Bowlers With Most Test Wickets Via Yorkers Since 2020

Bowlers with most Test wickets via yorkers since 2020 (x.com)

The yorker remains one of the most lethal tools in a bowler’s arsenal. Designed to target the base of stumps and dislodge even the best of batters the world over, pulling off a perfect wicket-taking yorker demands exceptional skill and control.

Fortunately, to maintain the sanctity of Test cricket in the modern-day game, certain fast bowlers have mastered the art of nailing such blockhole deliveries with much success. Here at OneCricket, we take a look at five such pacemen who have earned the most success from yorkers in all Test matches played out since January 2020.

5. Mitchell Starc – 3 wickets

Mitchell Starc – 3 wickets (x.com)

Australian thunderbolt Mitchell Starc has picked up three wickets through some fearsome yorkers in Test cricket since the year 2020. The speedster has hurled 18.4 overs worth of yorkers during the stipulated period, and has conceded just 40 runs in the process to claim an astonishing average of 13.33.

Overall, the left-arm fast bowler has snagged 118 wickets since January 2020 from 33 Test matches, including some high-octane Ashes fixtures and the 2023 WTC final. Starc holds a control rate of 79.60 percent over his yorkers, thus making opposition batters tremble at the crease over his mere sight.

4. Pat Cummins – 4 wickets

Pat Cummins – 4 wickets (x.com)

Mitchell Starc’s pace mate and legendary Australian captain Pat Cummins holds a yorker control rate of 70.30 percent since the year 2020. In the 33 Test matches he has played during the period, the right-arm paceman has delivered 6.1 overs worth of yorkers, and has picked up four wickets in the process at an expense of just 11 runs. Cummins’ remarkable yorker bowling average of 2.80 pretty much confirms the formidability of his toe-crushing deliveries.

3. Shaheen Afridi – 6 wickets

Shaheen Afridi – 6 wickets (x.com)

Pakistan pace maverick Shaheen Afridi has collected a staggering haul of 90 wickets from just 23 Test matches since January 2020. Remarkably, Afridi claimed six of those wickets through some pinpoint toe-crushing yorkers across varying playing conditions. He has sent down 18.2 overs worth of yorkers during the stipulated period and has leaked just 58 runs in the process. Shaheen Afridi’s yorker control rate of 81.30 percent marks even higher than that of legendary Australian pacemen Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

2. Jasprit Bumrah – 6 wickets

Jasprit Bumrah – 6 wickets (x.com)

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah racked up 97 of his 159 career wickets since the start of January 2020. Having played a total of 24 Test matches for India during the aforementioned period, the right-arm speed demon has claimed six wickets via yorkers from a total haulage of 16.4 overs. Remarkably, Bumrah has conceded just 25 runs in those near 17 overs to maintain an economy rate of an astonishing 1.50.

With a yorker bowling average of 4.20 and a control rate of 69.60 percent, Jasprit Bumrah remains one of the most lethal exponents of blockhole deliveries in world cricket at the moment.

1. Asitha Fernando – 6 wickets

Asitha Fernando – 6 wickets (x.com)

Rising Sri Lankan superstar Asitha Fernando made his Test debut in January 2021 with an away match against South Africa at Johannesburg. Since his debut, the speedster has picked up 62 wickets from 17 Tests at a phenomenal bowling average of 26.06. Earmarked to be one of the greats of Sri Lankan cricket, the 27-year-old bowler has claimed six of those wickets from employing just 5.5 overs worth of yorkers.

With a strike-rate of 5.83 and a bowling average of just 0.50, both from yorkers, Asitha Fernando might well have proven himself to be the most effective advocates of this age-old bowling art in the modern-day game.

Note: All statistics and data from the aforementioned article can be attributed to the findings of Cricket.com.

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