This article will discuss the bowlers who have grabbed 20 plus wickets in an IPL season, the most number of times. This is almost equal to the batter’s milestone of scoring 500+ runs in a season.
“Batsmen win you matches, but Bowlers win you the tournament” – This has been the success mantra for most successful IPL teams. Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders have always invested in getting quality bowlers. A quality bowler can completely change the game’s momentum by giving important breakthroughs.
Wickets are worth the gold in IPL. A wicket can put the opposition under pressure and also helps in restricting their run-scoring rate. IPL has witnessed several legendary bowlers like Malinga, Bravo, Bhuvneshwar (Kumar), Bumrah, Narine, Chahal, Rashid Khan, etc. Wickets in powerplay or middle overs can put immense pressure on the opposition. Quality bowlers are the cheat code for consistency in T20 cricket.
However, only very few bowlers have achieved the rare feat of taking 20 plus wickets in an IPL season. Malinga and Chahal currently take 20 plus wickets in an IPL season, the most number of times (4).
Here is the list of those bowlers who have picked 20 plus wickets on most occasions in the Indian Premier League:
| BOWLER | NUMBER OF TIMES (20+ WICKETS IN A SEASON) | YEARS |
|---|---|---|
| Lasith Malinga | 4 | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 4 | 2015, 2016, 2020, 2022 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 3 | 2019, 2020, 2022 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 3 | 2017, 2019 ,2020 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 3 | 2014 , 2016 ,2017 |
| Sunil Narine | 3 | 2014 , 2016 , 2017 |
| Mohammed Shami | 2 | 2020, 2022 |
| Rashid Khan | 2 | 2018 , 2020 |
| DJ Bravo | 2 | 2013 , 2016 |
| Mohit Sharma | 2 | 2013 , 2014 |
Stats Insights
Mumbai Indians star pacer Lasith Malinga and RCB legend Yuzvendra Chahal have taken 20 plus wickets in an IPL season on four different occasions, which is most by any bowler. Malinga has the best economy rate among all pacers in this list. Malinga had the rare quality to take wickets in bulk and bowl economical spells. This truly makes him the greatest pacer in the history of the Indian Premier League.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who equalled the feat by yet another 20+ season in 2022, can easily dethrone Malinga from the first position if he keeps performing at the same level in the upcoming season.
Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Sunil Narine, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have achieved this milestone 3 times each. They too have a great chance to replace Malinga from the top position in this list.
DJ Bravo and Harshal Patel are the joint holders of taking most wickets in an IPL season (32). DJ Bravo and Bhuvneshwar Kumar also have the record for most purple caps (2) in the history of the Indian Premier League.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the record for most wickets in powerplay overs in the history of IPL. At the same time, CSK pacer DJ Bravo has grabbed the most number of wickets in death overs in IPL. Amit Mishra holds the record for most wickets in middle overs in the Indian Premier League.
