Aakash Chopra picks his 'Top 6' yorker specialists in International cricket

One of the difficult deliveries for any bowler in cricket has got to be the ‘yorker’. For any bowler to master the art of bowling in the blockhole on a consistent basis, not only does he needs to be supremely fit and possess strong shoulders, but he also needs to supremely confident of dishing it out in crunch situations, and for that once requires a complete mastery of the art; something that can only be achieved via relentless practice.

For the uninitiated, a ‘Yorker’ refers to a full-length delivery aimed at the toes of a batsman. And, the margin of error for that is minimal. You get it wrong and the batsman has ample time to convert it into a full toss and dispatch it wherever he likes. In the modern game, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Starc are the trailblazers of the precocious art, someone who could ball the yorkers at will.

Aakash Chopra took it to his YouTube channel to name the bowlers

Chopra slotted English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff at the sixth spot, and to the surprise of many, ahead of Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar and Zaheer Khan. One of Flintoff’s prime strengths was to bowl deadly reverse-swinging yorkers, something that Akash pointed out while naming Flintoff at the number 6 spot.

The next in the list came Australia’s Mitchell Starc. Starc’s ability to bowl yorkers at 150 clicks makes him one of the deadliest exponent in modern-day cricket, and the fact that he can do that on a consistent basis is something Chopra alluded to while explaining the reasoning while slotting him at No.5.

The next four members on the list are from the subcontinent. On the fourth spot is India’s pace-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Chopra reckoned that while Bumrah hasn’t played much cricket, he has done enough in his short career to warrant a place in the list, pointing out his ability to bowl consistent yorkers is something that makes him special.

The next two spots, of-course, are held by the two W’s- Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Chopra placed Waqar at No.3, hailing his ability to bamboozle the stumps with his reverse-swinging toe-crushers at any stage of the game. Wasim Akram, on the other hand, was someone who had the ability to bowl inswinging and out-swinging yorkers at searing pace reckoned Chopra.

At the numero-uno spot in Chopra’s list is Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga, whose ability to bowl yorkers at will with that slingy action of his, saw him bamboozle a plethora of batsman throughout his career.

Here are his picks:

6) Andrew Flintoff

5) Mitchell Starc

4) Jasprit Bumrah

3)Wasim Akram

2) Waqar Younis

1) Lasith Malinga

Here’s the video: