Stats: Most wickets for India in ODI cricket

Anil Kumble in action

Anil Kumble has picked the most wickets for India in ODI cricket. The retired leg spinner is also the leading wicket taker in Tests for India with 619 wickets.

Here’s the list of top 5 most wicket takers for India in ODIs:

Player	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy
Anil Kumble	269	334	30.83	4.29
Javagal Srinath	229	315	28.08	4.44
Ajit Agarkar	191	288	27.85	5.07
Zaheer Khan	194	269	30.11	4.95
Harbhajan Singh	227	255	33.52	4.29

1. Anil Kumble (334 wickets)

He has the best bowling figures for an Indian in this format (6/12). In fact he has literally made most of the records his own. With 334 wickets, he is the most successful Indian bowler in ODI’s. He has picked 8 wicket hauls and a couple of five wicket hauls in his career and his economy stands at a miserly 4.29.

2. Javagal Srinath (315 wickets)

Kumble’s karnataka teammate comes in at number 2. He is the only other Indian bowler to have picked more than 300 wickets in this format. Srinath’s pace and swing troubled even the best batsmen in the world. An average of 28.08 with an economy of 4.44, Srinath also went on to pick up three five wicket hauls in his career.

3. Ajit Agarkar (288 wickets)

The rate at which he was picking wickets, he should have finished right on top, but some indifferent form saw him getting dropped in 2007, and he never made his way back again before retiring for good. Agarkar was once the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets in the format. He was a bit expensive most of the time, but consistently provided the breakthroughs. His strike rate is the best among the top 5.

4. Zaheer Khan (269 wickets)

India’s world cup winning hero Zaheer Khan comes in at number 4 with 269 wickets. Zaheer would have surely went past 300 if he had not missed the amount of matches he missed prior to the world cup. He has picked up a five wicket haul only once in his career.

5. Harbhajan Singh (255 wickets)

He played his last ODI when he was just 31 years old. He still has a little bit of time left in him to make a comeback and resume this wonderful career. With 255 wickets and a really good economy of 4.29, Bhajji is at number 5.

Disclaimer: Stats updated till 22 May 2014.