Top 10 Bowlers Most Wickets in Test Match

The bowler plays a central and interesting role in this war of cricket skills and strategy, but what all those watchful eyes wait for during a match comes crumbling down the wicket from the massive sixes and elegant strokes of the batsmen. Still, the bowlers composed this very symphony of wickets, turning the scoreboard upside down with their skills and encapsulating names in history. In Test cricket which requires so much patience, precision, and even a relentless spirit, the best bowlers have achieved legendary status while exposing their capacity to break any batting line-up. 

Muttiah Muralitharan is the one who currently holds the record for picking up the most wickets in Test history. He is at the top spot with 800 wickets in 133 TEST matches. Australian leggie Shane Warne is the second-highest wicket-taker in TEST history—Shane Warne – has 708 wickets in 145 TEST matches.

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List of The Top 10 Bowlers With The Most Wickets in Test Cricket 

Bowlers With the Most Wickets in Test

1. Muttiah Muralitharan (1992-2010)

Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka has scored the most wickets in the test for a long time, for no currently active bowler is even close to his haul of a record 800 wickets. He made his test debut for Sri Lanka against Australia in 1992. Having one of the most fascinating and controversy-rich bowling actions, Murali played tests for 18 years and took 800 scalps in 133 tests with a record 67 five-wicket hauls and remains the only bowler in test history to have two 9-wicket hauls in Test history.

2. Shane Warne (1992-2007)

The late great Shane Warne was the first bowler to take 700 wickets in tests, and he ended up with 708 wickets at the end of his glorious career. Shane Warne made his test debut against India back in the year 1992 and went on to become the greatest leg-spinner that the world has ever seen. He played 145 tests and took 37 five-wicket hauls, including a hat-trick against England in 1994. We lost this genius & champion leggie at age 52, in 2022.

3. James Anderson (2003-2024)

Perhaps the greatest pace bowler England have ever produced, James Anderson retired from test cricket in July 2024. Since making his test debut in 2003, Anderson went on to play 188 tests for England. Anderson’s 188 tests put him only behind Sachin Tendulkar (200) in the list of players who have made most test appearances. In his 21-year-long test career, Anderson picked 704 wickets, the most by any fast bowler and third highest among all the bowlers in the history of test cricket. He also picked 32 fifers in tests.

4. Anil Kumble (1990-2008)

India’s Anil Kumble is 4th on the list of most test wicket-takers with 619 scalps in his 132 test matches. Kumble played his first test for India in 1990 against England, and then he went on to play his last test against Australia in 2008. He has picked 35 five-wicket hauls in the longest version of the game. His record haul of 10/74 remains sublime, as with that, he also became the third bowler ever to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings after Jim Laker(Eng)) and Azaz Patel (NZ). He achieved this feat in the 1999 Delhi test against Pakistan.

5. Stuart Broad (2007-2023)

In a recent historical turn of events, England fast bowler Stuart Broad emerged as the only second cricketer to reach 600 test wickets while playing in the Ashes 2023 series, company coming from fellow countryman and opening partner James Anderson. After he had made his England test debut in 2007, Broad grew up to turn out to be one of the greatest seamers England has ever produced. This Nottingham-born player represented England in 166 matches and took 604 wickets, with 20 fifers.

His bowling came alive in the 2015 Ashes, in which he garnered a haul of 8 for 15 versus Australia. A useful lower-order batsman, Stuart Broad has his claim to fame in tests too-a century when he played a knock of 169 against Pakistan. He is also one of the few bowlers to have taken more than one hat-trick in tests.

6. Glenn McGrath (1993-2007)

Glenn McGrath is regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers the game ever saw, playing test cricket for 14 years from 1993–2007 and bagging 563 wickets in his 124 test career.

McGrath is known for his immaculate line and length and continues to bowl in the same areas. Among the handful of bowlers who took test hat-trick, the feat was achieved by McGrath against West Indies in 2001. His best bowling performance of 8/24 came against Pakistan, and up to now, he is the highest wicket-taking pace bowler for Australia in tests.

7. Nathan Lyon (2011-2024)

Nathan Lyon played his first match against Sri Lanka in 2011, taking a wicket with the first delivery of his career for Australia and concluded with a fifer to his name. Now he is recognized as the greatest off-spinner to have ever represented Australia. He has thus far got 530 wickets in 129 tests for Australia, with 24 five-wicket hauls and registering four ten-wicket hauls.

8. Ravichandran Ashwin (2011-Till date)

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin might be categorized as a spinner, but he is a true all-rounder with more than 3,000 runs to his name and six centuries in test cricket. However, his most significant contribution to India has been as an off-spinner; he made his test debut in 2011 against West Indies and has since come out to be one of the leading wicket-takers in the world of cricket. His performances eased India into getting over Harbhajan Singh, who had started losing form toward the later stages of his career.

He stands eighth on the list of finishing the most test wickets as he has taken 522* wickets in 101* games. The spin wizard recently became the second Indian bowler to take more than 500 test wickets. Maintaining a decent average of 23.83, Ashwin has bagged 37 fifers to date.

9. Courtney Walsh (1984-2001)

Courtney Walsh of West Indies is the first player to attain 500 wickets and therefore, one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. He played his first test match in 1984 against Australia and at the end, he was at the top among the wicket-takers of the West Indies with 519 wickets taken in 132 matches. Walsh formed one of the fiercest opening bowling partnerships with Curtly Ambrose and even captained the West Indies team with some success.

10. Dale Steyn (2004- 2019)

The South African announced himself in test cricket, against England in 2004, and went on to become one of the most celebrated bowlers of all time. The African legend is probably the best fast bowler of the last decade.

He has won 439 wickets in 93 tests in his 15-year test cricket career from 2004 to 2019. His cricketing journey has seen a lot of injuries. However, till the end of his career, he gave everything his body had. He is the only bowler to take five wickets against every test-playing nation. He is South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in test cricket and remained on the number one ranking of a test bowler for six years consecutively 2008 to 2014.

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