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.
Top 15 Most Wickets (Tests, ODIs, T20Is Combined)
| Player | Mat | Inns | Wkts | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 5W/10W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 495 | 583 | 1347 | 9/51 | 22.86 | 2.92 | 46.8 | 77/22 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 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 (IND) | 403 | 501 | 956 | 10/74 | 30.09 | 3.11 | 57.8 | 37/8 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 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 (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 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 307 | 408 | 786 | 7/58 | 25.12 | 4.07 | 37.0 | 29/4 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 394 | 485 | 776 | 7/33 | 29.57 | 4.01 | 44.2 | 20/1 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 287 | 379 | 765 | 7/59 | 25.8 | 3.38 | 45.7 | 37/8 |
| Chaminda Vaas (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.
Murali and Warne are the only bowlers in cricket history to reach the elite milestone of 1,000 international wickets, whereas Anderson finished with 991, only 9 short of the magic number.
The landscape of these records remains the same when considering the wickets chart format-wise. While Muralitharan is the clear leader in both Tests and ODIs, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan tops the list for T20Is. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga was the first male cricketer to reach 100 wickets in the shortest format. Murali also tops the Test numbers in home conditions.
Filtering further into bowling styles, Anderson tops the fast bowlers’ list, while Murali tops the spinners’ and off-spinners’ lists, and Warne leads the leg spinners’ list.
In the bowling-hand category, Wasim Akram tops the left-handed bowlers’ list, whereas the only active player on the list, Mitchell Starc, could potentially contend for this spot. However, the chances are low since he plays only one format of the game and is already near the end of his career. See the active players’ lists for ODIs and Tests here. In T20Is, Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman is currently leading the table.
Left-arm spinners are absent from this list. However, Shakib Al Hasan leads the overall wickets tally with 712 international wickets, whereas Rangana Herath, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Mitchell Santner top the Test, ODI, and T20I charts, respectively.
Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian off-spinner who was expected to break into this overall wickets chart’s top-10 list, retired at the age of 38 following the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane. Here are the numbers of Ravichandran Ashwin in international cricket with the ball.
Ashwin is also the all-formats combined leading wicket-taker of the last decade (from 2009 to 2019) with 562 wickets in total. Meanwhile, five pace bowlers from different nations are currently fighting 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 unique bowling technique.
The Sri Lankan legend also rules the 5-for and 10-for charts in Tests.
