Most wickets in Cricket history
Most wickets in Cricket history, Cricket is often regarded as the game of batters in modern-era, but it the bowlers who mainly controls the game, and there has been many great bowlers in the history of gentlemen’s game graced the pitch with their exceptional performances that not only secured many wickets but elevated them to the status of absolute legends of the sports.
In this article, we will look at the top-5 bowlers with most wickets in cricket history.
Glenn McGrath
The man with the golden arm, legendary Australian cricket, Glenn McGrath has taken as many as 949 across all formats in his career.
McGrath, the right-arm fast bowler, who usually shocked the opposition in the initial overs of the innings by taking early wickets, has the best average among the top five in this list.
Anil Kumble
The tall spin bowler, widely regarded as India’s greatest spin bowler of all time, has claimed 956 wickets to be in fourth spot on this list.
The Indian spinner’s bowling style is leg break googly but with a twist of an orthodox twist, and his remain flippers remained the most famous deliveries among all. His accuracy with the line and lengths has benefited him and the team to grab wickets in quick successions.
James Anderson
The second player after legend Sachin Tendulkar with the longest cricket career, James Anderson, the magician with the ball, has bagged the third spot in the list with 988 wickets in all three formats.
Englishman has remained the backbone of team England in last 2 decades and got the wickets of most dangerous batters in the world numerous times, including Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, David Warner and Kane Williamson to name a few.
Shane Warne
Shane Warne was the toughest spin bowler to face in the history of gentlemen’s game. Batters often tend to fail to read where the ball will land on pitch and where it will move after landing.
The Aussie great Warne ended his international career with 1001 wickets in all formats.
Muthiah Muralidaran
The sensational spinner from Sri Lanka, Muthiah Muralidaran holds the record of most wickets in the history of the game.
Batters generally struggled to pick his regular deliveries, still he used his famous ‘doorsa’ that made the batsmen more clueless and gift him their wickets.
Muralidaran, with 1347 wickets in all forms of cricket, is the highest wicket-taker, and will likely remain for ages due to extremely difficult statistics to beat and the decreasing amount of test games.
Top-5 bowlers with most wickets in cricket history
| Position | Player | Span | Match | Innings | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muthiah Muralidaran (SL) | 1992-2011 | 495 | 583 | 1347 |
| 2 | Shane Warne (AUS) | 1992-2007 | 339 | 464 | 1001 |
| 3 | James Anderson (ENG) | 2002-2023 | 401 | 559 | 988 |
| 4 | A Kumble (IND) | 1990-2008 | 403 | 501 | 956 |
| 5 | GD McGrath (AUS) | 1993-2007 | 376 | 493 | 949 |