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 | Team | Innings | Dot Balls Bowled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bangladesh | 125 | 1192 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 123 | 1138 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 125 | 1078 |
| Rashid Khan | Afghanistan | 108 | 1016 |
| Adil Rashid | England | 127 | 997 |
| Mitchell Santner | New Zealand | 118 | 992 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | 96 | 952 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India | 86 | 891 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 80 | 878 |
| Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan | 129 | 874 |
Key Insights on Leading Dot Ball Bowlers in T20I Cricket
All-Time Leaders and Career Dot Ball Milestones in T20Is
Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman has bowled the most dot balls in T20Is, surpassing Tim Southee’s 1138 deliveries for noughts.
New Zealand’s Southee was the first bowler to send down 1000 or more dot balls in the T20I format.
Phase-Specific Dot Ball Records
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was the first bowler to bowl 500-plus dot balls in the powerplay overs (1 to 6 overs) in T20Is. As of now, the Indian pacer leads the pack with 655 dot balls in the first six overs.
If we consider only the first over, then again Bhuvaneshwar Kumar tops the chart with 295 dot balls.
Adil Rashid (England) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) have bowled more than 800 dot balls in the middle overs (7 to 16 overs) in T20Is.
Mustafizur is the only bowler to deliver more than 350 dot balls in the death overs (last four overs) in T20Is.
Mustafizur, Mark Adair (Ireland), Chris Jordan (England), Southee, Haris Rauf (Pakistan), and Arshdeep Singh (India) have bowled more than 50 dot balls in the 20th over in T20Is.
Single Match, Opponent, and Annual Performance Feats
Saad Bin Zafar (Canada), Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), and Ayush Shukla (Hong Kong) share the record for bowling the most dot balls in a T20I innings. The three bowlers sent down 24 dot balls, or simply four maiden overs, each without conceding a single run in their spells against Panama, PNG, and Mongolia, respectively.
Adil Rashid (vs West Indies), Southee (vs Pakistan), and Shaheen Shah Afridi (vs New Zealand) have sent down 200 or more dot balls against a team in T20Is.
Austria’s Aqib Iqbal has bowled the most dot balls in a calendar year in T20Is. He sent down 379 deliveries for noughts in 34 innings in 2025.
Bhuvneshwar (324 in 2022), Austria’s Bilal Zalmai (316 in 2025), and Bahrain’s Abdul Majid (307 in 2025) are the other bowlers who’ve delivered more than 300 dot balls in a year in T20Is.
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