Top 5 bowlers with the best economy in T20 Internationals

T20 is often called a batsmen's game as it is all about scoring runs. Bowlers are often at the receiving end of this harsh format. But this has encouraged bowlers to discover new variations, the yorker being the first one, is now consistently used in the shorter format to squeeze the runs.

Bowlers who have the ability to bowl a good yorker length are in demand in the franchise T20 tournaments all over the world. Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, and Dwayne Bravo are only a few names who are aces in this department.

To bring variations in the pace, bowlers have developed techniques like the knuckleball or the slower ones to deceive the batsmen. A slower bouncer is another example to quote which bowlers have started using quite often than not.

These days pitches are being prepared flat so that more runs are scored and it attracts more crowd. Grounds are getting smaller and it has become quite easy to clear the ropes. Bats have become thicker which enables batsmen to clear the ground at will.

Despite all the odds favouring the batsmen, there are some bowlers who have been brilliant in the shortest format. For instance, English spinner Graeme Swann used his height to get the bounce from the wicket as this extra bounce used to trouble the batsmen a lot.

He bowled off-spin in 39 T20 Internationals, bowling 135 overs at an economy of 6.36. Saeed Ajmal also has the same economy in his T20 International career. In 64 games he bowled 238.2 overs. Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh also had a very decent economy of just 6.20 in T20 Internationals. However, these three bowlers narrowly missed the top 5 list we will be looking here.

Let us look at the top 5 most economical bowlers in T20 Internationals.

#5 Samuel Badree

West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree is fifth on this list. Recently, there has been a trend in the T20 format with spinners bowling some overs in the powerplay and not allowing the batsman to get off to a good start.

Badree is one such bowler who has consistently performed in the powerplay overs by being extremely economical. In 52 matches he has bowled 192 overs at an economy of just 6.17. He has also bowled 4 maidens in T20 Internationals.

#4 Imad Wasim

Imad Wasim is known for striking the ball a long way and has an impressive strike rate in the shortest format. Something to wonder at is that he is also very economical when it comes to his bowling. In 25 matches he has bowled 90 overs of his left arm off-spin at an economy of just 6.07.

#3 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine, at one point, was called a magician as batsmen didn't have any clue about his variations. During his career, he was suspected of illegal bowling action because of which he had to change it. Now he is not as effective as he used to be maybe owing to the action-change or that batsmen are now able to read his variations.

In 48 T20 internationals games, he has bowled 171.4 overs at an economy of 6.02 and is number 3 on this list.

It would be interesting to see which two bowlers take the top two spots.!!

#2 Rashid Khan

One of the best spinners of the current generation, Rashid Khan is known for being economical with the ball. Quite often he has been asked to bowl the death overs, which has sometimes extrapolated to him bowling the last over and defining the score for the team.

He generally bowls at a higher speed which doesn't give the batsmen the time to read his delivery. He is one of the best bowlers of the shortest format from the current era. In 35 T20 internationals, he has bowled 132 overs at an economy of 6.01. He is not even 21 and is the strike bowler for all the franchise he plays for.

What is even more astonishing is that he doesn't top this list.

#1 Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori tops this list and is the most economical bowler in the T20 Internationals. He was not known for spinning the ball much but he used to vary his pace and bowled a tight line which didn't allow the batsmen to score easily.

He retired in 2014 but before then he played 34 matches of T20 Internationals bowling 131.1 overs at an economy of 5.70. He is the only bowler to have an economy of less than 6.