The 2023 Asia Cup kicked off with the hosts, Pakistan, taking on Nepal in Multan on August 30, 2023. The tournament is crucial as teams look to find their best XI for the upcoming 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The limited-overs tournaments are said to be dominated by batters, but these Asian teams have some bowlers who can give batters a tough time. And this was clearly visible in the first match, as Pakistan’s Shadab Khan bagged 4 wickets against Nepal.
However, Shadab won’t be alone in troubling the batters, with speedsters Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan eyeing to lead the wicket charts in the 2023 Asia Cup.
Now, let’s take a look at the top 10 bowlers with the most wickets in the Asia Cup 2023.
Most Wickets in Asia Cup 2023
| Player | Wickets | Matches | Innings | BBI | Avg | Econ | SR | 5-fer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matheesha Pathirana (SL) | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4/32 | 24.54 | 6.61 | 22.2 | – |
| Mohammed Siraj (IND) | 10 | 5 | 4 | 6/21 | 12.20 | 4.63 | 15.8 | 1 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4/35 | 23.50 | 5.73 | 24.6 | – |
| Dunith Wellalage | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4/60 | 17.90 | 4.26 | 25.2 | 1 |
| Haris Rauf (PAK) | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4/19 | 13.33 | 4.80 | 16.6 | – |
| Kuldeep Yadav (IND) | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5/25 | 11.44 | 3.61 | 19.0 | 1 |
| Taskin Ahmed (BAN) | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4/44 | 19.11 | 5.13 | 22.3 | – |
| Maheesh Theekshana (SL) | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3/69 | 29.12 | 5.15 | 33.8 | – |
| Naseem Shah (PAK) | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3/34 | 20.00 | 4.85 | 24.7 | – |
| Shoriful Islam (BAN) | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3/36 | 18.71 | 4.51 | 24.8 | – |
Key Stats
Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka’s former mystery spinner, wreaked havoc in the 2008 Asia Cup edition as he bagged the most wickets (17) in a single edition of Asia Cup. Moreover, in the same edition, he returned with the best bowling figures (6/13) in tournament history.
Talking about the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, Sri Lanka’s legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan leads the wicket charts with 30 wickets to his name. He is closely followed by Lasith Malinga, who has picked up 29 wickets. You can check out the complete list by clicking the link below.
