5 bowlers with most maidens in T20s

Since its inception on Feb 17, 2005, Twenty20 cricket has revolutionized the game of cricket and has sustained continuous popularity amongst cricket fans. Young fans are persuaded to watch Twenty20 cricket rather than Test cricket, as the shorter format offers a plenty of thrill and excitement in 3 hours. For the fans to get entertained and to get the value for the money, they expect a plenty of runs to be scored, with almost a boundary or six in every ball. This hunger for runs inexorably makes the bowler the prey. The great Dale Steyn was belted all around the park by his compatriot AB de Villiers in the 2014 IPL season, such is the plight of bowlers in Twenty20 cricket!

The rules of the Twenty20 cricket mostly favors the batsmen. Yet there are bowlers who stamped their authority in Twenty20 and managed to be very successful. Every dot ball in Twenty20 cricket is considered as gold, imagine six dot balls in an over? Precious! Isn’t it?

Now, here is the list of bowlers with the most number of maiden overs in Twenty20 Cricket.

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#5 Shakib Al Hasan – 14 Maidens

The gritty all-rounder from Bangladesh is a fiddly bowler to face. Shakib has got that ability in him to provide regular breakthroughs. You seldom find batsmen hitting him out of the park as most of the time, they end up getting out. Hence batsmen hardly ever take a chance in his bowling.

His natural ability to hit the rough by bowling over the wicket has troubled the batsmen to a great extent. Though he is considered as the batting mainstay for Bangladesh, he had consistently performed well in the bowling department as well. He has bowled 14 maiden overs so far in Twenty20s, which is the fifth most for any bowler in the shorter format.

#4 Alfonso Thomas – 15 Maidens

Though Alfonso Thomas did not play much international cricket, yet he is regarded as one of the finest death bowlers of all times in Twenty20. He is famous for his unplayable Yorkers which had bothered all the top batsmen around the world. He enjoyed a successful stint with the Pune Warriors in IPL 2011 and 2012.

With his composed disposition, he had steered his team to victory on many occasions by bowling some deadly spells, particularly in the death overs. He is highly regarded for his death bowling skills. He claimed 3/25 against Pakistan in the only Twenty20 match he played in 2007, yet he found it difficult to find a place in the strong South African squad. He has bowled 15 maidens in Twenty20 cricket and he is presently serving as the bowling coach for the West Indies.

#3 Praveen Kumar – 19 Maidens

The vehement bowler from Uttar Pradesh is the only Indian on the list. Praveen Kumar always made the batsmen dance to his tunes with his deceptive pace and lethal swing. Perhaps it is this flair of his, which earned him a national contract on Nov 18, 2007, against Pakistan. Kumar swings the ball with a dodgy pace and makes it tough for the batsmen to judge him. The Australian batsmen literally had no clue against him in the CB series in Australia in 2008 as most of the time his ball swooped up with a spike.

Kumar has a decent IPL record, he had taken a hat-trick against the Rajasthan Royals in the 2010 season. He was bought for the whopping US $ 800,000 by the Kings XI Punjab in the 2011 auction when he was at his peak. However, his off-field issues and belligerent attitude forced him out of the Indian team. Kumar still plays for Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit. He is the third on the list with 19 maiden overs.

#2 Samuel Badree – 20 Maidens

The twirler from Trinidad who skids the ball with dazzling accuracy stands second in the list with 20 maidens. Badree along with Sunil Narine forms a formidable spin attack for the West Indies which can upset any team in the world. He is quicker through the air and his quick ones are yet to be deciphered by the batsmen. He had topped the ICC T20 rankings on many occasions.

Most of the time, Badree opens the bowling for his team as he enjoys bowling in the power plays. He played a vital role in the World Championship held in India in 2016, helping West Indies to clinch the trophy. However, he went unsold at the 2018 IPL auctions.

#1 Sunil Narine – 21 Maidens

Arguably the best Twenty20 bowler of all time, Sunil Narine tops the chart with 21 maidens. Narine first got noticed when he picked all the ten wickets in a trial match and he never looked back ever since. He was the vital cog in the West Indies team which won the world T20 Title in 2012. His mystery spin which is yet to be decoded, is a fine compendium of knuckleballs, Carrom balls, doosras and the quicker ones.

He played a pivotal role for the Kolkata Knight Riders and helped them to win two IPL title trophies in 2012 and 2014. He was bought for the imposing US $700,000 in 2012 IPL and appropriately won the Player of the Tournament. With his assortment of mystery spin, facing Narine is a nightmare for any batsman.