The batters largely dominate the limited-overs formats of cricket, and they are the ones who are celebrated by the masses. That is why the bowlers in these formats are underrated, and their achievements must be appreciated. One such elite list is the 300-wicket club in the ODI format.

It is not an easy task for a bowler to keep on churning up wickets in this format because the surfaces more often than not are tailor-made for batters, and the bowlers need to work hard for their wickets. To breach the mount 300, these bowlers need to put on a consistent show with the ball for a prolonged period. Hence it is considered a significant milestone, and the bowlers who achieve this attain a legendary status. In this piece, we will discuss the bowlers who have picked 300 or more wickets in the ODI format.

Bowlers with 300 ODI Wickets

PlayerInningsWicketsAverageBBI
Muthiah Muralidaran (SL)34153423.087/30
Wasim Akram (PAK)35150223.525/15
Waqar Younis (PAK)25841623.847/36
Chaminda Vaas (SL)32040027.538/19
Shahid Afridi (PAK)37239534.517/12
Shaun Pollock (SA)29739324.506/35
Glenn McGrath (AUS)24838122.027/15
Brett Lee (AUS)21738023.365/22
Lasith Malinga (SL)22033828.876/38
Anil Kumble (IND)26533730.896/12
Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)36832336.756/29
Shakib Al Hasan (BAN)24131729.525/29
Javagal Srinath (IND)22731528.085/23
Daniel Vettori (NZ)27730531.715/7

Key Stats

Out of the 1141 players to pick at least a wicket in ODI cricket, only 14 bowlers have scalped 300 or more wickets in the format. Australia’s Shane Warne is the 15th leading wicket-taker in the format, with 293 scalps to his credit.

Muthiah Muralidaran leads the pack with the most wickets in ODIs and is one of the two bowlers to breach the 500-wicket landmark in the format. The legendary spinner from Sri Lanka finished his career with 534 wickets at a stunning average of 23.08 in 341 games with 10 five-wicket hauls.

Waqar Younis has the most (13) five-wicket hauls and is the third-most wicket-taker in ODI cricket. The only other bowler to pick 400 or more ODI wickets is Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas, and he has the best ODI bowling figures (8/19).

Glenn McGrath’s bowling average of 22.02 is the least for a bowler with more than 300 wickets, and Shaun Pollock’s economy rate of 3.67 is the lowest.

A strike rate of 29.4 is the lowest for a bowler with 300 or more ODI wickets, and it was achieved by the former Australian pacer Brett Lee.

Check: Which fast bowler has picked the most wickets in Tests within a calendar year?