T20 Records: Bowlers with Most Wickets in T20 World Cup

Bowlers play a vital role in every format of the game be it Test ODI or T20 they are the ones who win tournaments for the team. In this article, we will look at the highest wicket-takers in the T20 World Cup

Shakib Al Hasan

The Bangladeshi all-rounder tops the list of players with the most number of wickets in the T20 World Cup. The experienced spinner has picked up 47 wickets in 36 matches with an average and economy of 18.63 and 6.78 respectively with his best bowling figures being 4 for 9. The former Bangladesh captain has been a vital part of the Bangladesh setup in all three formats of the game and has delivered for the team with both bat and ball on various occasions. As far as Bangladesh’s performance in the global event is concerned the Bangla Tigers have failed to make a significant impact in the tournament so far with their best performance coming during the 2022 T20 World Cup held in Australia

Shahid Afridi

The former Pakistani captain is his country’s leading wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup having picked up 39 wickets in 34 matches with his average and economy rate being 23.25 and 6.71 respectively. Despite Afridi’s consistent performances Pakistan failed to reach the knockout stages of the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cup the latter being under his captaincy held in Bangladesh and India respectively and were knocked out from the group stages itself prompting Afridi to retire from international cricket for one final time.

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Lasith Malinga

Known for his ability to bowl accurate yorkers Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga has picked up 31 wickets in 38 World Cup matches at an average of 20.07 and economy rate of 7.43 runs per over. Malinga played a vital role in guiding his team to the final of the 2012 World Cup held in Sri Lanka which the home team lost to West Indies and went a step further to win the tournament in 2014 under the leadership of Laith Malinga

The former fast bowler could bowl in all the phases of the game. His control with both new and old balls made him a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket.

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Saeed Ajmal

One of the late bloomers Saeed made a name for himself through his crafty spin bowling. Known for his ability to bowl doosra Ajmal picked up 36 wickets in 23 matches as far as his performance in the T20 World Cup is concerned at an average of less than 17, 16.86 to be precise and the economy being 6.79. Although Ajmal’s career was cut short due to the legality of his action as he was accused of chucking in his bowling he was able to fox experienced batters including Sachin Tendulkar in what turned out to be his last innings in ODI cricket

Ajantha Mendis

The Sri Lankan spinner had a short but memorable career in international where he made a name for himself by picking up wickets in clusters in white ball cricket. If we talk about his performance in the T20 World Cup Mendis has picked up 35 wickets in 21 matches at the global event with an impressive average of 15.02 and an economy of 6.7 The Mystery spinner holds the record for best spells in the history of the T20 World Cup so far. Mendis picked up six wickets giving away just eight runs against Zimbabwe during the 2012 T20 World Cup held in Sri Lanka. Chasing a target of 183 runs Zimbabwe could only manage to score 100 runs and eventually lost the match by 82 runs.