Most Wickets in IPL History (2008–2026) – Top Bowlers List, Records & Stats

Yuzvendra Chahal is the greatest wicket-taker the IPL has ever seen — and the gap between him and second place is only growing. A leg-spin bowler who relies on sharp drift, bounce, and a disguised googly, Chahal has confounded batsmen across 13 IPL seasons. His best season was 2022 when he took 27 wickets for Rajasthan Royals to win the Purple Cap. He became the first bowler to reach 200 IPL wickets during IPL 2024 — a milestone that drew comparisons to Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international centuries in how long it took and how unlikely it seemed when he started. At 36 in 2026, he is still taking wickets for Punjab Kings and adding to this extraordinary tally.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the most accomplished swing bowler in IPL history. His ability to move the ball both ways under the lights with a white ball — something few bowlers can do in T20 cricket — made him a career-long asset for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He won back-to-back Purple Caps in 2016 and 2017, the only bowler ever to achieve that feat. Bhuvneshwar became only the second bowler after Chahal to take 200 IPL wickets during IPL 2025, a landmark he reached in his final season before retiring from T20 cricket. His 5/19 against Mumbai Indians in 2017 remains one of the great bowling spells in IPL finals history.

Lasith Malinga’s 170 wickets from 122 matches gives him the best wickets-per-match ratio of any bowler in the top 10 — 1.39 per game. No other bowler even comes close. The Sri Lanka legend played only for Mumbai Indians and became the greatest death bowler the IPL has seen. His sling-arm action, precision yorkers, and deceptive slower balls were genuinely unplayable at the peak of his powers. His spell of 5/13 against Deccan Chargers in 2011 — arguably the most devastating single bowling performance in IPL history — led Mumbai to a crucial win that season. Malinga is now MI’s bowling coach, passing his knowledge to the next generation.