T20 World Cup 2022: Rating teams based on their bowling prowess

T20 cricket is widely considered as a batter’s game and bowlers have very little margin for error. With batters practising 360-degree stroke play and power-hitting to dismantle bowling attacks, bowlers have also added several arrows in their quiver over the years and keep outclassing batters every now and then.

In the T20I circuit, teams who succeed are the ones who have gun bowlers in their side. In what is considered a harsh format (T20I) for the bowlers, teams having top-quality bowling attacks are most of the times ahead in the race and it justifies the saying "Batters win you matches, bowlers win you tournaments."

T20 World Cup 2022 is less than a month away and each team is blessed with skillful bowlers, who can change the course of the game at any stage. Let us look at the bowling attacks of all the eight teams who have already qualified for the Super 12 stage and rate them based on their bowling prowess.

8. Bangladesh - (Mustafizur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed) - 6/10

Mustafizur Rahman will be Bangladesh’s leader of the pace attack at the much anticipated event. The left-arm pacer has an experience of playing in 71 T20I matches and has bagged 92 wickets at an economy of 7.73. The 27-year-old is often entrusted to bowl the tough overs in the powerplay and at the death. He has a deceptive slower ball up his sleeve and is quite tough to tackle especially at the fag end of the innings. 

Taskin Ahmed and Mohammad Saifuddin will have the responsibility to support Mustafizur on the pace bowling front. Taskin has been quite impressive with the ball upfront and will share the new ball with the veteran left-arm pacer whereas Saifuddin might be the enforcer in the middle-overs for Bangladesh.

Coming to the spin department, the Bangla Tigers will bank on skipper Shakib Al Hasan to deliver the goods with the ball. Shakib can bowl during any phase of the game, be it the powerplay, middle-overs, or at the death. With 122 wickets, he is the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in T20Is and his form will be crucial from Bangladesh’s perspective in the upcoming tournament.