Fastest to 200 Test Wickets

Key Insights

Yasir Shah, who took 100 wickets in 17 matches, doubled his tally in the next 16 matches. Reaching the 200-wicket mark in 33 matches, he became the fastest bowler to grab 200 wickets in the Test format.

Shah’s record broke the one held by Clarrie Grimmett, which had stood for close to 83 years. Grimmett held the top spot from February 1936 to December 2018.

Dennis Lillee and Waqar Younis (who has some exciting ODI records to his name) are the joint fastest to 200 Test wickets among pacers, with both achieving the mark in 38 matches. Lillee reached the milestone in 1980, while Younis equalled his feat in 1995.

Shane Warne may have taken 42 matches to reach 200 wickets, but he did so very quickly in terms of time. He reached the landmark in 4 years and 359 days (January 1992 – December 1996). However, the record for the least time taken to pick up 200 wickets is held by Pat Cummins, who did it in 3 years and 259 days.