Shorter format cricket is more entertaining nowadays.
Instead of spending 5 days (Test Match) to know the result of the match, people prefer limited over matches (Twenty 20) in which you can get the result of the match in just 3 hours.
In T20 cricket Chris Gayle is so far the most successful batsman paving the path on how to approach this shorter format game and in bowling Lasith Malinga is considered the most successful bowler in T20 format and holds many unbreakable records in T20 format.
But any ideas about the most successful bowling combinations, Yes this post is about the most successful bowling pair in T20 cricket.
- Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi
- Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan
- Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi
- Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi
- Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan
1)Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi (149 Wickets)
Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi are the most successful bowling pair in T20 International cricket so far.
They both have picked up 149 wickets by playing 57 T20 Matches together with a ratio of 2.61 wickets per match.
| Name | Mat | overs | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ |
| Rashid Khan | 58 | 218.2 | 1310 | 105 | 5/3 | 12.92 | 6.22 |
| Mohammad Nabi | 88 | 287.4 | 1726 | 74 | 4/10 | 28.03 | 7.21 |
Rashid Khan who made his first T20 debut at the age of 17 years against Zimbabwe joined hands with Mohammad Nabi in the first match itself.
Mohammad Nabi on the other hand has been playing since 2010.
From 2015 onwards Rashid and Mohammad’s bowling pair have been the backbone of Afghanistan’s spin bowling section and have won the following series.
| Teams | Year | Winner | Results |
| Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe | 2015/16 | Afghanistan | 2-0 (2) |
| Afghanistan vs Hong Kong | 2015/16 | Hong Kong | 1-0 (1) |
| Afghanistan vs Oman | 2015/16 | Afghanistan | 2-0 (2) |
| Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe | 2015/16 | Afghanistan | 2-0 (2) |
| Afghanistan vs United Arab Emirates | 2016/17 | Afghanistan | 3-0 (3) |
| Desert T20 Challenge | 2016/17 | Afghanistan | |
| Afghanistan vs Ireland | 2016/17 | Afghanistan | 3-0 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs West Indies | 2017 | West Indies | 3-0 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe | 2017/18 | Afghanistan | 2-0 (2) |
| Afghanistan vs Bangladesh | 2018 | Afghanistan | 3-0 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Ireland | 2018 | Afghanistan | 2-0 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Ireland | 2018/19 | Afghanistan | 3-0 (3) |
| Bangladesh T-20 Tri-Series (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe) | 2019 | shared | |
| Afghanistan vs West Indies (in India) | 2019/20 | Afghanistan | 2-1 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Ireland (in India) | 2019/20 | Afghanistan | 2-1 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe | 2020/21 | Afghanistan | 3-0 (3) |
| Afghanistan vs Bangladesh | 2021/22 | drawn | 1-1 (2) |
Rashid Khan is currently leading the Afghanistan team and has taken 105 wickets in T20 Internationals by bowling 218 overs.
Mohammad Nabi has taken 74 wickets by bowling 287 overs
2) Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan (139 Wickets)
The second on the list is England’s most consistent wicket-taking bowlers Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan.
The fast and slow bowling combinations of Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan have worked very well for England and earned them the second-best bowling pair in T20 formats.
They both have produced 139 wickets in 64 matches with a ratio of 2.17 wickets per match.
Moreover, Adil Rashid is the leading wicket-taker for England in T20 Internationals with 81 wickets in 73 matches.
Chris Jordan is the second leading wicket-taker with 80 wickets.
Chris Jordan’s economy is marginally higher compared to Adil Rashid because of bowling at the death overs.
Jordan became a regular member of England’s T20 squad and became a limited over specialist as he can execute both quick yorkers and slower balls depending upon the match situation.
| Name | Mat | overs | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ |
| Adil Rashid | 73 | 253.2 | 1840 | 81 | 4/2 | 22.71 | 7.26 |
| CJ Jordan | 75 | 259.5 | 2250 | 80 | 4/6 | 28.12 | 8.65 |
Adil Rashid is undoubtedly one of the excellent leg spinners playing in limited-overs far and wide in the world.
Adil Rashid is Morgan’s most trustworthy bowler. Rashid is expertise in bowling at powerplay overs, middle overs and death overs.
Despite his strong performance in the shorter format, Adil Rashid has been eluded in IPL auctions is a bitter truth.
3) Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi (136 Wickets)
The next on our list is former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and Yorker specialist Umar Gul.
These two players’ contributions to Pakistan’s bowling unit are considerably more.
Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi as a bowling pair have played 54 T20 matches together and picked 136 wickets in a ratio of 2.52 wickets /match.
Moreover, Gul was the leading wicket-taker in 2007 in ICC World Twenty20, picking up 13 wickets with an economy rate of 5.60/over which is quite amazing by T20 Standards.
Umar Gul continued the same form for almost two years and retained the leading wicket-taker title in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 as well by picking 13 wickets with an economy rate of 6.44/over.
| Name | Mat | overs | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ |
| Umar Gul | 60 | 205.3 | 1443 | 85 | 5/6 | 16.98 | 7.02 |
| Shahid Afridi | 99 | 361.2 | 2168 | 98 | 4/11 | 24.45 | 6.63 |
Umar Gul being an excellent outswinger with the new match was the pillar of Pakistan’s bowling unit in the 2009 World T20 Cup.
Shahid Afridi on the other side troubled batsmen with his leg-spin in limited over formats.
The Speciality of Afridi is that he has three lethal weapons for shorter over formats which means that he can bowl googlies, traditional spin and faster deliveries sometimes.
with these three combinations, Afridi rattled every top batsman all around the world.
Afridi was the player of the tournament in ICC World Twenty20 with 12 wickets and 91 runs to his name.
4) Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi (133 Wickets)
The number four on our list is once again Pakistan’s Spin Wizards Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal.
Whenever Pakistan’s fast bowlers failed to take wickets, their doosra specialist Saeed Ajmal finishes the task for them.
Saeed Ajmal along with Afridi has picked a total of 133 wickets in 57 matches with a ratio of 2.33 wickets/match.
Saeed Ajmal was the second leading wicket-taker in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.
| Name | Mat | overs | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ |
| Saeed Ajmal | 64 | 238.2 | 1516 | 85 | 4/19 | 17.84 | 6.36 |
| Shahid Afridi | 99 | 361.2 | 2168 | 98 | 4/11 | 24.45 | 6.63 |
5) Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan (129 Wickets)
The fifth spot for the best bowling pair goes to one of the greatest all-rounders of shorter format Shakib Al Hasan and left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
These two left hand bowling pair have picked 129 wickets in just 45 matches in a ratio of 2.87 wickets/match which is high among the top 5.
Out of their 129 wickets, Mustafizur Rahman has picked 71 wickets and Shakib Al Hasan bags the remaining 58.
Shakib is not only the best in shorter formats he is the only cricketer in history to rank number in all three formats (Test, ODI, T20) multiple times.
He is the leading wicket-taker in T20 Internationals with 119 wickets with an average of 19.88 runs/match.
| Name | Mat | overs | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave | Econ |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 63 | 225.4 | 1710 | 87 | 5/22 | 19.66 | 7.58 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 96 | 354.3 | 2366 | 119 | 5/20 | 19.88 | 6.67 |
Mustafizur Rahman as well is progressing rapidly at a very young age with his off-cutter and many variations.
Mustafizur currently ranks sixth as the leading wicket-taker in T20 Internationals with 87 wickets in just 63 games.
