The T20 World Cup has witnessed eight exciting editions so far where two teams (England and West Indies) won the title two times each. England won their first T20 World Cup in 2010 when the tournament was played in the Caribbean. They won the final against Australia by seven wickets. They won their second title in the recent edition of the tournament which was hosted by Australia and they beat Pakistan to win their second title. The shortest format of the game is known as the batters' game because of the hard hitting in the limited overs. However, some bowlers cemented their name as the highest wicket-takers in the history of the tournament.
Here is the Tally of the highest wicket-takers in the history of the T20 World Cup
Rank | Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Balls | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4 | 5 |
1 | Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 2007-2022 | 36 | 35 | 775 | 129.1 | 0 | 876 | 47 | 4/9 | 18.63 | 6.78 | 16.48 | 3 | 0 |
2 | Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 2007-2016 | 34 | 34 | 810 | 135 | 1 | 907 | 39 | 4/11 | 23.25 | 6.71 | 20.76 | 2 | 0 |
3 | SL Malinga (SL) | 2007-2014 | 31 | 31 | 616 | 102.4 | 0 | 763 | 38 | 5/31 | 20.07 | 7.43 | 16.21 | 0 | 1 |
4 | Saeed Ajmal (PAK) | 2009-2014 | 23 | 23 | 536 | 89.2 | 1 | 607 | 36 | 4/19 | 16.86 | 6.79 | 14.88 | 3 | 0 |
5 | Ajantha Mendis (SL) | 2009-2014 | 21 | 21 | 471 | 78.3 | 3 | 526 | 35 | 6/8 | 15.02 | 6.7 | 13.45 | 1 | 1 |
6 | Umar Gul (PAK) | 2007-2014 | 24 | 24 | 496 | 82.4 | 0 | 604 | 35 | 5/6 | 17.25 | 7.3 | 14.17 | 1 | 1 |
7 | R Ashwin (IND) | 2012-2022 | 24 | 24 | 510 | 85 | 0 | 552 | 32 | 4/11 | 17.25 | 6.49 | 15.93 | 1 | 0 |
8 | PW Hasaranga (SL) | 2021-2022 | 16 | 16 | 366 | 61 | 1 | 355 | 31 | 3/8 | 11.45 | 5.81 | 11.8 | 0 | 0 |
9 | DW Steyn (SA) | 2009-2016 | 23 | 23 | 499 | 83.1 | 1 | 579 | 30 | 4/17 | 19.3 | 6.96 | 16.63 | 1 | 0 |
10 | SCJ Broad (ENG) | 2007-2014 | 26 | 25 | 521 | 86.5 | 2 | 671 | 30 | 3/17 | 22.36 | 7.72 | 17.36 | 0 | 0 |
11 | TG Southee (NZ) | 2010-2022 | 22 | 22 | 481 | 80.1 | 2 | 609 | 29 | 3/6 | 21 | 7.59 | 16.58 | 0 | 0 |
12 | MA Starc (AUS) | 2012-2022 | 20 | 20 | 474 | 79 | 1 | 660 | 27 | 3/20 | 24.44 | 8.35 | 17.55 | 0 | 0 |
13 | DJ Bravo (WI) | 2007-2021 | 34 | 27 | 532 | 88.4 | 0 | 782 | 27 | 4/38 | 28.96 | 8.81 | 19.7 | 1 | 0 |
14 | TA Boult (NZ) | 2014-2022 | 14 | 14 | 334 | 55.4 | 0 | 366 | 25 | 4/13 | 14.64 | 6.57 | 13.36 | 1 | 0 |
15 | IS Sodhi (NZ) | 2016-2022 | 17 | 17 | 378 | 63 | 0 | 444 | 25 | 3/18 | 17.76 | 7.04 | 15.12 | 0 | 0 |
16 | S Badree (WI) | 2012-2016 | 15 | 15 | 354 | 59 | 1 | 326 | 24 | 4/15 | 13.58 | 5.52 | 14.75 | 1 | 0 |
17 | M Morkel (SA) | 2007-2014 | 17 | 17 | 376 | 62.4 | 0 | 452 | 24 | 4/17 | 18.83 | 7.21 | 15.66 | 2 | 0 |
18 | A Zampa (AUS) | 2016-2022 | 14 | 14 | 300 | 50 | 0 | 306 | 23 | 5/19 | 13.3 | 6.12 | 13.04 | 0 | 1 |
19 | Rashid Khan (AFG) | 2016-2022 | 15 | 15 | 350 | 58.2 | 0 | 372 | 23 | 4/9 | 16.17 | 6.37 | 15.21 | 1 | 0 |
20 | NL McCullum (NZ) | 2007-2016 | 22 | 20 | 403 | 67.1 | 0 | 399 | 23 | 3/15 | 17.34 | 5.94 | 17.52 | 0 | 0 |
21 | GP Swann (ENG) | 2009-2012 | 16 | 15 | 330 | 55 | 2 | 358 | 22 | 3/24 | 16.27 | 6.5 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
22 | SR Watson (AUS) | 2007-2016 | 24 | 23 | 452 | 75.2 | 1 | 608 | 22 | 3/26 | 27.63 | 8.07 | 20.54 | 0 | 0 |
23 | MJ Santner (NZ) | 2016-2022 | 17 | 17 | 361 | 60.1 | 0 | 392 | 21 | 4/11 | 18.66 | 6.51 | 17.19 | 1 | 0 |
24 | CJ Jordan (ENG) | 2014-2022 | 18 | 18 | 362 | 60.2 | 0 | 464 | 21 | 4/28 | 22.09 | 7.69 | 17.23 | 1 | 0 |
25 | RA Jadeja (IND) | 2009-2021 | 22 | 22 | 444 | 74 | 1 | 529 | 21 | 3/15 | 25.19 | 7.14 | 21.14 | 0 | 0 |
26 | AU Rashid (ENG) | 2009-2022 | 22 | 22 | 470 | 78.2 | 1 | 548 | 21 | 4/2 | 26.09 | 6.99 | 22.38 | 1 | 0 |
Bangladesh's star spinner leads the tally as he got 14 scalps in 35 innings in the history of the T20 World Cup. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi stands second on the list with 39 wickets in 34 matches. Ravichandran Ashwin is the only Indian who made it to this tally. He is currently on seventh by picking 32 wickets in 24 outings.
Interestingly, Shakib is the only player in the top 5 among the highest wicket-takers featuring in the T20 World Cup 2024 which is hosted by the USA and West Indies. Shakib's Bangladesh will play their first T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka on June 8 at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas.
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