Top 10 wicket-takers in ODI cricket in 2015
In 2015, ODI cricket was its high as the 2015 ICC World Cup occupied a month and a half of the calendar year. 14 teams battled it out to become the ultimate team in the 50-over format of the game. In the end, it was the co-hosts Australia who beat the other host, New Zealand in the final to win their fifth World Cup title.
Mitchell Starc, who was the player of the tournament for his phenomenal bowling performance tops the ODI wicket-takers list for 2015. Starc also features in the top ten list of Test wicket-takers in 2015 and is the only bowler to have his name in both lists. He picked up 22 wickets in the nine matches he played at the tournament.
Kiwi bowler, Trent Boult also picked up 22 wickets at the World Cup thus helping New Zealand to reach the finals of an ICC World Cup for the first time in their history. He continued his good form with the ball post the World Cup to end up third on the list.
Two other New Zealand bowlers in Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan also make the top ten list emphasising the Kiwis’ good year in ODI cricket.
South Africa, who had a poor showing in Tests, have three bowlers in the ODI list – Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Tahir has been the go-to man for South Africa in ODIs picking up important wickets to give his side an advantage and is second on the list.
Everyone remembers Wahab Riaz's fiery spell during Pakistan's quarterfinal match against Australia and how he gave the hosts a taste of their own medicine. Although Pakistan lost the match to Australia, Riaz was immense during the match and also went on to have a great year with the white ball.
England had a mediocre year in 50-over cricket as they were knocked out in the group stages of the World Cup. However, Steven Finn had a fairly good run with the ball as he makes the top ten list at fifth position.
Young Bangladeshi bowler, Mustafizur Rahman made cricket fans all over take note after a remarkable start to his career. In India's tour of Bangladesh in June 2015, Rahman picked up 13 wickets in the three-match ODI series. The 20-year-old also has the best yearly bowling average (12.34) and the best ODI economy rate (4.26) in 2015.
Second-ranked India does not have any player in the top ten list as the 2011 World champions had a slump in the 50-over format. Maybe if Mohammad Shami, India's best bowler at the World Cup, had not missed out a number of matches due to injury he might have made the list. Umesh Yadav at 12th position after picking up 25 wickets in 14 matches is India's highest-ranked bowler in the list. Sri Lanka is another one of the big teams to miss out on a name on the list.
Here is the list of top ten ODI wicket-takers in 2015:
| Bowler (Country) | Matches | Wickets | Average |
| Mitchell Starc (Australia) | 18 | 41 | 16.26 |
| Imran Tahir (South Africa) | 22 | 37 | 25.18 |
| Trent Boult (New Zealand) | 17 | 36 | 19.77 |
| Wahab Riaz (Pakistan) | 20 | 32 | 27.43 |
| Steven Finn (England) | 18 | 31 | 27.67 |
| Dale Steyn (South Africa) | 19 | 30 | 27.30 |
| Morne Morkel (South Africa) | 16 | 28 | 22.50 |
| Tim Southee (New Zealand) | 19 | 28 | 33.17 |
| Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) | 9 | 26 | 12.34 |
| Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand) | 18 | 26 | 34.61 |