This article will now present the top 10 all-time wicket-takers in international cricket across all three formats combined, with additional stats and records surrounding their careers.
| Player | Mat | Inns | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (Asia/ICC/SL) | 495 | 583 | 1347 | 9/51 | 22.86 | 2.92 | 46.8 | 77 | 22 |
| Shane Warne (AUS/ICC) | 339 | 464 | 1001 | 8/71 | 25.51 | 2.98 | 51.2 | 38 | 10 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 401 | 560 | 991 | 7/42 | 27.28 | 3.24 | 50.4 | 34 | 3 |
| Anil Kumble (Asia/IND) | 403 | 501 | 956 | 10/74 | 30.09 | 3.11 | 57.8 | 37 | 8 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS/ICC) | 376 | 493 | 949 | 8/24 | 21.76 | 2.93 | 44.5 | 36 | 3 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 460 | 532 | 916 | 7/119 | 23.57 | 3.17 | 44.5 | 31 | 5 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 344 | 485 | 847 | 8/15 | 27.83 | 3.45 | 48.3 | 21 | 3 |
| Shaun Pollock (Afr/ICC/SA) | 423 | 510 | 829 | 7/87 | 23.73 | 2.92 | 48.6 | 21 | 1 |
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 349 | 412 | 789 | 7/36 | 23.7 | 3.88 | 36.6 | 35 | 5 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 394 | 485 | 776 | 7/33 | 29.57 | 4.01 | 44.2 | 20 | 1 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 305 | 405 | 774 | 7/58 | 25.22 | 4.08 | 37 | 28 | 4 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 287 | 379 | 765 | 7/59 | 25.8 | 3.38 | 45.7 | 37 | 8 |
| Chaminda Vaas (Asia/SL) | 439 | 520 | 761 | 8/19 | 28.44 | 3.3 | 51.7 | 16 | 2 |
| Courtney Walsh (WI) | 337 | 446 | 746 | 7/37 | 26.28 | 2.88 | 54.7 | 23 | 3 |
| Brett Lee (AUS) | 322 | 392 | 718 | 5/22 | 26.66 | 4.06 | 39.3 | 19 | 0 |
Key Insights – Cricket’s All-Time Wicket Kings
Muttiah Muralitharan stands as the all-time leading wicket-taker in international cricket across all three formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is). His incredible stats are a testament to his dominance. His longtime rival, Shane Warne, is second on the list, followed by the legendary English pacer, James Anderson.
The landscape of these records changes when considering wickets taken at home. While Muralitharan is the clear leader in both Tests and ODIs played in home conditions, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan tops the list for T20Is. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga was the first male cricketer to reach 100 wickets in the shortest format.
Among the recent players, we have James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Tim Southee on this list. All three have been retired.
Ravichandran Ashwin, the 34-year-old Indian off-spinner had chance of breaking into this chart, but ended up a little short. Here’s the numbers of Ravichandran Ashwin in international cricket with the ball.
Ashwin is also the all-formats combined leading wicket-taker in the last decade, i.e., from 2009 to 2019 – 562 wickets in total. And, we have a strong fight between pace bowlers of different nations to top the 2020s chart.
Muralitharan, the holder of the title “Most Wickets in International Cricket”, faced multiple challenges throughout his career due to his strange bowling technique.
The Sri Lankan legend also rules the most 5-for and 10-fors charts in Tests.
