Muthiah Muralidaran holds the record for scalping the most wickets in Test cricket. The legendary Sri Lankan spinner grabbed 800 wickets in 133 Test matches at an average of 22.72.
He also bagged the most five-wicket hauls (67) and the most ten-wicket hauls (22) in Test cricket. Muralidaran is also the leading wicket-taker across all formats.
You can check out the top 20 bowlers who have picked up the most wickets in Test cricket.
Most Wickets in Tests
| Player | Matches | Innings | Wickets | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 5W/10W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muthiah Muralidaran (SL) | 133 | 230 | 800 | 9/51 | 22.72 | 2.47 | 55.0 | 67/22 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 145 | 273 | 708 | 8/71 | 25.41 | 2.65 | 57.4 | 37/10 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 188 | 350 | 704 | 7/42 | 26.45 | 2.79 | 56.8 | 32/3 |
| Anil Kumble (IND) | 132 | 236 | 619 | 10/74 | 29.65 | 2.69 | 65.9 | 35/8 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 167 | 309 | 604 | 8/15 | 27.68 | 2.97 | 55.7 | 20/3 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 124 | 243 | 563 | 8/24 | 21.64 | 2.49 | 51.9 | 29/3 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 105 | 199 | 536 | 7/59 | 23.95 | 2.83 | 50.6 | 37/8 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 129 | 242 | 530 | 8/50 | 30.28 | 2.93 | 61.8 | 24/5 |
| Courtney Walsh (WI) | 132 | 242 | 519 | 7/37 | 24.44 | 2.53 | 57.8 | 22/3 |
| Dale Steyn (SA) | 93 | 171 | 439 | 7/51 | 22.95 | 3.24 | 42.3 | 26/5 |
| Kapil Dev (IND) | 131 | 227 | 434 | 9/83 | 29.64 | 2.78 | 63.9 | 23/2 |
| Rangana Herath (SL) | 93 | 170 | 433 | 9/127 | 28.07 | 2.80 | 60.0 | 34/9 |
| Sir Richard Hadlee (NZ) | 86 | 150 | 431 | 9/52 | 22.29 | 2.63 | 50.8 | 36/9 |
| Shaun Pollock (SA) | 108 | 202 | 421 | 7/87 | 23.11 | 2.39 | 57.8 | 16/1 |
| Harbhajan Singh (IND) | 103 | 190 | 417 | 8/84 | 32.46 | 2.84 | 68.5 | 25/5 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 104 | 181 | 414 | 7/119 | 23.62 | 2.59 | 54.6 | 25/5 |
| Curtly Ambrose (WI) | 98 | 179 | 405 | 8/45 | 20.99 | 2.30 | 54.5 | 22/3 |
| Makhaya Ntini (SA) | 101 | 190 | 390 | 7/37 | 28.82 | 3.23 | 53.4 | 18/4 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 104 | 197 | 385 | 7/64 | 29.88 | 2.99 | 59.9 | 15/1 |
| Ian Botham (ENG) | 102 | 168 | 383 | 8/34 | 28.40 | 2.99 | 56.9 | 27/4 |
Frequently Asked Questions:
Muthiah Muralidaran has taken the most Test wickets in history. He picked up 800 wickets in 133 Tests.
Thus far, only 3 bowlers have scalped 700 wickets in Test cricket. Apart from Muralidaran, Shane Warne and James Anderson have breached the 700-wicket mark in Tests.
A total of 9 bowlers have grabbed 500 Test wickets. They include Muralidaran, Warne, Anderson, Anil Kumble, Stuart Broad, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh, Nathan Lyon, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
James Anderson has taken the most Test wickets among pacers. The England pacer has bagged 704 wickets in 188 Test matches.
Muthiah Muralidaran has bagged the most five-wicket hauls in Test history. The Sri Lankan off-spinner took 67 five-fors in Test cricket.
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