5 bowlers who have taken most wickets against India in ICC T20 World Cup history
The ICC T20 World Cup is just around the corner. Recently, BCCI announced that the tournament will not happen in India. Instead, UAE and Oman will play host to the event. 16 teams will be a part of the tourney. One of them is the Indian cricket team.
India had won the first-ever ICC T20 World Cup event in 2007. The Men in Blue beat Pakistan in a closely-contested final to win the trophy. However, India has not won the title again. Other teams have troubled India in the T20 World Cup. Here’s a look at the five bowlers who have taken the most wickets versus the Indian cricket team.
5. Daniel Vettori – 4 wickets
Daniel Vettori played only one T20 World Cup match against India. It was in 2007. India faced the Blackcaps in the Super 8 stage. Vettori helped New Zealand win the match. It was India’s first defeat in T20 World Cup history.
Vettori bowled four overs in the match. He picked up four wickets and gave away only 20 runs. He dismissed Gautam Gambhir first. Then, he completed his four-wicket haul by dismissing Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan and Robin Uthappa. New Zealand won that game by ten runs.
4. One of the most successful spinners against India in T20 World Cup: Mitchell Santner – 4 wickets
Another Kiwi left-arm spinner to feature on this list is Mitchell Santner. He took a four-wicket haul against India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. New Zealand faced India in their first group match. The game happened in Nagpur. The pitch assisted the spin bowlers.
It seemed like India would take more advantage of the conditions. However, the Blackcaps came out on top. Santner was the wrecker-in-chief. He bowled four overs and took four wickets, conceding only 11 runs. He had dismissed MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.
3. Dwayne Bravo – 5 wickets
Mitchell Santner’s CSK teammate Dwayne Bravo has taken five wickets against India in ICC T20 World Cup matches. He took a four-wicket haul in the first match. The all-rounder picked up the wickets of Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan in 2009 at Lord’s. Windies won that game by seven runs. He dismissed Ashish Nehra in their 2010 meeting.
However, in 2014 and 2016, Bravo remained wicketless. He bowled only one over in the 2014 T20 World Cup match. In 2016, West Indies faced India in the semifinals. Bravo bowled four overs at Wankhede Stadium. He ended up leaking 44 runs at an economy rate of 11.
2. Mohammad Asif – 5 wickets
Mohammad Asif is the lone Pakistani present on this list. Interestingly, even he took a 4-wicket haul against India. It was in the group stage match of 2007. Asif ran through the Indian top-order. He first sent Virender Sehwag back to the pavilion.
Next, the Pakistani speedster dismissed Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik. India and Pakistan met again in the final. In that game, Asif dismissed Yusuf Pathan. His economy rate was just 6.14 in both matches. Besides, his bowling strike rate was 8.4.
1. Most successful bowler in T20 World Cup matches against India: Shane Watson – 7 wickets
The most successful bowler against India in T20 WC matches is Shane Watson. He took seven wickets in four matches. He did not play the semifinal in 2007. In 2010, he dismissed Harbhajan Singh at Kensington Oval. Two years later, he took a three-wicket haul versus India in T20 World Cup 2012.
Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina were his three wickets. In 2014 T20 WC, he took Yuvraj’s wicket once again. Lastly, in their 2016 meeting, Watson bowled an economical spell of 2/23. He rattled the stumps of Rohit Sharma. Soon, he dismissed Suresh Raina to end his T20 WC career with seven wickets against India.
