Batters win you matches, whereas bowlers win you tournaments, is what they say.
In Tests, a team must pick up 20 wickets to win a game, whereas in ODIs and T20Is, the bowlers’ roles change steeply. However, irrespective of the format, picking up wickets is the primary role for any bowler.
The table below will list the top ten bowlers who have picked up the most wickets in 2024 across formats, the chart that Ravindra Jadeja topped in 2023.
Most Wickets in 2024 in All Formats
| Player | Innings | Wickets | BBI | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jasprit Bumrah (IND) | 30 | 68 | 6/45 | 26.4 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga (SL) | 28 | 60 | 7/19 | 14.4 |
| Alzarri Joseph (WI) | 35 | 57 | 4/19 | 30.7 |
| Taskin Ahmed (BAN) | 29 | 55 | 6/64 | 24.4 |
| Asitha Fernando (SL) | 31 | 50 | 5/102 | 37.8 |
| Adam Zampa (AUS) | 31 | 50 | 4/12 | 18.8 |
| Josh Hazlewood (AUS) | 29 | 49 | 5/31 | 33.1 |
| Matt Henry (NZ) | 21 | 49 | 7/67 | 32.3 |
| Gus Atkinson (ENG) | 19 | 48 | 7/45 | 34.2 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 21 | 47 | 6/88 | 42.9 |
Key Insights
The year started like a dream for Wanindu Hasaranga, who picked a 7-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in the first ODI game he played this year in Colombo – a feat that will be a challenging task for any bowler to beat this year.
Surprisingly, there have been 7 5-wicket hauls already in the first month of 2024 in all formats combined, Hasaranga being the only spinner in the list. Find here the leading 5-wicket haul-takers in Test cricket and in ODIs.
Shamar Joseph of West Indies is another bowler who has started the year with a dream debut. The debutant West Indian took a wicket with his first ball in his Test career, becoming the 23rd cricketer to do so in the history of Test cricket. What made it more special was that he picked Steve Smith, who had an average of 58.08 at the time, as his first-ever Test victim, followed that by getting Marnus Labuschagne out.
