Top 5 Wicket-Takers in Asia Cup History

The first time this tournament took place was in 1984 and ever since then, we’ve seen some brilliant batting and bowling performances across fourteen editions of the Asia Cup. A lot of individual performances have lit up the tournament over the years and we definitely appreciate those who gave us multiple such performances over time.

For instance, there’s Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya who leads the all-time run scoring charts in the Asia Cup with 1,220 runs across several editions, and you can see the full list here. On the other hand, we have also noticed some consistent bowlers in the Asia Cup and today, we’re going to highlight the best of them in this article…

Top wicket-takers in the Asia Cup

Some legends of the game of cricket have made the list of the top wicket-takers in the history of the Asia Cup (updated as of 29th July 2022), while some who narrowly missed out include Chaminda Vaas, Mashrafe Mortaza, Ravindra Jadeja, and others. Check out this top wicket-takers list which was curated before the start of Asia Cup 2022:

5) Shakib al Hasan

Easily one of the best all-rounders in the modern game, former Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan loves to bring his A-game in international tournaments. Here, he’s had a short career in the Asia Cup between 2010-2018 but has managed 24 wickets in 18 games and this includes a best bowling performance of 4/42 against Afghanistan in 2018. Remember, he’s among the runs too in the Asia Cup.

4) Saeed Ajmal

Now retired from the game, Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was often apprehended for his bowling action but in the Asia Cup, he made sure he troubled all batsmen with 25 wickets in only 12 games between 2008-2014. He gave runs away at barely 4.2 runs per over and his best performance in the Asia Cup was 3/26 which came against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2014 final, unfortunately coming in a losing cause.

3) Ajantha Mendis

He may have not had the longest of international careers, but his numbers in the Asia Cup tournament are unbeatable. Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis bagged 26 wickets in 8 games here including two 5-fers and a best bowling performance of 6/13 against India in 2008 which remains the best figures in Asia Cup history. He also has the best bowling average on this list of 10.42, and an economy rate of only 3.98.

2) Muttiah Muralitharan

Also the leading wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket, spin wizard from Sri Lanka Muttiah Muralitharan cast a spell on batsmen in the Asia Cup as well, picking up as many as 30 wickets in 24 games between 1995-2010. It’s been over a decade since he retired but we suspect he’ll be on this list for a while to come. His figures include a best of 5/31 against Bangladesh in 2008, and as many as 13 maidens in this tournament.

1) Lasith Malinga

He’s a special bowler, is Lasith Malinga. He happens to be the only pacer on this list of top all-time wicket-takers in the Asia Cup, with 33 wickets in 15 games. His numbers are better than most people in this tournament, being the only person to have three 5-fers to his name, including a best bowling innings of 5/34 which came against Pakistan in 2010. The slinger is expected to stay at the top of this list for a while!

Guess who's back?
Lasith Malinga is back in the @OfficialSLC squad for the Asia Cup. It's the first time he's been selected for his country since September 2017.
Find out who else made the 16-man squad 👇👇👇https://t.co/FjavPnnnr3 pic.twitter.com/CQKIu1vheu
— ICC (@ICC) September 1, 2018