Analysing the best bowlers in the world across all formats

Is Dale Steyn currently the best bowler in the world?

Bowlers are a species of cricketers who never cease to fascinate the viewers of the game. Be it an express delivery hurtling towards a batsman's ribs at 140 kmph, or a ball that turns a mile to nick the top of off-stump, a great ball that outwits a batsman is something we would always love to see. The arrival of the T-20 format has heavily impacted the bowler’s game, and not necessarily in the negative sense. We see bowlers employing several new variations to try and outsmart batsmen; slow bouncers, wide yorkers and carom balls, to name a few.

Most bowlers do not regularly play all three formats of the sport, as it would require an immense amount of stamina to do so consistently. However, there are quite a few bowlers, who ply their trade across all formats and are successful in it which brings us to the next question: Who can be classified as the best among the lot? Is there even a way to decide? Fortunately, the answer is yes.

So, we have a couple of lists compiled excluding the players who don‘t play all three formats currently and players who have retired from any format of the game.

ICC Bowlers Rankings (Using the Cricket Australia Formula):

Employing the Cricket Australia method of adding up the ICC Bowler Rankings across all three formats, and listing the players with the lowest totals surely seems like a good suggestion, as it appeals to common logic. Here are the results:

PLAYER	TEST RANKING	ODI RANKING	T20I RANKING	TOTAL
1. Dale Steyn (Saf)	1	3	20	24
2. Saeed Ajmal (Pak)	10	7	12	29
3. R. Ashwin (Ind)	13	12	4	29
4. Shakib Hasan (Ban)	17	6	8	31
5. Mitchell Starc (Aus)	32	1	8	41
6. Imran Tahir (Saf)	59	2	5	66
7. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind)	26	19	24	69
8. Tim Southee (NZ)	12	20	40	72
9. Mohd. Hafeez (Pak)	34	25	16	75
10. Morne Morkel (Saf)	9	10	62	81

No contemporary top 10 bowling list is complete without the South African spearhead Dale Steyn topping it, and this isn’t surprising given his complete control of the new and old ball in all forms.

Incredibly, spinners occupy four of the next five positions, demonstrating just what a weapon the turning ball has become, particularly in the game’s shortest format, Twenty20.

Coming second on the list is Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal, a constant menace to batsmen across the world over be it in Tests, ODIs or Twenty20 internationals. Ajmal is perceived as a huge threat that Australia recently sought the aid of the legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in a bid to help their batsmen combat his mystery spin during their tour against Pakistan.

He is ranked on par with Ravichandran Ashwin, the leader of India’s spin attack. Ashwin has shown great versatility in the shorter formats of the game in recent times, due to his adaptability in batsmen friendly conditions. Shakib Al-Hasan has always been a mighty asset for the Bangladesh squad, not only with his bat, but also with the ball in hand. He comes in at No.4, thanks to his strong ODI performances in recent times.

Mitchell Starc takes the 5th spot, and is looking set to climb the list steadily, with phenomenal bowling in both ODIs and T20Is. He is all set to rock the Test scene as well and the sheer number of wickets he manages to take in every match will surely catapult him far up the rankings. Imran Tahir is another bowler who makes the cut primarily due to his performances in the shorter versions.

Ravindra Jadeja might be a surprise addition to the list for some, but he has performed well enough across all formats to earn him the No.7 spot in the overall rankings. At No.8 is the Kiwi pacer Tim Southee, who, for a change, has done better in Tests than in the shorter versions of the game. He has been a consistent performer for the Blackcaps and hence justifies his spot.

Amazingly, Pakistani batsman and part-time off-breaker Mohammad Hafeez sneaks into ninth position, again largely due to his exploits with the white ball. He is followed by yet another South African quick, Morne Morkel. The lanky lad closes the list with his solid outings in Tests and ODIs.

As some may argue that Rankings aren't the sole criterion to judge a bowler's performances, let's take up a different perspective.

Top bowlers in terms of wickets (since 2013):

Compiling this list would obviously leave some of the newer bowlers at a distinct disadvantage, as they might’ve been just at the dawn of their careers. Despite this, here’s a look at the new list:

PLAYER	TEST WICKETS	ODI WICKETS	T20I WICKETS	TOTAL
1. Dale Steyn (Saf)	97	66	16	179
2. Stuart Broad (Eng)	115	29	9	153
3. Saeed Ajmal (Pak)	56	75	14	145
4. R. Ashwin (Ind)	56	77	11	144
5. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind)	42	86	7	135
6. Tim Southee (NZ)	79	44	9	132
7. M. Morkel (Saf)	53	70	6	129
8. Mitchell Starc (Aus)	26	61	11	98
9. Shakib Hasan (Ban)	40	35	17	92
10. Imran Tahir (Saf)	10	56	25	91

While Dale Steyn stays, quite deservingly, at the top spot, the most striking feature of the list is the presence of Stuart Broad at No.2. Despite Broad’s limited appearances in the shorter formats of the game recently, his outstanding performances in Test cricket gives him a huge lead over other bowlers in the wickets column. The 28-year-old pacer more than makes up for his mediocre showings in ODIs and T20Is with a stunning 115 Test wickets since 2013.

Saeed Ajmal and Ashwin occupy the third and fourth spots respectively, with the former pipping the latter by just one wicket. Another point to note is that Jadeja leapfrogs Southee, Starc, Tahir, and Shakib to take the No.5 spot, owing to his uncanny ability to bowl wicket to wicket and consistently chip away at the wickets.

The three pacers, Southee, Morkel, and Starc take the next three spots on the table, while Shakib and Tahir slip down the list by 5 and 4 spots respectively to No.9 and No.10.

Hafeez misses out this time as his combined wicket tally is a mere 67 across the formats.

*The references made in this article are correct as of 2nd June 2015.