ICC World Cup 2019: Rating the bowlers of the yorker of all 10 teams

Lasith Malinga. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s a known fact that the game of cricket is more in favour of the batsmen than the bowlers, who don’t get much room for error. The boundaries have shortened, the bats have become massive and owing to those factors, the bowlers need to be on their mark right from the outset in order to put a lid on the run-scoring. They are not expected to find it easy even in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales.

The pitches are speculated to be flat and scores in excess of 500 seem to be a possibility. This is exactly where Yorkers are going to be an important weapon for the fast bowlers, especially at the death when the batters wind up to throw the kitchen sink at everything.

If bowled with precision, the Yorker is hard to get away even for the most powerful hitters of the leather. It’s tough for the batters to get under the ball and get full leverage of the arms. In our article, we rate all the ten teams on the skills of their bowlers, who can hit the Yorker length.

India- 9/10

One of the few reasons behind the Men in Blue’s success in the limited-overs formats has been Jasprit Bumrah, arguably one of the great exponents of the Yorker. He is a captain’s go-to man and he hardly misses out on hitting the blockhole. Most importantly, Bumrah is someone, who can give breakthroughs at any stage of the game. On flat pitches, his role becomes that much more important.

Mohammed Shami has become more consistent over the last few months. Earlier, he used to be erratic amidst some jaw-dropping spells of bowling. One of his specialties is that he can churn out wickets even when the batsmen aren’t attacking him. He gets the ball to move at pace and has troubled batsmen. Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bowl the Yorker, but he hasn’t quite looked at his very best of late.

Afghanistan- 5.5/10

The Afghans boast of a lethal spin-attack, consisting of the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. However, the team led by Gulbadin Naib is a tad short of firepower as far as their pace bowling contingent is concerned. Aftab Alam, Dawlat Zadran, Naib and Hamid Hassan are the fast bowlers. Hamid is making his comeback after a gap of two years and has been off colour.

He has the pace to trouble batsmen, but lack of game time has meant that his ability to bowl the Yorker has diminished to some extent. Dawlat can move the ball around and hit the blockhole as well. But he hasn’t been consistent enough with his line and lengths and has been taken to the cleaners. Aftab and Gulbadin are effective but don’t seem to possess the strength of bowling Yorkers at will.

Australia- 8/10

Back in the 2015 World Cup, Mitchell Starc almost won Australia a game against New Zealand in Auckland with some lethal Yorkers. The lower order batsmen had no clue about the thunderbolts. His wrist position also makes the ball to come back into the right-hander. He has suffered from a number of injuries in the last few months, yet he remains as Australia’s strike-bowler in the World Cup.

Australia’s fate in the tournament would depend a lot on how Starc performs. Pat Cummins is another bowler, who can nail the Yorker to perfection. The southpaw has the gift of generating great pace and has the endurance to find the blockhole on a consistent basis. Nathan Coulter-Nile can bowl the Yorker as well. Jason Behrendorff relies more on getting movement in order to pick up wickets.

England- 7.5/10

The Three Lions’ bowling has been bolstered by the inclusion of Jofra Archer, who can deliver Yorkers pretty consistently. In the limited opportunities he has got in England colours, Archer hasn’t flattered to deceive. His pace has also created headaches for the batsmen. The residency rules in England were also tweaked in order to get Archer to play the World Cup and it shows the Barbados-born’s importance.

It would be a tricky prospect for the opponents to deal with Archer’s pace and venom. Liam Plunkett has experience on his side and can be trusted at the death as he possesses the ability to bowl the Yorkers and stop the run-flow. Against Australia in the first warm-up, Plunkett was entrusted with three overs in the death. Tom Curran and Mark Wood are good but aren’t reliable enough in the dying stages of an inning.

New Zealand- 8.5/10

The Kiwis have the likes of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, both of whom were key factors in the 2015 World Cup. The duo will be key to New Zealand’s chances even this time around. As far as bowling Yorkers are concerned, Boult has ripped a few poles apart in his successful limited-overs career for the Black Caps. Boult can swing and seam the leather, and that’s what makes him a brute force.

Lockie Ferguson is another pacer, who can crank up the pace significantly. He doesn’t have the deadliest of run-up, yet shoots in venomous deliveries, using his strong shoulders. Lockie has been a genuine wicket-taker for New Zealand in ODI cricket. Southee can also bowl the odd Yorker as well, but he mostly depends on hitting the back-of-a-length. Matt Henry can’t be taken lightly either.

Pakistan- 8/10

Regarded as having one of the best bowling units, Pakistan has strained of late in that aspect. However, their bowlers can’t be dismissed out of sight by any stretch of the imagination. Wahab Riaz’s inclusion, which was earlier said to be equivalent to ‘pressing the panic button’ can turn out to be a masterstroke. The left-armer gave a glimpse of the quality of Yorkers, he can bowl against Afghanistan in the warm-up.

He was one of Pakistan’s strike-bowler in the 2011 and 2015 World Cup and it won’t spring a surprise if he does well even this time around. Shaheen Afridi can also dish out Yorkers, though he needs to be a bit more consistent with the delivery. Mohammad Hasnain is raw and while he has the gift of pace, he needs to learn the art of hitting the blockhole. Hasan Ali is more of a hit-the-deck kind of a bowler.

South Africa- 8.5/10

The Proteas, probably, has one of the strongest pace attacks with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn in their ranks. Rabada was South Africa’s leading seamer last year in all the formats. The right-arm speedster has rattled the woodwork on a number of instances and is literally unstoppable once in full flow. Quite expectantly, he will be Faf du Plessis and Co’s gun bowler in the World Cup.

Even as Rabada is a key force, the 35-year-old Dale Steyn can’t be ruled out by any means. The veteran may not be a spring chicken, but can still storm in and terrorize batsmen. At the fag end of his career, one can still count on Steyn to bowl six fatal Yorkers in an over. South Africa also has the likes of Dwaine Pretorius, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi, who can get crucial wickets as well.

Sri Lanka- 6.5/10

Lankan cricket has had some efficient fast bowlers, but their current crop doesn’t give much confidence going into the World Cup. They have Lasith Malinga, who’s in the twilight of his career. Last year in the Asia Cup, he made his comeback in the national team and immediately made an impact.

Malinga is one of the greatest examples of the Yorker and can still pull out some of them pretty effectively. If Sri Lanka is to do well in the mega-event, Malinga has to step up and deliver. Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, and Suranga Lakmal are good but haven’t been consistent enough.

Windies- 7/10

The Caribbean team has strained to find a consistent speedster for quite some time now owing to which they haven’t won many games. For the World Cup, they have Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Oshane Thomas, Carlos Brathwaite, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell and Shannon Gabriel in the fast bowling unit.

Cottrell is one such bowler, who can get those Yorkers in, but apart from that, the Windies lack someone of those sorts. Andre Russell can find the blockhole, however, would be donning the national jersey after a long gap. The others can bowl Yorkers as well, but again, consistency is a massive issue.

Bangladesh- 6/10

The Tigers’ bowling unit has found it tough in conditions, which aren’t conducive to spin bowling. One of the major reasons behind it is the performance of their pacers. Going into the World Cup, Bangladesh only has Mustafizur Rahman, who can bowl the Yorkers, but doesn’t depend on pace to bowl them.

Rubel Hossain can also deliver the toe-crusher, but he has often been found wanting at the death. Mashrafe Mortaza mostly hits the good length and relies on the change of pace. Mohammad Saifuddin is also capable of bowling the Yorker. Abu Jayed Rahi hasn’t been tested enough at the highest level.