Legendary Indian spinner Anil Kumble has taken the most ODI wickets for India. He has 334 wickets in 269 ODI matches for India.
Cricket, in its initial days, was largely considered a batsman’s game, but over the years, the bowlers became an equally important part of the game. Several of India’s wins have come on the back of excellent performances by the bowlers. A couple of months back, Jasprit Bumrah produced a sensational bowling performance to help India defeat England by 10 wickets. The pacer picked up six wickets for just 19 runs to bowl out England for 110 runs, which India chased down in 18.4 overs. But who has taken the most ODI wickets for India? Let’s find out below.
Most ODI Wickets: Top 10 list
| Player | Matches | Wickets | BBI | Average | Strike Rate | 4-fors | 5-fors |
| Anil Kumble | 269 | 334 | 6/12 | 30.83 | 43.0 | 8 | 2 |
| Javagal Srinath | 229 | 315 | 5/23 | 28.08 | 37.8 | 7 | 3 |
| Ajit Agarkar | 191 | 288 | 6/42 | 27.85 | 32.9 | 10 | 2 |
| Zaheer Khan | 194 | 269 | 5/42 | 30.11 | 36.4 | 7 | 1 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 234 | 265 | 5/31 | 33.47 | 46.6 |
2 | 3 |
| Kapil Dev | 225 | 253 | 5/43 | 27.45 | 44.2 | 3 | 1 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 171 | 189 | 5/36 | 37.36 | 45.5 | 7 | 1 |
| Venkatesh Prasad | 161 | 196 | 5/27 | 32.30 | 41.47 | 3 | 1 |
| Irfan Pathan | 120 | 173 | 5/27 | 29.72 | 33.8 |
5 | 2 |
| Mohammed Shami | 94 | 171 | 5/51 |
25.50 |
27.43 |
9 | 2 |
Anil Kumble – 263 wickets
Anil Kumble is the highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs, with a tally of 334. Not just in ODI cricket, the spinner is also India’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with a whopping 619 wickets, which makes him the third-highest wicket-taker in international cricket, behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
Kumble made his ODI debut on April 25, 1990 against Sri Lanka and went on to play 269 matches in the format. He also holds the record for most ODI wickets for India in a calendar year – 61 wickets in the year 1996.
Kumble’s best bowling performance in the 50-over format came in the 1993 in the Hero Cup final against West Indies in Kolkata. Helping India defend a total of 225, Kumble went on to pick six wickets for 12 runs. During his long ODI career, the leg spinner maintained an impressive economy rate of 4.30.
After representing India at the highest level for nearly 18 years, Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in November 2008. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour in 2005.
Javagal Srinath – 315 wickets
Javagal Srinath is the second-highest wicket-taker for India in ODIs. The fast bowler took 315 wickets in 229 ODIs since making his debut in the 50-over format in October 1991 against Pakistan. The year he made his international debut, Srinath was named the Indian cricketer of the year for picking 16 wickets in Tests and 20 wickets in ODIs.
As per several reports, Srinath wanted to step down from the game in 2002, but it was upon Sourav Ganguly’s insistence that he played till the 2003 World Cup. Interestingly, he was India’s highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
Srinath has played the most World Cups for India as a bowler – 1992, 1996, 1999, and 2003. He has 44 wickets in the four World Cups, which makes him the joint highest wicket-taker for India at the ICC event with Zaheer Khan, who took the same number of wickets in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 edition.
Srinath is also the first Indian fast bowler to take more than 300 wickets in the 50-over format. He retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.in 1999, he was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Ajit Agarkar – 288 wickets
The third name in the list is Ajit Agarkar, who picked up 288 wickets in 191 ODIs. Agarkar made his ODI debut in 1998, in a tri-angular series against Australia, and ended the series as its highest wicket-taker.
Agarkar was the fastest to 50 ODI wickets, a feat he achieved in 23 matches. Although the record now belongs to Ajantha Mendis, Agarkar still remains the fastest Indian to 50 wickets. His career-best ODI figures of 6 for 42 against Australia at the MCG in January 2004 are also the best by any overseas bowler in Australia. Not just with the ball, Agarkar sporadically contributed with the bat, too. This includes a 21-ball 50 against Zimbabwe, which still remains the fastest ODI fifty by an Indian, and a career best 95 against West Indies. Agarkar announced his retirement in 2013 from all forms of cricket.
Zaheer Khan – 269 wickets
Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan has taken the 4th most number of wickets in ODIs for India and is the second-highest wicket-taker for India among pacers.
He took 269 wickets in 194 appearances since making his debut in 2000 against Kenya. Zaheer was also instrumental to India’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 win – he was the highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets. He was also the second-fastest Indian to reach 250 wickets in ODIs. He took his 250th wicket in his 163rd innings.
Zaheer announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket on 15 October 2015, but continued to play in the IPL. He retired from all forms of cricket after IPL 2017, after which he has worked in the capacity of a coach and analyst.
Harbhajan Singh – 265 wickets
One of India’s greatest off-spinners, Harbhajan Singh ended his ODI career as the country’s fifth highest wicket-taker in the 50-over format. He took 265 wickets in a career that spanned across 17 years from 1998 to 2017.
Singh was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad and contributed with decent performances. However, after the 2011 World Cup, he was often troubled by injuries and eventually lost his place in the team and was not selected for the 2015 World Cup.
He was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2003 and the Padma Shri in 2009. Singh retired from all forms of cricket in December 2021.
FAQs
Who has scored the most ODI runs for India?
Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer for India in ODIs with 18,426 runs from 452 innings at an average of 44.83.
Who has taken the most ODI wickets for England?
With 269 wickets, James Anderson is England’s highest wicket-taker in the ODI format.
Who is the fastest bowler in the world?
The fastest delivery ever was bowled by former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar. The Rawalpindi Express bowled a delivery at 161.3 kmph against England in the 2003 World Cup.
Who was the fastest to 100 wickets in ODIs?
Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan has taken the fastest 100 wickets in ODI cricket. He reached the milestone in 44 matches.
