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Follow UsPakistan got off to a flier against India. Siraj began with too many boundary balls, and the crowd was stunned shut after Pakistan had their best powerplay of the World Cup and seemed in control after 12 overs.
While Rohit Sharma turned to Kuldeep Yadav to produce some magic, it was Hardik Pandya who sucked Imam-Ul-Haq into a loose shot and produced a breakthrough. The pressure was off India. The left-right combo was separated. Rohit could turn to Ravindra Jadeja from the other end. It was auto-pilot time for a bit.
In most teams, if not all, there are three bowlers who make a captain’s job easy. They are in the XI across all conditions. Their role is well-defined. Basically, a lock for bowling 30 overs on most days.
The real test of squad construction and captaincy is about managing the options for the remaining 20 overs. The so-called non-frontline bowlers, mostly horses for courses based on opposition and conditions. These players make up the fourth and fifth bowlers’ quota, are often all-rounders, and hence, are in the XI for the value added with the bat.
15 games into the World Cup, let us analyze which team has had the best support bowling group. To begin with, let us first identify who these non-frontline support bowlers are for each side. Principally, these will be all bowlers outside the two frontline pacers and the lead spinner. We might have to twist the rule for a couple of sides, but not without an underlying reason behind it.
With ground rules set, here are the bowlers who make up the 4th and 5th bowlers’ quota in each side-
India: Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin
New Zealand: Lockie Ferguson, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell
South Africa: Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Tabraiz Shamsi
Pakistan: Haris Rauf, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed
England: Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Joe Root, Moeen Ali
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Azmatullah Omarzai
Bangladesh: Shoriful Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah
Australia: Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh
Sri Lanka: Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Chamika Karunaratne, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Lahiru Kumara
Netherlands: Paul van Meekeren, Aryan Dutt, Colin Ackermann, Saqib Zulfiqar, Vikramjit Singh
To paint an overall picture, here is how these bowlers have collectively performed-
India’s fourth and fifth bowlers have dominated on all fronts. Both Hardik and Jadeja have picked five wickets apiece in three games. While Hardik has been expensive (economy: 6.6), he has been the partnership breaker for Rohit. Not just Imam, he also accounted for a dangerous-looking Rahmanullah Gurbaz in India’s second game.
Jadeja has been the joint second-most economical bowler among the regular players (3.7) after Jasprit Bumrah (3.4) and, without a doubt, the best support bowler of the tournament so far. He has been so good in these helpful conditions that it is almost cruel to count him out of the frontline bowlers. Both Hardik and Jadeja have allowed India to bowl only eight overs of the mercurial Shardul in the last two games he has played. Their performance has ensured that there is no let-off from any end, no bowler that the opposition can look to target.
Glenn Maxwell’s economy has been the same as Jadeja's. He has been the frontline spinner for Australia for all practical purposes. He has single-handedly ensured that Australia’s support bowlers have kept things tight. However, the lack of wickets in the 20 or so overs by the support bowlers has influenced Australia’s results. Green, Stoinis, and Marsh have been wicketless so far, while skipper Pat Cummins has had only one good game against Sri Lanka.
South Africa’s case has been very interesting. They have operated with only five bowlers in each game so far. Marco Jansen has picked six wickets in three games, the most by the support bowlers. But, his economy of 6.9 has been high. In fact, he has been very limited in terms of his preferred usage. Though he has removed at least one opener in all three games, which is a handy skill, his economy after the first two overs has further dropped to 7.6. Coetzee’s economy of 7.4 in two games has ensured South Africa’s support bowlers have been a bit of a headache for Temba Bavuma.
New Zealand have used five bowlers for the fourth and fifth bowler’s quota. Same as England and the Netherlands. The better Lockie Ferguson has turned up so far both on wicket-taking ability and economy. Glenn Phillips has been a surprise giant-killer with wickets of Joe Root, Moeen Ali, and Nazmul Hossain Shanto. Rachin Ravindra has had an economy of 5.9 and has picked only two wickets in three games. James Neesham’s bowling average since the last World Cup is now touching 300. All this put together have translated into middling returns for New Zealand’s support bowling group.
Chris Woakes is the only surviving pacer from England’s World Cup triumph in 2019. They would have expected him to spearhead the attack. However, his travails away from home has relegated him to a support bowler at best. With two wickets in three games at an economy of 7.5, he might further be relegated to the bench soon. Sam Curran has picked as many wickets as Woakes but his economy has been worse: 8.1. His reputation as a death bowler might still save his place in the team. Livingstone and Root have kept teams quiet. On the other hand, Moeen is already out of the XI after going wicketless and over a run-a-ball in England’s first game. All this put together has meant England’s support bowlers, like their team, are reeling on all fronts as a group.
Paul van Meekeren and Aryan Dutt are as good a support bowling unit as any team can ask for. The Netherlands also have Ackerman has caught the Glenn Philips syndrome and has wickets of Babar Azam and Quinton de Kock to his name. Netherlands bowling has caused one big upset so far and like against South Africa, they can cause further seismic effects to the points table if the batting holds up.
Looking at his performance in comparison to Taskin Ahmed, there is an argument to be made whether Shoriful Islam is a frontline pacer and not a support bowler. His economy of 6.3 has been the same as Taskin’s, but has picked five wickets in comparison to Taskin’s two.
Bangladesh’s support bowlers are high on bowling average but that is an aberration. This is largely down to England’s bizarre last 10 overs against them when they lost six wickets for 66 runs. Five of them were shared between Shoriful and Mahedi Hasan, who has not played since. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (three wickets at an economy of 5.9) is probably now playing as a batting allrounder.
Similar to Bangladesh, it is tough to decide who between Haris Rauf and Shadab is the support bowler for Pakistan. But, to continue with the spirit of including at least one spinner in the main attack, we have chosen Rauf for the support group analysis. Rauf has not set the stage on fire. He has picked five wickets but an economy of six is too high for his team’s liking. Nawaz has picked only two wickets in the three games he has bowled, while Iftikhar has picked a solitary wicket in two. Both have an economy of around 5.5. The situation of Pakistan’s bowling attack is so dire that if we include Shadab (two wickets at an economy of 6.6) among the support bowlers, the collective numbers will look even worse.
Coming to the two teams for which we had to twist the rules a bit. For Afghanistan, it would be unfair not to count Mujeeb and Farooqi as the frontline bowlers along with Rashid. Similarly for Sri Lanka, Theekshana and Madushanka, along with Wellalage.
For the Afghans, Nabi has not taken wickets (two in three games) but has kept things quiet with an economy of 4.1. Naveen-Ul-Haq has picked only two wickets while being expensive (economy: 6.4). However, both picked crucial scalps on that memorable night against England. Omarzai has earned some praise from the great Sachin Tendulkar but is yet to deliver on either front. All this put together has meant Afghanistan has been largely dependent on the front three.
For Sri Lanka, this World Cup is turning out to be a giant asterisk. They started the tournament without two main frontline bowlers. But a growing injury list has made them use 10 bowlers in three games and a 20-year-old as the leader of their attack in the middle overs. Kumara, Asalanka (only one over), Pathirana, and Rajitha have been among the top-5 most expensive bowlers in the tournament. Dhananjaya de Silva has been wicketless with a high economy of 8. At this point, Sri Lanka basically do not have a fourth or a fifth bowler.
Note: All stats in the article are as of October 17th (Match 15)
