Top 5 highest wicket-takers across men's ODI and T20 World Cups ft. Mitchell Starc

The writing was pretty much on the wall for Bangladesh when Mitchell Starc took just three deliveries to knock out the stumps of Tanzim Hasan. Josh Hazelwood kept the pressure from the other end as Bangladesh struggled to 39 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

Pat Cummins bounced in towards the backend, picked a hat-trick and restricted Bangladesh to 140 for eight. Australia came out all guns blazing and raced to 59 for no loss in the first six overs. When rain intervened for the final time, Australia were well placed at 100 for two in 11.2 overs and won the match by 28 runs via DLS. Mitchell Starc seems to have stepped up for Australia, once again in a World Cup and he is getting the job done with the new and old ball.

Here we take a look at the top 5 highest wicket-takers across men's ODI and T20 World Cups:

#5 Muttiah Muralitharan

A spin wizard if ever there was one [Getty Images]

Sri Lankan legend Mutthiah Muralitharan was an integral member of their side in ICC tournaments and played a huge role in their consistent run in World Cups. With 79 wickets (68 in ODI World Cups and 11 in T20 World Cups), Muralitharan underlined his importance in limited-overs cricket. Even in T20Is, Murali continued to have an impact with his mystery and posed a lot of threat to batters.

He played a big role in Sri Lanka’s journey to the final in the 2009 World T20 where they fell short to Pakistan and finished runners-up. Even after retiring from international cricket, Murali had a decent IPL career and was part of the CPL as well as BBL in Australia.

#4 Trent Boult

One of New Zealand's finest with the new ball [Getty Images]

The 2024 T20 World Cup could be the final time we saw Trent Boult in an ICC tournament as the left-arm pacer is no longer centrally contracted with the New Zealand cricket board. However, he has played a remarkable role in New Zealand’s great run in several ICC tournaments.

He is fourth on the list of most prolific bowlers in ICC World Cups with 87 wickets (53 in ODIs and 34 in T20s). Boult was sensational with the new ball in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups and played a big role in New Zealand making it to the finals in both these editions. The 2015 and 2019 tournaments saw him pick up 39 wickets in 19 games at an average of 21.79 and an economy rate of 4.61.

#3 Shakib Al Hasan

A complete package for Bangladesh [Getty Images]

One of Bangladesh’s all-time great players, Shakib Al Hasan is perhaps the greatest all-rounder in white ball cricket in the modern age. He has been a consistent performer for Bangladesh for more than 15 years now and continues to be a prolific wicket-taker.

His record with the white ball is commendable. So far in ICC World Cups, he has picked up 92 wickets (43 in ODIs and 49 in T20s). He has featured in nine T20 World Cups and continues to be an impact player for his side. His economy rate in ODI World Cups is 5.15 while in T20 World Cup it is a very impressive 6.81.

Apart from all this, he has been a stellar performer with the bat for Bangladesh in ICC events as well - 1332 runs in ODI World Cups and 834 runs in T20 World Cups. He needs to crank it up a notch if Bangladesh are to make it to the semi-final in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

#2 Lasith Malinga

Captain led the way in 2014 [Getty Images]

Former Sri Lanka bowler Lasith Malinga is arguably one of the best to play the T20 format. With his low arm slinging action, Malinga had a plethora of variations at his disposal that made him a tough proposition for batters to line up. He played a key role in Sri Lanka’s campaign in T20 World Cups and even fired them to the title in 2014.

His impact was indeed exemplary in the 50 overs World Cup as well - from his four wickets in four balls in the 2007 World Cup to shocking England in the 2019 World Cup - Malinga kept getting the job done for Sri Lanka.

Over the course of 60 matches, Malinga bagged 94 wickets in ICC World Cups. He picked up 38 wickets in T20 World Cups and 56 in ODIs. One of the best to run in with the white ball, Malinga was a match-winner in the truest sense.

#1 Mitchell Starc

Another serial winner, Mitchell Starc has played a starring role in plenty of memorable moments for Australia. From sending back Brendon McCullum in the 2015 World Cup final to the 2023 World Cup final against India, Starc has been a match-winner for Australia.

He has also been a regular wicket-taker in the shortest format and against Bangladesh, he zipped past Malinga to become the most successful bowler in limited-over World Cups.

As he went past the defense of Tanzid Hasan, Starc became the most prolific wicket-taker with 95 wickets. In the ODI World Cup last year, he took his 50th wicket in 50-over World Cups in just 941 balls to become the fastest to reach the milestone in terms of deliveries bowled.