Most Wickets In T20 Cricket: The first-ever game of T20 cricket at a professional level was played in 2003, when England hosted the Twenty20 Cup, a domestic tournament.
T20 cricket really boomed when the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 became a huge success as India and Pakistan clashed in the final, with the Men In Blue emerging victorious.
The landscape of cricket quickly changed with the beginning of the IPL in 2008, and since then, dozens of T20 leagues have sprouted up across the world as cricket boards look for an influx of big money.
While initially, T20 cricket was seen as a batsman’s game and in particular one that signals the death of spinners, bowlers have time and again found ways to counter the batsmen and keep themselves in the game.
Few bowlers have stood out in T20 cricket, with some even picking up over 500 wickets in the shortest format while playing for dozens of teams in various cricket tournaments. Let us see the top five highest wicket-takers in T20 cricket.
Top 5 Bowlers With Most Wickets In T20 Cricket:
5. Shakib Al Hasan – 498 wickets
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is the greatest cricketer from Bangladesh across formats and probably in each format too. Apart from piling up over 7000 runs, Shakib has also taken 498 wickets in T20 cricket with a best of 6/6. He’s claimed 5 five-wicket hauls in the shortest format. Shakib twice won the IPL with KKR.
4. Imran Tahir – 547 wickets
The legendary South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who continues to play T20 leagues even at the age of 45, has taken 547 wickets in T20 cricket and has featured for over 20 teams! He has four five-fors in T20s. Tahir was part of CSK’s IPL title-winning campaign in 2018.
3. Sunil Narine – 589 wickets
Sunil Narine is one of the most difficult bowlers to hit against in T20 cricket, as suggested by his excellent economy of 6.17 over more than 550 matches. Narine has picked up 589 wickets in his T20 cricket career. Narine is a three-time IPL winner with KKR and a one-time T20 World Cup winner with the West Indies in 2012.
2. Dwayne Bravo – 631 wickets
The West Indian great Dwayne Bravo is the second-highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket with 631 wickets to his name in 582 matches.
Bravo, who retired from professional cricket in 2024, played for more than two dozen teams in T20 leagues, domestic and international. Bravo was one of the best death-overs bowlers of all-time and helped CSK win multiple IPL trophies.
1. Rashid Khan – 651 wickets
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has taken the most wickets in T20 cricket, 651 wickets, and surpassed Dwayne Bravo for this record in February 2025.
He’s done it at an average of 18.5, the best average among the top 20 T20 wicket-takers, and an economy of 6.57. Rashid has four five-wicket hauls in his bag in T20 cricket.
Rashid made his T20 debut in 2015, and he’s achieved this feat in 10 years’ time; given Rashid is 27 years of age currently, and with the amount of T20s he plays, he could have a realistic shot at 1000 T20 cricket in the next 10 years.
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