Top Bowlers with Most wickets in Test Cricket

Test cricket is widely regarded as the most difficult of the three versions of the game. To excel in the 5-day format, both batsmen and bowlers must devote a significant amount of time and effort.

Posted On June 21st, 2021

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka is the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket history. In 133 Test matches, he took 800 wickets at an average of 22.72 and a strike rate of 55. Muralitharan also holds the record for most fifers (67) and ten-wicket hauls (22) in the longest format. From 1992 to 2010, he was a member of the Sri Lanka Test team.

Shane Warne

Shane Warne, an Australian spinner, is regarded as one of the greatest spinners in the game's history. In 145 Tests, he took 708 wickets at an average of 25.41 and a strike rate of 57.4. During his five-day playing career, Warne took 37 fifers and ten 10-wicket hauls. In 1994, he had his best bowling figures of 8/71 against England.

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble is India's leading wicket-taker in the longest format. He has 619 scalps in 132 matches, with a strike rate of 65.9 and an average of 29.65. In his Test career, Kumble took 35 five-wicket hauls and 8 ten-wicket hauls. He is one of only two bowlers in Test history to take all ten wickets in a single inning. In the 1999 Delhi Test, he reached this milestone against Pakistan.

James Anderson

Among current players, English pacer James Anderson has the most Test wickets. He appears to be in good enough shape to play for another two or three years. Anderson has 614 wickets in 160 games at a strike rate of 55.9 and an average of 26.46. In Test cricket, he has 35 fifers and three 10-wicket hauls, with the best innings figures of 7/42.

Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath, an Australian pace bowler, is regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He took 563 wickets in 124 matches at a strike rate of 51.9 and an average of 21.64. From 1993 to 2007, he was a member of the Australian Test team. McGrath was Australia's leading pacer in Test cricket, with 29 fifers to his name.

Courtney Walsh

After Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall retired, Courtney Walsh took over as West Indies' frontline bowler in the early 1990s, alongside Curtly Ambrose. Courtney Walsh is the only bowler in West Indian cricket history to have taken 500 red-ball wickets. Curtly Ambrose is the second-highest wicket-taker bowler in West Indian cricket history, with 405 wickets in test cricket.

Stuart Broad

Early in his career, he was an opening batsman before becoming a front-line fast bowler for the England team. Stuart Broad will be remembered for when Yuvraj Singh smashed him six sixes in an over during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. However, Stuart Broad has come a long way to join the elite list of test cricketers with high numbers. Broad will undoubtedly be remembered as the greatest fast bowler in English cricket history. Broad is currently England's second-highest wicket-taker, trailing only James Anderson.

Dale Steyn

Dale Steyn will never be replaced in the coming decades or centuries. When Test cricket and Dale Steyn get going, there's probably no better sight in the world to watch in the loop. Rapid, Furious, and Aggressive Dale Steyn's repertoire included everything he needed to make the batsman dance to his music. Dale Steyn has carved his name in the sand even on subcontinent pitches (93 wickets in 22 Tests).

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev, the most decorated allrounder in Indian cricket history and one of the greatest allrounders of all time, added perhaps the most beautiful feather to his already illustrious cap. On February 8, 1994, in the eighth over of his 130th Test, he finally broke the record.