Stuart Broad is the #1 ranked Test bowler in the world, but fails to make the list as he wasn’t picked for England for the world T20 and doesn’t feature amongst the top 100 T20 bowlers in the world. Trent Boult is the #1 ODI bowler in the world, but can’t make it to the playing XI for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, even though he believes he might do better than one certain bowler in the team. Samuel Badree is the #1 ranked T20 bowler in the world and the Royal Challengers Bangalore are certainly missing him as he was ruled out of this year’s IPL with an injury.
The International Cricket Council releases rankings for each format of the game, individually, but has no ranking or metric to rate players across the various formats. Since players certainly have to be skilled in the various formats of the game to be called true superstars nowadays, we have developed an algorithm that compiles rankings across the three formats in the game to decipher who the best bowlers in the world are today.
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Also read: Best batsmen in the world across all formats (based on ICC rankings)
NOTE: Overall rank = Rank (Tests+ODI+T20), Rankings Points = Rankings Points (Tests + ODI + T20)
#10 Steven Finn
Overall Rank: 102 Ranking Points: 1617 Highest ranking: 17th (ODI)
The only Englishman in the list, the 6ft 7in man from Watford makes the top 10 due to his impressive ranking in tests and ODIs.
Finch comes in at #19 in the Test rankings, after James Anderson and Staurt Broad, who might have found a place in this list had they played the various formats.
#17 in the ODI rankings after compatriots Moeen Ali and James Anderson and #66 in the T20 rankings.
Finn was tied with South African Kyle Abbott at overall rank 102, but had a greater point tally.
#9 Trent Boult
Overall Rank: 97 Ranking Points: 1898 Highest ranking: 1st (ODI)
The only Kiwi on the list, Trent Boult almost automatically walks into this list being the #1 ranked ODI bowler in the world. He is 32 points ahead of Shakib Al Hasan at second. There’s another Kiwi in the top 10 in the ODI rankings, Matt Henry. He fails to make this list however.
Boult finds himself in the top 10 in the test rankings as well, coming in at #7 as the highest ranked Kiwi in Test cricket.
It is in T20s that he takes a beating, coming in at #89! He’s so highly rated in ODI and Tests that he makes this list. If he goes up in the T20 rankings, he could make a push higher up the leaderboard.
#8 Dale Steyn
Overall Rank: 72 Ranking Points: 1968 Highest ranking: 4th (Tests)
One of the finest bowlers this generation has seen, Steyn comes in at #8 as the first of 3(!) South Africans in the list.
He is in 4th place in the Test rankings as the highest South African on the list. He has been in the top 10 for a long time now.
In ODIs, he is ranked #6 and is the second highest South African after Imran Tahir.
It is in T20s where he takes a beating, just like Boult and comes in at #62.
#7 Kagiso Rabada
Overall Rank: 64 Ranking Points: 1647 Highest ranking: 13th (ODI)
Just pipping his senior compatriot Steyn to 7th place is the young 20 year old pacer Kagiso Rabada.
He makes this list because of his consistent ranking across the various formats.
In Tests, he is ranked 30th and he will look to improve and rise up the rankings.
In ODIs, he is ranked 13th as the 4th highest ranked South African on the list.
In T20s, he is ranked 21st. Being only 20, he has a long road ahead of him!
#6 Rangana Herath
Overall Rank: 60 Ranking Points: 1841 Highest ranking: 11th (Tests)
The sole Sri Lankan on the list, the experienced 38 year left arm spin bowler also benefits from a consistent performance across the 3 formats.
It is in Test cricket where he enjoys his highest ranking at 11th as the highest ranked Sri Lankan bowler.
In ODIs he comes in at 16th, again, as the highest ranked Sri Lankan bowler.
In T20s, he has a slightly lower ranking and comes in at 33rd.
#5 Mitchell Starc
Overall Rank: 54 Ranking Points: 1881 Highest ranking: 3rd (ODIs)
One of the most feared bowlers in the world today, Starc is the sole Australian on the list.
He comes in at rank #14 in Test cricket behind compatriots Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.
It is in ODIs where he has his most impressive ranking at #3, a mere 46 points behind the leader Trent Boult.
He takes a beating in T20s however and only comes in at #37. A higher T20 ranking and Starc might have made the top 3.
#4 Imran Tahir
Overall Rank: 45 Ranking Points: 1817 Highest ranking: 2nd (T20s)
Imran Tahir is South Africa’s highest ranked bowler in this list and also the only leg spinner to make it.
The 37 year old has enjoyed a couple of great seasons and is ranked #38th in the Test rankings.
He has been exceptional in the limited overs formats however, ranked #5th in ODIs as the highest ranked South African.
It is in T20s where he really makes his mark though, ranked #2nd, trailing the leader Samuel Badree by 50 points.
#3 Ravindra Jadeja
Overall Rank: 38 Ranking Points: 2136 Highest ranking: 6th (Tests)
The #3 position belongs to none other than India’s Ravindra Jadeja, he is the 3rd spinner so far in the list and the first bowler to breach the 2000 point barrier in terms of ‘ranking points’.
He enjoys his highest ranking in Tests, coming in at a very impressive #6th, the highest ranked Indian in the list.
In ODIs, he is ranked 22nd after the trio of Ashwin, Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
In T20s, he just makes the Top 10 at #10, holding off the challenge of Mitchell McClenaghan at #11 by a mere 2 points.
#2 Shakib Al Hasan
Overall Rank: 34 Ranking Points: 1944 Highest ranking: 2nd (ODIs)
The only Bangladeshi on the list is Shakib Al Hasan, widely regarded as one of the finest cricketers the nation has ever produced.
Holding off the challenge of Jadeja by 4 ranking places, Shakib is ranked #17th in Tests and is the highest ranked Bangladeshi.
In ODIs, he enjoys his highest ranking coming in at #2nd.
In T20s, he is ranked #15th and is the highest ranked Bangladeshi again. His consistency across the 3 formats earns him the 2nd place overall.
#1 Ravichandran Ashwin
Overall Rank: 15 Ranking Points: 2199 Highest ranking: 2nd (Tests)
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin deserves his place at the top of this list. Despite not being ranked #1 in any one of the formats, he is the only bowler to be ranked in the top 10 across the 3 formats.
In Tests, he is ranked #2nd, one solitary point behind Englishman Stuart Broad.
In ODIs, he just makes the top 10 at #10th as the highest ranked Indian on the list.
In T20s, he comes in at 3rd, behind Samuel Badree, who is #1 and Tahir at #2.
It is a testament to Ashwin that he tops this list. Consistency across the three formats is key. Broad, who tops the Test rankings and Badree, who tops the T20 rankings could not make this list, despite being on top in one particular format. Trent Boult, the #1 ranked ODI bowler made the list at #9.
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