Ever since the inception of the tournament in the first half of 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has come a very long way. From players to stadiums to kits and sponsorships, everything has kept getting better year on year. However, when it comes to players, there’s one thing that has always been a worry and that’s the fact that the game has slowly evolved into being a batsman’s game!
We’re used to crash-boom-bang in IPL T20 cricket and most of the records to fall on a daily basis are all batting records. If you want to see the top run scorers in IPL history, see here. However, today we’re going to recognize the best of the bowlers in this prestigious tournament, those who have been consistent year after year in terms of wicket-taking in the IPL.
For many years, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga topped the IPL wicket-takers list, having played between 2009-2019 for Mumbai Indians. However, he was overtaken only in IPL 2022 and now, Chennai Super Kings’ Dwayne Bravo leads the IPL most wickets list, and we think he’s going to keep the top spot for at least another year or two.
Malinga, Bravo, and Sunil Narine are three overseas players who are in the top 10 highest wicket-takers in IPL history, and it’s great to see that considering the Indian players have played the most number of games here. Check out our complete top 10 IPL wicket-takers list of all-time, updated as of 30th March 2023, one day before the start of the IPL 2023 season:
| Bowler | Wickets | Matches | Teams | Best spell |
| Dwayne Bravo 🌴 | 183 | 161 | Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions, Mumbai Indians | 4/22 |
| Lasith Malinga 🇱🇰 | 170 | 122 | Mumbai Indians | 5/13 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal 🇮🇳 | 166 | 131 | Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals | 5/40 |
| Amit Mishra 🇮🇳 | 166 | 154 | Deccan Chargers, Delhi Capitals / Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 5/17 |
| Piyush Chawla 🇮🇳 | 157 | 165 | Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians | 4/17 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin 🇮🇳 | 157 | 184 | Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiants | 4/34 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar 🇮🇳 | 154 | 146 | Pune Warriors, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 5/19 |
| Sunil Narine 🌴 | 152 | 148 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 5/19 |
| Harbhajan Singh 🇮🇳 | 150 | 162 | Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders | 5/18 |
| Jasprit Bumrah 🇮🇳 | 145 | 120 | Mumbai Indians | 5/10 |
5) Ravichandran Ashwin
He’s played the most number of matches from players on this IPL wicket-takers list. Ravichandran Ashwin has 157 wickets in 184 IPL matches, same as Piyush Chawla ahead of IPL 2023, but he’s likely to go ahead and enter the top 5 IPL most wickets list as Piyush Chawla doesn’t get much game-time anymore. Ashwin has played for as many as five IPL franchises and hasn’t got a 5-fer yet, and is also the only one on this list with only one 4-fer.
4) Amit Mishra
Another leg-spinner whose international career was cut short but he still managed to be an iconic player in this Indian T20 League. Amit Mishra has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils and now Delhi Capitals and has got a bucket-load of wickets for each of these franchisees. With 166 wickets in 154 games, Mishra is on #4 of our wicket-takers list, who last went unsold at the IPL 2022 auction, where he was one of the oldest players on the list.
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3) Yuzvendra Chahal
A leading wicket-taker who rose to fame for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Yuzvendra Chahal has been an attacking option for this captains in the Indian Premier League, where he’s picked 166 wickets in 131 games ahead of IPL 2023. He and Jasprit Bumrah are the only two players on this list to have joined the competition as late as 2013, and they’ve still managed to feature here.
2) Lasith Malinga
Another retired player on this list, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga played his entire career in the blue jersey for Mumbai Indians and even though he played the least number of games among the rest on this list (122 games), he managed to be at the top until IPL 2022 with 170 wickets bowling at an astonishing average of 19.80! His lowest tally of 11 wickets came in IPL 2017 but he returned in IPL 2019 to help Mumbai win the title before retiring from the competition!
1) Dwayne Bravo
Like Harbhajan, DJ Bravo started his IPL career with Mumbai Indians and then became famous as one of the most vital players for Chennai Super Kings, while also briefly representing Gujarat Lions for a couple of seasons when CSK was banned from the IPL. One of the most travelled and experienced T20 franchise players in the world, Bravo bagged 183 wickets in only 161 games, with best figures of 4/22 to his name. He took the top spot in IPL 2022 and will likely retain it for a few years to come!
161 matches.
1560 runs.
183 wickets.
4 times IPL champion.
Highest wickettaker in IPL history.Thank you, Dwayne Bravo for the amazing memories in the field as a player. You're one of the greatest ever to play IPL. And all the best for next chapter in IPL as coach with CSK! pic.twitter.com/7SXMTLyZfZ
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) December 2, 2022
Narrowly missing out on the top 10 IPL wicket-takers list were Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sandeep Sharma, and Rashid Khan, but all of these have a few years left in their IPL careers and will likely feature in the top ten sometime soon. For more updates on the best bowlers in IPL 2023 and the overall IPL tournament, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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