Most Wickets in Test

Most Wickets in Test is the definitive benchmark of a bowler's longevity, technical mastery, and their ability to consistently dismantle world-class batting line-ups. This legendary record is held by the Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
Over an illustrious career spanning from 1992 to 2010, Muralitharan claimed a staggering 800 Test wickets, a milestone that remains the "Everest" of bowling statistics. He is followed by the iconic Shane Warne (708). As of April 2026, the record books are witnessing significant updates: England’s James Anderson retired from international cricket with 704 wickets, securing the third spot all-time and the record for most wickets by a pacer. Among active players, Australia's Nathan Lyon has reached 567 wickets, surpassing Glenn McGrath to become Australia's second-highest wicket-taker and moving into sixth place overall. This record is not merely a tally; it is a testament to the tactical brilliance, physical resilience, and psychological endurance required to dominate in the sport's most grueling format for decades.

RANK 1

Muttiah Muralitharan

Wkts

800

AVG

22.72

RANK 2

Shane Warne

Wkts

708

AVG

25.41

RANK 3

James Anderson

Wkts

704

AVG

26.45

Rank	Player	Matches	Innings	Overs	Balls	Runs	Wkts	AVG	Econ	SR	Bbi	Bbm	4w	5w	10w
1	Muttiah Muralitharan	133	230	7339.5	44039	18180	800	22.72	2.47	55	9/51	16/220	45	67	22
2	Shane Warne	145	273	6784.1	40705	17995	708	25.41	2.65	57.4	8/71	12/128	48	37	10
3	James Anderson	188	350	6672.5	40037	18627	704	26.45	2.79	56.8	7/42	11/71	32	32	3
4	Anil Kumble	132	236	6808.2	40850	18355	619	29.65	2.69	65.9	10/74	14/149	31	35	8
5	Stuart Broad	167	309	5616.2	33698	16719	604	27.68	2.97	55.7	8/15	11/121	28	20	3
6	Nathan Lyon AUS	141	262	5805.2	34832	17099	567	30.15	2.94	61.4	8/50	13/154	26	24	5
7	Glenn McGrath	124	243	4874.4	29248	12186	563	21.64	2.49	51.9	8/24	10/27	28	29	3
8	Ravichandran Ashwin	106	200	4541	27246	12891	537	24	2.83	50.7	7/59	13/140	25	37	8
9	Courtney Walsh	132	242	5003.1	30019	12688	519	24.44	2.53	57.8	7/37	13/55	32	22	3
10	Dale Steyn	93	171	3101.2	18608	10077	439	22.95	3.24	42.3	7/51	11/60	27	26	5
11	Kapil Dev	131	227	4623.2	27740	12867	434	29.64	2.78	63.9	9/83	11/146	17	23	2
12	Rangana Herath	93	170	4332.1	25993	12157	433	28.07	2.8	60	9/127	14/184	20	34	9
13	Mitchell Starc AUS	105	202	3335.3	20013	11481	433	26.51	3.44	46.2	7/58	11/94	20	18	3
14	Sir Richard Hadlee	86	150	3653	21918	9611	431	22.29	2.63	50.8	9/52	15/123	25	36	9
15	Shaun Pollock	108	202	4058.5	24353	9733	421	23.11	2.39	57.8	7/87	10/147	23	16	1
16	Harbhajan Singh	103	190	4763.2	28580	13537	417	32.46	2.84	68.5	8/84	15/217	16	25	5
17	Wasim Akram	104	181	3771.1	22627	9779	414	23.62	2.59	54.6	7/119	11/110	20	25	5
18	Curtly Ambrose	98	179	3683.5	22103	8501	405	20.99	2.3	54.5	8/45	11/84	21	22	3
19	Tim Southee NZ	107	203	3915	23490	11832	391	30.26	3.02	60	7/64	10/108	19	15	1
20	Makhaya Ntini	101	190	3472.2	20834	11242	390	28.82	3.23	53.4	7/37	13/132	19	18	4
21	Sir Ian Botham	102	168	3635.5	21815	10878	383	28.4	2.99	56.9	8/34	13/106	17	27	4
22	Malcolm Marshall	81	151	2930.4	17584	7876	376	20.94	2.68	46.7	7/22	11/89	19	22	4
23	Daniel Vettori	113	187	4802.2	28814	12441	362	34.36	2.59	79.5	7/87	12/149	19	20	3
24	Imran Khan	88	142	3243	19458	8258	362	22.81	2.54	53.7	8/58	14/116	17	23	6
25	Chaminda Vaas	111	194	3906.2	23438	10501	355	29.58	2.68	66	7/71	14/191	20	12	2
26	Ravindra Jadeja IND	89	167	3373.3	20241	8741	348	25.11	2.59	58.1	7/42	10/110	17	15	3
27	Kagiso Rabada SA	73	134	2239.2	13436	7493	340	22.03	3.34	39.5	7/112	13/144	15	17	4
