Right from the time Brendon McCullum channelled Gilbert Jessop to blaze a memorable, unbeaten 158 for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the cricketing pundits were quick to forebode a grim future for bowlers in the shortest form of the game.

Unsurprisingly, batsmen have stolen the thunder. But bowlers, much against the odds, have done their bit to reclaim some space in different leagues in the world, bilateral series and International Cricket Council (ICC) events.

So far, 642 bowlers – specialist and part-time – have been seen in action in Twenty20 Internationals and have taken 6031 wickets.

Of these, the spinners have taken 2194 wickets at 23.13 as against 3837 by the fast and seam bowlers at around 24.00. There is evidence of success for those who have bowled straight, as reflected in the 1340 bowled and 494 lbw victims. The nature of the format, which encourages batsmen to take the aerial route, has produced 3141 instances of catches in the field; 598 have edged to the wicketkeeper.

Another interesting fact is that bowlers have sent down 3495 wides. A lot of these may be accounted for by left-armers (bowling around the wicket) and right-armers (over the wicket) trying to get close to the guide-line for wide marked on the bowling crease, aiming for a dot ball or batsman-error. Many bowlers have succeeded with this tactic against batsmen who employ all sorts of unorthodox shots, especially in the last 30 balls.

Bowlers have also realised the significance of the difference between the exact yorker length and the low full-toss which often gets dumped in the stands.

Mumbai Indians, for instance, chose Gujarat fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah after noticing his proficiency in bowling toe-crushers in the Vijay Hazare West Zone league in 2013. The knee injury he suffered last year may have diminished his speed marginally, but M.S. Dhoni has found him most effective with the new ball and also during the end overs.

Bowlers have smartly used the width of the crease, manipulated the seam, swung the ball in a conventional manner and obtained reverse on occasions, changed angle by bowling over and around the wicket, tried different varieties of slower ones and low and high full tosses. The faster bowlers have hit the deck to get lift and have been rewarded against batsmen who use heavier bats in the format. In short, they have shown the readiness to take risks.

Occasionally, bowlers find a friend: the curator at the recent Asia Cup in Bangladesh left enough grass on the pitch to make batting tough. But this is unlikely during the World T20; spinners could find purchase on slow pitches, but fast-bowlers will have to bowl smartly during the first six overs to take the initiative. They will have to swiftly get their act together.