Top 5 most impactful bowlers in T20 internationals

#1: Ajantha Mendis

Australia v Sri Lanka - Twenty20: Game 2

Jumping straight to his stats, Ajantha Mendis has been excellent on any kind of pitch he has played. Overall, he has taken 66 wickets from 39 matches at a brilliant average of just 14.4 and an economy rate of just 6.5.

On subcontinent pitches, he has taken 34 wickets from 20 matches at an average of 15.8 and an economy rate of 7.

What sets him apart from other bowlers is his performance on non-subcontinent pitches. He has taken 32 wickets from 19 matches at a consistency of 58%, which is exceptional.

Ajantha Mendis's performance in T20 Internationals

Basis our methodology, Ajantha Mendis gets following impact ratings

Overall Impact Rating: 9.5/10

Subcontinent Rating- 2.9 , Non-Subcontinent Rating- 6.6

On subcontinent pitches, there is nothing separating Mendis and Tahir as both get an impact rating of 2.9.

Comparing his stats on non-subcontinent pitches, he has a better economy rate, a better average and a better consistency as compared to Narine and Tahir.

As our methodology gives a higher weightage to spinners for performance on non-subcontinent pitches, Mendis was able to achieve a higher impact rating.

Ajantha Mendis vs Sunil Narine vs Imran Tahir- T20 Internationals

There are other bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Rashid Khan, who have been exceptional T20 International bowlers till now, but they couldn't qualify our criteria of minimum 15 number of matches played on both kinds of pitches.

Probably, once we revise this list after a year or two, we might see these bowlers in the list of most impactful bowlers in T20 Internationals.

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In case you have missed the previous blog, here's the link for it.

Top 3 Most Impactful T20 International bowlers for India