Top four bowlers of the world

The playing conditions in cricket these days have been heavily favoring the batsmen. The bowlers are having a hard time as the pitches have become a batting paradise. Most of the bowlers are struggling to contain batsmen from scoring runs freely these days but some bowlers have adapted themselves to the new batting friendly conditions and improved their skill set and have performed admirably well.

Here are 4 best bowlers in the world right now across all formats of the game -

#4 Rashid Khan ( Afghanistan)

Rashid Khan in action

20 years old Afghanistan sensation has been one of the consistent performers over the last few years. He has been a revelation ever since he made his debut in the Indian Premier League ( IPL) in 2017. He was a stand out performer for his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad in his debut season and also in the preceding seasons.

He has played 52 ODI's till date and picked up 118 wickets at an excellent strike rate of 22.2 with 7/18 being his best bowling performance in an innings. He has played mostly against associate nations but whenever he got an opportunity to play against quality opposition he performed admirably well. The recently concluded Asia cup was an excellent example of his skill set as he troubled many top batsmen in Asia.

The leg-spinner has participated in 35 T20 matches and picked up 64 wickets at a strike rate of 12.3 with 5/3 being his best performance in an innings. He has an excellent economy rate of 6.01 which shows his ability in the batsmen friendly T20 format.

He currently holds the First position in T20 international rankings. In the ODI cricket rankings, he holds the second position.

#3 Josh Hazlewood ( Australia)

Josh Hazlewood

Newly appointed joint vice-captain of the Australian team, Josh Hazlewood has been one of Australia's best bowler in the last few years in both Test and ODI formats. In the absence of injury prone Mitchell Starc, he has spearheaded the Aussies bowling attack and produced fruitful results for Australia with his consistent bowling performances.

He is not the fastest of the bowlers like his counterparts Starc and Cummins, but what makes him one of the best bowlers is his ability to bowl in the good length consistently along with perfect combination of seam and swing. The 27-year-old's ability to bowl tightly has earned him comparisons with retired great Glen Mcgrath who pioneered the particular craft.

Hazlewood has played 40 Test matches and picked up 151 wickets. In ODI's he picked up 69 wickets in 41 matches. He currently holds the tenth position ICC Test match rankings. In ODI's he is placed at the fifth position.

#2 Kagiso Rabada ( South Africa)

Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada is one of the fastest bowlers going around in the world right now. He has the ability to bowl at 140-150 kph along with the sideways moment which makes him one of the most lethal bowlers in the world currently. He has been the perfect successor of Dale Steyn, who dominated the world cricket with his exquisite fast bowling in the last decade. Rabada has become the spearhead of South African pace attack in the last few years with some sensational performances.

He has played 32 Test matches till date and picked up 151 wickets at an impressive strike rate of 39.3 along with 9 five-wicket hauls. In ODI's he played 53 matches and picked 83 wickets.

He is currently ranked second in the ICC Test rankings and holds the ninth position in ICC ODI rankings.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah ( India)

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah has become an integral part of the Indian team in all formats of the game. He has been India's best bowler in ODI's and T20's ever since his debut in 2016. He has an impeccable ability to bowl toe-crushing yorkers and deceptive slow balls in the death overs of the innings. He is undoubtedly the best death bowler in the world currently. He made his Test match debut earlier this year against South Africa and was highly successful.

He has played 41 ODI matches so far and picked up 72 wickets. In his short Test career so far he played 6 matches and picked up 28 wickets along with 2 five-wicket hauls.

He currently holds the first position in ICC ODI rankings.

Honorable mentions - Mitchell Starc has been excluded because he has not played much cricket lately due to recurring injury issues.