When T20 cricket came to life, it was considered as a batsman’s game. The men with a bat in hand had the freedom to go out there and smash the bowlers all around the park. But the bowlers didn’t take too long to adapt. Especially, the Indian Premier League some of the best bowlers of the format who are popularly known as T20 specialists.
When it comes to the most wickets in IPL history, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga is leading the chart. The slinger has played only for one franchise all along. Mumbai Indians have had the privilege of having amongst the ranks perhaps the best T20 bowler of all time. In 122 IPL games so far, Malinga has picked up 170 wickets at an average of 19.80.
He is known for his deadly and toe-crushing yorkers. But he is not all about the yorkers. The pacer possesses deceiving slower ones, skidding bouncers due to low-arm release and of course, he can clock above 140 kph easily. With the Sri Lankan maestro still continuing to do well even at the international level, he might retain the crown for a few years to come.
Three India spinners follow Malinga in the list of leading wicket-takers. Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, and Piyush Chawla are ranked 2, 3 and 4 respectively. In the top 10, there are 4 pacers and 6 spinners. Among all, Sunil Narine has the best economy rate of 6.67 while Malinga has the best average and strike rate.
| Most wickets in IPL history | |||||||||
| No | Player | Matches | Innings | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate |
| 1 | Lasith Malinga | 122 | 122 | 471.1 | 3,366 | 170 | 19.8 | 7.14 | 16.62 |
| 2 | Amit Mishra | 150 | 150 | 526.5 | 3,871 | 160 | 24.19 | 7.34 | 19.75 |
| 3 | Piyush Chawla | 164 | 163 | 541.4 | 4,263 | 156 | 27.32 | 7.87 | 20.83 |
| 4 | Dwayne Bravo | 140 | 137 | 452 | 3,797 | 153 | 24.81 | 8.4 | 17.72 |
| 5 | Harbhajan Singh | 160 | 157 | 562.2 | 3,967 | 150 | 26.44 | 7.05 | 22.49 |
| 6 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 154 | 151 | 538.2 | 3,701 | 138 | 26.81 | 6.87 | 23.4 |
| 7 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 121 | 121 | 449.3 | 3,253 | 136 | 23.91 | 7.23 | 19.83 |
| 8 | Sunil Narine | 120 | 119 | 464.2 | 3,147 | 127 | 24.77 | 6.77 | 21.93 |
| 9 | Yuzvendra Chahal | 99 | 98 | 355 | 2,723 | 121 | 22.5 | 7.67 | 17.6 |
| 10 | Umesh Yadav | 121 | 120 | 420.2 | 3,579 | 119 | 30.07 | 8.51 | 21.19 |
-Stats as of IPL 2020
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
