances being the 3-17 he gathered in Colombo in the 2012 T20 World Cup.
1. Jasprit Bumrah (India) – 20 wickets
None of the other bowlers in contemporary cricket have been more of a nightmare for the Australians in all three formats than the Indian star pacer, Jasprit Bumrah. Besides, he has taken 64 wickets in only 23 Test innings, 30 in 21 ODI innings, and the eminent Indian fast bowler has bagged 20 wickets in 17 T20I innings, eventually leading to a whopping 114 wickets against Australia from just 61 innings in three formats at an astonishing bowling average of 22.85.
Jasprit Bumrah, in T20Is, has an average of 24.15 in Australian matches and an economy rate of 7.72. In February 2019, in Vizag, Bumrah bowled a magnificent four-over spell of 3-16 which was one of his best 20-over displays against the Australian side.
