Asia Cup 2023: Most Wickets in Asia Cup History

While Sanath Jayasuriya scored the most runs in the Asia Cup, his former Sri Lankan teammate Muthiah Muralitharan is leading the race when it comes to the most wickets in Asia Cup. Muralitharan has 30 wickets in the tournament while India's Ravindra Jadeja and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan with 19 wickets are the joint-highest wicket-takers when it comes to active internationals.

Most Wickets in Asia Cup 2023

S. No 

Player 

Team 

MAT 

WKTS 

BBI 

AVE 

ECO 

SR 

4w 

5w 

1

Matheesha Pathirana

SL

5

11

4/32

22.63

6.41

21.18

1

-

2

Mohammed Siraj 

IND

5

10

6/21

12.20

4.63

15.80

-

1

3

Dunith Wellalage

SL

5

10

5/40

17.20

4.30

24.00

-

1

4

Shaheen Afridi

PAK

5

10

4/35

23.50

5.73

24.60

1

-

5

Kuldeep Yadav

IND

4

9

5/25

11.33

3.70

18.33

1

1

6 Haris Rauf

PAK 

4

9

4/19

13.33

4.80

16.66

1

-

7

Taskin Ahmed

BAN 

4

9

4/44 

 19.11

5.13

22.33 

1 

- 

8

 Maheesh Theekshana

SL

5

8

3/69 

29.12 

5.15 

33.87

-

-

9

Shoriful Islam

BAN

4

7

3/36

18.71

4.51

24.85

-

-

10

Naseem Shah

PAK

4

7

3/34

20.00

4.85

24.71

-

-

*Last updated on 17th september 2023

Most Wickets in Asia Cup

Player Team Period Match Overs Wkts Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
Muthiah Muralitharan SL 1995-2010 24 230.2 30 28.83 3.75 46.0 1 1
Lasith Malinga SL 2004-2018 14 128.1 29 20.55 4.65 26.5 1 3
Ajantha Mendis SL 2008-2014 8 68 26 10.42 3.98 15.6 2 2
Ravindra Jadeja IND 2010-2023 19 151.1 25 26.28 4.34 36.2 2 0
Saeed Ajmal PAK 2008-2014 12 115.0 25 19.40 4.21 27.6 0 0
Chaminda Vaas SL 1995-2008 19 152.2 23 27.78 4.19 39.7 0 0
Abdur Razzak BAN 2004-2014 18 170.2 22 36.18 4.67 46.4 0 0
Sanath Jayasuriya SL 1990-2008 25 148.5 22 30.31 4.48 40.5 1 0
Irfan Pathan INDIA 2004-2012 12 109.1 22 27.5 5.54 29.7 1 0
Shakib Al Hasan BAN 2010-2023 18 171.1 22 36.95 4.74 46.6 1 0

The Asia Cup Trivia

  • Ravi Shastri with four wickets was the leading wicket-taker in the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup.
  • Lasith Malinga was the leading wicket-taker in 2010 and joint leading wicket-taker in 2014. That makes him the only bowler to feature twice in the list.
  • Ajantha Mendis in 2008 picked 17 wickets – most in any edition of the competition.

List of Most Wickets in Asia Cup History (1984-2023) 

 While Muralithran  is racing with 30 wickets from 24 matches, his former teammate and legend Lasith Malinga has 29 wickets to his name and is second in the list. Ravindra Jadeja and Irfan Pathan are the only Indian bowlers who feature in the list of top 10 of highest wicket-takers in Asia Cup history. 

Along with Muralitharan, Saeed Ajmal (25 wickets), Sanath Jayasuriya (22 wickets), Shakib Al Hasan (19 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (19 wickets) are the spinners to feature in the top 10. 

Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav and Mustafizur Rahman were the leading wicket-takers of the edition in 2018. The trio picked up 10 wickets each to cement their legacy.  

As per the Asia Cup schedule, the latest edition of the tournament, which will be played in the T20 format, will begin on 27th of August. Six teams are divided into two groups and the top two teams in the Asia Cup Points table will qualify for the Super Fours. The top two teams will then qualify for the finals of the competition.  

Edition Player Team Year Wkts
16th Matheesha Pathirana SL 2023 11
15th Bhuvneshwar Kumar IND 2022 11
14th Rashid Khan
Mustafizur Rahman
Kuldeep Yadav
AFG
BAN
IND
2018 10
13th Al-Amin Hossain BAN 2016 11
12th Lasith Malinga
Saeed Ajmal
SL
PAK
2014 11
11th Umar Gul PAK 2012 9
10th Lasith Malinga SL 2010 9
9th Ajantha Mendis SL 2008 17
8th Irfan Pathan IND 2004 14
7th Abdul Razzaq PAK 2000 8
6th Venkatesh Prasad IND 1997 7
5th Anil Kumble IND 1995 7
4th Kapil Dev IND 1990-91 9
3rd Arshad Ayub IND 1988 9
2nd Abdul Qadir PAK 1986 9
1st Ravi Shastri IND 1984 4

*Last updated on 17th september 2023