The concept of T20 cricket revolved around entertainment, and batsmen bashing bowlers around the park was the ultimate crowd puller. The rules were set in favour of batsmen to feed the entertainment factor, and soon enough, run-scoring touched unprecedented heights.
We look at the bowlers that bore the brunt of the sheer brutality by batsmen and registered the most unwanted figures in the history of T20 International cricket.
Kasun Rajitha - 4-0-75-0 vs Australia
Two months after the worst spell in T20Is was registered, Sri Lankan pacer Kasun Rajitha rewrote the record at the Adelaide Oval in the first T20I against Australia.
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A 56-ball 100 from David Warner and a 36-ball 64 from Aaron Finch powered Australia to 233. Rajitha went for 75 in his four-over spell; the worst in the history of T20Is. The Lankan pacer conceded 11 in his opening over and 21 in his next, the fifth over of the innings. In his third, Rajitha went for 25 runs as he went to 57 in three overs. He was brought back in the 18th over only to concede a further 18 runs and break the record.
Tunahan Turan - 4-0-70-1 vs Czech Republic
Turkey medium-pacer Tunahan Turan registered the second-worst figures in the history of T20Is in 2019 as Czech Republic batsmen went on a rampage in the Continental Cup in 2019.
Powered by Sudesh Wickramasekara's 35-ball century, the joint-fastest hundred in T20Is, Czech Republic blasted 278 in their quota of 20 overs, the joint-highest total in the history of T20 International cricket. Bearing the brunt of Wickramasekara's extraordinary hitting was Turan who conceded 70 runs in his four-over spell. While Turan did return with a wicket, an economy rate of 17.5 and the worst spell in T20Is at the time nearly broke his bowling career.
Barry McCarthy - 4-0-69-0 vs Afghanistan
Afghanistan went on a rampage in their adopted home ground in Noida in a T20I against Ireland in 2017.
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Barry McCarthy, who opened the bowling attack, conceded 69 in his four-over spell as Afghanistan racked up 233 on board. McCarthy went for 26 in his first two overs as Mohammad Shahzad went on the offensive. The pacer couldn't quite get back into the groove after a poor start and went on to concede a whopping 43 runs in his last two overs as he registered shocking figures of 4-0-69-0 in his four-over spell.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Indranil Mukherjee
