Dirk Nannes, Ian Bishop reveal secrets behind successful T20 'death bowling'

Former international pace bowlers Dirk Nannes and Ian Bishop have revealed the secrets behind successful 'death bowling' in the Twenty20 format of the game.

Death bowlers, who can produce the goods in the final stages of a limited-overs innings, have always been among cricket's most sought-after commodities as the team whose death bowlers can best dry up the runs is usually the one that comes out on top.

According to the BBC, Bishop, who took 118 one-day international wickets for West Indies, said that the formula to successful death bowling begins with having plans in place before entering the field of play and knowing which batsman one is bowling against.

Nannes, who has played internationally both for Australia and the Netherlands, believes that the risk of trying to crush a batsman's toes by sending flurries of near-unplayable yorkers in the final overs outweighs the reward, although he advised that the technique should only be tried by bowlers who are at the top of their game.

Nannes also said that a bowler needs to have a 'bit of X-factor' to bowl at the death like good tricks, out-and-out pace or anything that sets him apart from the others, adding that the bowler also needs to have very good execution and should be extremely skilled.

Bishop said that a batsman needs to be intuitive to know when to serve up which ball as there is no point in having those variations but serving them up at the wrong time, and Nannes added that he also needs to have mental fortitude and the ability to think in between each delivery to stay one step ahead of his adversary.