Bowling captains are a rarity in cricket, and if a bowler does lead a side, it happens mostly in white-ball cricket. This is because the game is short and a skipper can have a clear set of plans on the field as opposed to being at the helm in Tests or, to an extent, in T20Is.
But that said, leading a team while also having to bowl themselves is a different challenge, and many skippers have embraced it. They not only skippered the side but never let their own game get affected by the pressures of leading the side.
Here in this piece, we will celebrate such captains who have upped their game while being at the helm of things. Have a look at the top 10 bowlers with the most wickets as captains in T20I cricket.
Most Wickets as a Captain in T20I
| Player | Innings | Wickets as Captain | BBI | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Aslam (KUW) | 61 | 73 | 4/5 | 17.93 |
| Charles Perchard (JER) | 45 | 71 | 5/17 | 14.01 |
| Clinton Rubagumya (RWN) | 57 | 54 | 3/5 | 21.50 |
| Gerhard Erasmus (NAM) | 44 | 53 | 3/7 | 13.98 |
| Moazzam Baig (MWI) | 28 | 49 | 6/9 | 8.97 |
| Rashid Khan (AFG) | 29 | 48 | 4/14 | 13.60 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 39 | 46 | 5/20 | 21.08 |
| Shem Ngoche (KENYA) | 35 | 45 | 3/9 | 16.57 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 29 | 43 | 5/25 | 19.51 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 43 | 41 | 4/14 | 27.29 |
Key Insights
3 bowlers have 50 or more wickets while captaining their respective sides in T20 internationals. Charles Perchard, Mohammed Aslam, and Clinton Rubagumya are the players, and they don’t come from a country that is a full-member ICC side yet.
9.95: This is the bowling average of Moazzam Baig in T20Is while leading his side Malawi, and this is the least for a bowler who has taken at least 20 wickets as a skipper. The next least is 10.78, which is by Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane.
11.2: Likewise, the best strike rate among bowlers who have taken 20 or more wickets goes to Sandeep Lamichhane and Hernan Fennell of Argentina.
Moazzam Baig’s 6/9 is the best bowling figure by any captain in T20Is, and the only other bowling skipper who has taken 6 wickets or more in an innings is Hernan Fennell, who picked 6/18.
10 bowlers have taken 5 wicket hauls in a T20I innings when they led their side. Shakib Al Hasan and Moazzam Baig are the only ones who have done the feat twice.
Over 229 bowlers have taken at least a wicket in T20Is while leading their side.
