Bowling in T20I cricket is an uphill task for any bowler, as the format is tailor-made for the batters. Thus, bowlers need to put in a massive effort for each delivery they send down.
Every single ball in the 20-over format is as precious as gold! Hence, even a single dot ball plays a crucial role throughout the course of the game.
Bowling dot balls is an efficient way to put a lid on the scoring rate of the batting side. A few prominent bowlers have mastered this tactic to the core, delivering heaps of dot balls.
This article will list the top 10 bowlers with the most dot balls in T20I cricket.
Most Dot Balls Bowled in T20Is
| Player | Innings | Dot Balls Bowled |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 123 | 1138 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 125 | 1078 |
| Mustafizur Rahman (BAN) | 102 | 970 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar (IND) | 86 | 891 |
| Rashid Khan (AFG) | 93 | 874 |
| Adil Rashid (ENG) | 110 | 860 |
| Mitchell Santner (NZ) | 102 | 857 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 97 | 830 |
| Mohammad Nabi (AFG) | 117 | 794 |
| Shadab Khan (PAK) | 96 | 781 |
Key Insights
Tim Southee became the first bowler to send down 1000 or more dot balls in the T20I format.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was the first bowler to bowl 500+ dot balls in the powerplay overs (1 to 6 overs) in T20Is. As of now, the Indian pacer leads the pack with over 655 dot balls in the first 6 overs.
If we consider only the first over, then again Bhuvaneshwar Kumar tops the chart with 295 dot balls.
Also Read | Top 10: Most Wickets in the First Over in T20I
Mark Adair, Southee, Chris Jordan, Mustafizur Rahman, and Haris Rauf have bowled more than 50 dot balls in the 20th over in T20Is.
Over 9 bowlers have delivered 150 or more dot balls in the death overs (17 to 20 overs). Apart from the above 5 bowlers, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Saeed Ajmal, and Umar Gul have crossed the mark.
Sandeep Lamichhane holds the record for bowling the most dot balls in a T20I innings. The Nepali spinner sent down 22 dot balls, conceding only 9 runs, with 6 of them being extras. He only gave away 3 runs on his remaining 2 legal deliveries.
