Top 5 Indian T20I bowlers of the decade
In the early 2010s, T20 cricket was the least popular format in the cricketing world. The Indian Premier League was just two years old and the cricket universe was under the impression that the format favored the batsmen a lot more than the bowlers. However, the last ten years have only been revolutionary in the T20 arena.
A lot of players have earned a name for themselves just by playing in T20 leagues all over the world. The birth of Champions League T20 and the decision to have T20 World Cups every second year have both helped a lot in this regard.
While the batsmen still rule the roost in this format, there have been many memorable performances from the bowlers as well, including several from Indian bowlers.
On that note, let us have a look at the top five Indian T20I bowlers of this decade:
#5 Ashish Nehra
Matches - 27, Wickets - 34, Best Figures - 3/19, Economy Rate - 7.73
Left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra had played only two T20I matches for India before he made his T20 World Cup debut in 2010. He recorded his career-best figures in the shortest format in the match against Afghanistan and had a splendid tournament thereon. Nehra played a solitary match in 2011 against South Africa, where he scalped two wickets for 22 runs in his four overs and was then dropped from the team.
He returned to India's T20 side five years later after a phenomenal outing in IPL 2015. He played a match-winning role in the 2016 Asia Cup and was impressive in the 2016 T20 World Cup as well. The Delhi-based player remained an integral part of the team until his retirement in 2017.