Top 10 Bowlers of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup

Rahul Dravid signing off from the World Cup spoke with wisdom when he said, “You need skills and you need to be able to execute the skills. That is what we saw at this World Cup.” When the tournament began, there were apprehensions. The new fielding restrictions, flat summer decks, big bats, modern innovation and two new balls were the hurdles the bowlers came up against and rightly so they were expected to fail. But they survived the onslaught, outfoxed and outthought good batsmen and showed their class even when they were cornered. Who said ODI cricket is not a place for bowlers? It is and will always be ruled by quality bowlers as Australia showed right till the end.  Here we take a look at the top 10 bowlers at this year’s World Cup.

#10 Jerome Taylor

Wickets: 17    Economy: 5.7

Average: 19.29   Strike-rate: 20.2

Jerome Taylor, suffered because of a lack of support in the big games, neither from other bowlers in his team nor from his batsmen. His economy suffered during South Africa’s rampant attack in a game where AB de Villiers scored the fastest 150 in ODI cricket. However, defending just 182, Taylor was impressive against India, returning match figures of 2-33, picking both the openers early.

He was fast and short most of the time, putting the famed Indian batting under pressure. He was expensive in the quarter-final against New Zealand when West Indies were hammered for 393 runs. However, he picked three wickets in that game, including the important ones of Brendon McCullum and Grant Elliott. He managed to be the fourth highest wicket-taker in the tournament without picking even a single four-wicket haul.