Cricketers who have taken 5-wicket hauls in all formats
Twenty-20 cricket has grown considerably in the last decade since its International debut in 2005, though all the rules favour the batsman in this format too, the bowlers have come up with exceptional performances throughout.
With only 4 overs to bowl, it becomes difficult for a bowler to assess the pitch and deliver accordingly and thus picking up a couple of wickets is considered a good spell in any T20 match.
A 5-wicket haul is a rare phenomenon in this format, but there are many bowlers who have achieved the feat and amongst them are a few cricketers who fall in an elite league to have picked up 5-wicket hauls in all the formats (Tests, ODIs and T20Is)
Let us have a look at the list:
#1 Lasith Malinga
Best bowling figures:
Test - 5/50
ODI - 6/38
T20I - 5/31
Lasith Malinga can easily be termed as the best bowler in the “Death Overs” in limited overs cricket, his records speak for themselves. Probably one of the best fast bowlers of the yorker, it is next to impossible to slog when the ‘slinger’ barges to the 22-yards from the other end. Prone to injuries throughout his career, Malinga could have been even more successful if he had played a greater number of international matches for Sri Lanka.
Malinga is the only bowler to have taken three hat-tricks in One-Day Internationals out of which two came in World Cups. When he was 27, back in 2011, the speedster announced his retirement from Test cricket due to his recurring “knee injury” and also to prolong his career in the limited-overs format.
With an impressive average of 27.78 in ODIs and 20.28 in T20s, he is a match winner on any particular day and has picked up 291 wickets in the 190 50-over matches he played. The ‘Slinger’ has taken three 5-wicket hauls in Tests while three in ODI format. A special mention to the spell against England during the 2012 World T20 where he took 5 wickets and helped his team win a crucial match.