Top 5 ODI bowlers of 2014

In an era where both the pitches and the playing conditions are heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen, the art of bowling has become grossly difficult, especially in the shorter formats of the game. With the new restrictions on field placements, there is an inherently uneven contest between bat and ball. This, in turn, has affected the courage of bowlers to be aggressive in pursuit of wickets. Even then, however, there are some bowlers who are able to keep the batsmen in check, irrespective of the conditions.Let us have a look at the top 5 ODI bowlers of 2014:(NOTE: Only bowlers who have played a minimum of 10 ODIs in 2014 were considered. The list is based on the bowling average, economy, strike rate and the number of wickets taken per match by the bowler and the quality of the opponents whom they played against)

#5 Sachithra Senanayake - Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan off-spinner was banned for an illegal bowling action after being reported during the ODI series in England in June, but has now been cleared by the ICC and will play an integral part in the country’s World Cup campaign. Interestingly, he made his comeback against the same opposition during the recently-concluded 7-match series and picked up 5 wickets in the 2 matches that he played.

While Senanayake’s action came under question during the England series in the middle of the year, he, nonetheless, emerged as the highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets and was instrumental in Sri Lanka pulling off a historic series win.

The off-spinner scalped a total of 27 wickets in the 18 matches he played in 2014. His bowling average was 24.92 while his economy was 4.38. He is currently placed at No.7 in the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers.

#4 Mohammed Shami - India

Mohammed Shami was the joint leading wicket-taker in ODIs in 2014 with 38 scalps under his belt as mentioned earlier. His problem, however, has been his economy rate of 6.16 in 2014, which can partly be explained by the fact that he has been India’s go-to death bowler of late.

The Indian pacer started the calendar year on a high with a 4-wicket haul against New Zealand in Napier. He was the leading wicket-taker in that series but had a poor economy of 7.18; it has to be noted, though, that most of the leading bowlers leaked runs at more than run-a-ball in that series.

Shami was also pivotal in India’s 3-1 ODI series win over England with 8 wickets in 4 matches at an economy rate of 4.67. The fast bowler’s hunt for wickets didn’t stop there as he went on to take an impressive 10 wickets against the West Indies at home.

#3 Lasith Malinga - Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan frontline paceman was sidelined due to injury during the latter part of 2014, but he produced some incisive performances with the ball before that. Sri Lanka played a total of 32 ODIs in 2014, the highest by any team in 2014. This was the reason Malinga was able to make it to the leading wicket-takers list even after missing out the latter half of the year.

Malinga picked up a total of 29 wickets in the 17 matches he played in with two 5-wicket hauls and one 4-wicket haul under his belt. He had an average of 26.48 and an economy of 5.87 which is on the higher side by his standards.

Malinga was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup win with 5-wicket hauls against Pakistan in both the group stages and the finals; he bagged the Man-of-the-Match award in the final and ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament along with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal. The fast bowler produced another match-winning spell against South Africa later in the year, with his figures reading 6-1-24-4.

#2 Ajantha Mendis - Sri Lanka

Ajantha Mendis had a fruitful 2014 as he emerged as the leading wicket-taker of the year in ODI cricket along with Mohammed Shami of India; both of them had 38 scalps under their name. He maintained an average of 21.63 at an economy of 5.76 with two 4-wicket hauls, both of which came against India.

Mendis was Sri Lanka’s highest wicket-taker when South Africa toured Sri Lanka last July, picking up a total of 7 wickets from 3 matches. He was also the second highest wicket-taker during England’s recent 7-match series against the Lankans with 9 wickets; it is to be noted that he played only 5 of the 7 matches in the series.

#1 Dale Steyn - South Africa

Dale Steyn definitely deserves his place among the great fast bowlers of all-time. South Africa played a total of 14 ODIs in 2014, the least by any of the top eight teams during that period. In those 14 matches, Steyn managed to get a total of 22 wickets with one 4-wicket haul to his name. He maintained an average of 26.54 at an economy rate of 5.07. The South African pacer is currently placed at No.3 in ICCs ODI rankings for bowlers currently.

Steyn was pivotal in South Africa winning the tri-series involving Australia and Zimbabwe, producing a match-winning spell of 10-1-34-4 in the final against Australia; he went on to win the Man-of-the-Match award for his performance and emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the series scalping a total of 10 wickets. Another notable performance from the 31-year-old came against Australia at Perth where he and Morkel skittled out the Australians for a paltry score of 154.