ICC T20: Who will take the most wickets?

With 12 teams making their way into the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Oman and the UAE, there are some big names that are poised to claim scalps in the mega-event.

Here are some of the most threatening bowlers that are likely to end up as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament:

Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah is coming off a decent IPL season where he picked a whopping 21 wickets.

Despite Mumbai Indians failing to make it to the playoffs, Bumrah continued to impress with the ball throughout the tournament.

Being a death-over specialist, Bumrah is likely to take a huge number of wickets in the competition in his opening spell as well as penultimate overs.

Rashid Khan

Afghanistan have two mystery spinners that have made it big in T20 cricket in no time: Rashid Khan and Mujib ur Rehman.

But Rashid stands head and shoulders above spinners when it comes to keeping the economy tight and deceiving the bowlers with variations.

The Afghan leg-spinner has a knack for conceding little to no boundaries usually.

He can lead Afghanistan to great heights in the mega event.

Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pakistan’s pace cartel is being led by a 21-year-old who has been making waves against some of the best sides in the world.

Shaheen Afridi’s late swing in the opening overs makes it difficult for the top-order of the opposition to find gaps in the powerplay.

He has been using his yorkers to perfection in franchise cricket as well.

Tabraiz Shamsi

Shamsi has climbed to new heights in no time.

The South African chinaman is ICC’s top-ranked bowler in T2Os.

The only thing that Shamsi lacks is his consistency with the length and vulnerability against left-handed batsmen.

Fakhar Zaman exposed Shamsi in Pakistan’s last away series against South Africa where he smacked him for sixes for fun.

Nonetheless, on his day, Shamsi can keep the batters in check and chip away vital wickets to get back the control of the game.

Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman has performed well in international cricket in every format ever since he burst into the scene for the Tigers.

However, his record in the shortest format speaks volumes of his skillset.

He has claimed 82 wickets in 55 T20Is so far.

Rahman averages 18.53 as a bowler with an economy of 7.54 in T20Is.

This shows that the 26-year-old seamer is the pace spearhead for Mahmudullah Riyad’s men for a reason.

His ability to deliver slow deliveries and off-cutters makes it difficult for batters, especially the right-handed batsmen, to score boundaries against him with ease.

Rahman’s variations keep the batters guessing since his wrist position is almost the same in every ball he delivers, making it harder for the batters to judge the deliveries.

Mitchell Starc

Starc has always stepped up in the ICC events.

He has been a top performer for Australia in World Cups and he will look to carry his good form into the tournament that starts this week.

On tricky tracks of the UAE, Australia can benefit from Starc’s opening spells that will be well supported by Josh Hazlewood and Kane Richardson.

The left-arm pacer clicks 145km/h with ease, and his serious pace and swing keep the batters in check.

Starc has claimed 51 wickets in 41 T20Is.