In an era full of fans that love to see the ball go over the boundary, the bowlers’ job becomes tough and somewhat humiliating. Yet there are personalities who love to stand against the odds and let their presence known: the bowlers.

The work of the bowlers seems to have lessened over the past few decades as the world has shifted its focus from Tests to shorter forms of cricket. But the number of wickets to take in an innings remains the same. Even in a t20 game, the bowlers aim to pick up 10 wickets in the 4 over span they get to bowl.

The batsmen have got room to play more freely, to play risky shots and to try something new whereas the bowlers have been pressurized to take wickets in shorter spells and often look like a scapegoat when a batsman showers the field with 4s and 6s.

The bowlers have to be innovative in order to deceive the batsmen into giving their wickets away. They win the matches for their team. No matter how much of a tiny or a mammoth total the batsmen have put, the bowlers have to be there in order to defend it.

In most cases, while the batsman gets all the attention most of the times, the toil of bowling-counterpart in a match goes unnoticed. But today Cricfrenzy presents you a list of the unsung heroes of the game. Here is a list of 5 bowlers with most number of wickets in 2017.

#5 Hardik Pandya

Even after picking up 6 wickets in the last 8 ODIs he has played, Hardik Pandya is the 5th highest wicket-taker so far in this year. His reliable batting and brisk seam bowling made him an inseparable part of team India.

Since winning the Man of the Match award in his debut against New Zealand, Pandya’s versatile performance has always raised the eye-brows of the opponent.

Although he is well-known for his batting performance, he possesses the ability to swing the new ball and he can also bowl at 140 kmph regularly. His bowling average of 36.27 and strike rate of 38.7 while allowing 5.61 runs per over shows how impressive he has been as an all-rounder.

With 29 wickets from the 27 matches in 2017, the player has once again proved his worth to the Indian team. 

#4 Liam Plunkett

Liam Plunkett, since his debut in 2005, has not been a regular face in the English team due to his loss of form or injuries. However, he has paved his way back into the team this year by becoming the 4th highest wicket-taker.

Plunkett can be proven dangerous at times when he is handed a new ball. His aptitude for swinging the ball at a good pace is enough for the opponent’s top order to crash.

With an economy rate of 5.62 and a strike rate of 23.9, Plunkett has picked up 36 wickets in 18 matches, while taking a wicket for every 22.47 runs allowed. His best performance, in this year, was against West Indies in a match where he took a five-wicket haul.

#3 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah has bagged 38 wickets from the 22 matches he has played this year. With an average of 25.92 and an economy rate of 5.14, Bumrah has proved how his authentic bowling style can be a problem to the batsmen of the opposition.

Bumrah still has another match to play against Sri Lanka in the 3-match ODI series decider at Vishkhapatnam. His career-best figures also came in a match against the same team this year as he took a five-wicket haul.

The youngster is supposedly the best death bowler in the world right now. Since his debut in 2016 Bumrah has been a dependable figure for his team in the final overs of a match.

#2 Rashid Khan

Despite being a country affected by wars, Afghanistan—the newest Test-playing nation—have created wonders in this game. One of their bowlers, Rashid Khan, stands 2nd in the list of bowlers with most wickets in 2017.

The 19-year-old spinner can bowl very accurate googly and his stump to stump bowling does not require much turn to put the batsmen in danger. With 43 wickets in just 16 matches, Rashid Khan has been very economic and conceded 3.8 runs an over. His average of 10.44 and strike rate of 16.4 are also better than any other bowler who picked up at least 10 wickets this year.