28	Allan Donald	72	129	2586.3	15519	7344	330	22.25	2.83	47	8/71	12/139	11	20	3
29	Trent Boult NZ	78	149	2902.5	17417	8717	317	27.49	3	54.9	6/30	10/80	18	10	1
30	Pat Cummins AUS	72	134	2398.3	14391	6946	315	22.05	2.89	45.6	6/23	10/62	17	14	2
31	Mitchell Johnson	73	140	2666.5	16001	8891	313	28.4	3.33	51.1	8/61	12/127	16	12	3
32	Zaheer Khan	92	165	3130.5	18785	10247	311	32.94	3.27	60.4	7/87	10/149	15	11	1
33	Ishant Sharma	105	188	3193.2	19160	10078	311	32.4	3.15	61.6	7/74	10/108	10	11	1
34	Brett Lee	76	150	2755.1	16531	9554	310	30.81	3.46	53.3	5/30	9/171	17	10	0
35	Morne Morkel	86	160	2749.4	16498	8550	309	27.66	3.1	53.3	6/23	9/110	18	8	0
36	Derek Underwood	86	151	3643.4	21862	7674	297	25.83	2.1	73.6	8/51	13/71	13	17	6
37	Josh Hazlewood AUS	76	143	2570.3	15423	7144	295	24.21	2.77	52.2	6/67	9/79	11	13	0
38	Kemar Roach WI	88	159	2567.4	15406	7968	294	27.1	3.1	52.4	6/48	10/146	14	12	1
39	Jacques Kallis	166	272	3372	20232	9535	292	32.65	2.82	69.2	6/54	9/92	7	5	0
40	Craig McDermott	71	124	2764.2	16586	8332	291	28.63	3.01	56.9	8/97	11/157	17	14	2
41	Danish Kaneria	61	112	2949.3	17697	9082	261	34.79	3.07	67.8	7/77	12/94	8	15	2
42	Neil Wagner	64	122	2287.3	13725	7169	260	27.57	3.13	52.7	7/39	9/73	13	9	0
43	Jason Gillespie	71	137	2372.2	14234	6770	259	26.13	2.85	54.9	7/37	9/80	8	8	0
44	Joel Garner	58	111	2194.5	13169	5433	259	20.97	2.47	50.8	6/56	9/108	18	7	0
45	Graeme Swann	60	109	2558.1	15349	7642	255	29.96	2.98	60.1	6/65	10/132	14	17	3
46	Taijul Islam BAN	57	102	2551.4	15310	7765	250	31.06	3.04	61.2	8/39	11/170	14	17	2
47	Michael Holding	60	113	2113.2	12680	5898	249	23.68	2.79	50.9	8/92	14/149	11	13	2
48	Matthew Hoggard	67	92	2318.1	13909	473	248	7.27	3.26	22.63	7/61	12/205	13	7	1
49	Shakib Al Hasan BAN	71	121	2612.3	15675	7804	246	31.72	2.98	63.7	7/36	10/124	11	19	2
50	Ben Stokes ENG	120	178	2294.3	13767	7655	245	31.24	3.33	56.1	6/22	8/161	9	6	0
51	Yasir Shah	48	89	2375.5	14255	7657	244	31.38	3.22	58.4	8/41	14/184	15	16	3
52	Abdul Qadir	67	111	2854.2	17126	7742	236	32.8	2.71	72.5	9/56	13/101	12	15	5
53	Andy Caddick	62	105	2259.4	13558	6999	234	29.91	3.09	57.9	7/46	10/215	9	13	1
54	Jasprit Bumrah IND	52	99	1671.5	10031	4631	234	19.79	2.77	42.8	6/27	9/86	7	16	0
55	Chris Martin	71	126	2337.4	14026	7878	233	33.81	3.37	60.1	6/26	11/180	10	10	1
56	Darren Gough	58	95	1970.1	11821	6503	229	28.39	3.3	51.6	6/42	9/92	14	9	0
57	Mohammad Shami	64	122	1919.1	11515	6346	229	27.71	3.3	50.2	6/56	9/118	12	6	0
58	Andrew Flintoff	79	137	2491.5	14951	7410	226	32.78	2.97	66.1	5/58	8/156	11	3	0
59	Steve Harmison	63	115	2229.1	13375	7192	226	31.82	3.22	59.1	7/12	11/76	11	8	1
60	Vernon Philander	64	119	1898.3	11391	5000	224	22.32	2.63	50.8	6/21	10/102	8	13	2
61	Peter Siddle	67	126	2317.5	13907	6777	221	30.66	2.92	62.9	6/54	9/104	8	8	0
62	Chris Cairns	62	104	1949.4	11698	6410	218	29.4	3.28	53.6	7/27	10/100	11	13	1
63	Keshav Maharaj SA	62	106	2051.2	12308	6370	218	29.22	3.1	56.4	9/129	12/283	6	12	1
64	Heath Streak	65	102	2259.5	13559	6079	216	28.14	2.69	62.7	6/73	9/72	16	7	0
65	Merv Hughes	53	97	2047.3	12285	6017	212	28.38	2.93	57.9	8/87	13/217	14	7	1
66	Mehidy Hasan Miraz BAN	56	98	2194	13164	6820	210	32.47	3.1	62.6	7/58	12/117	9	13	3
67	Saqlain Mushtaq	49	86	2345	14070	6206	208	29.83	2.64	67.6	8/164	10/155	12	13	3
68	Stuart MacGill	44	85	1872.5	11237	6038	208	29.02	3.22	54	8/108	12/107	9	12	2
69	Moeen Ali	68	119	2101.4	12610	7612	204	37.31	3.62	61.8	6/53	10/112	13	5	1
70	Jeff Thomson	51	90	1755.5	10535	5601	200	28	3.18	52.6	6/46	9/105	16	8	0
71	Chris Woakes	62	118	1869.5	11219	5686	192	29.61	3.04	58.4	6/17	11/102	5	5	1
72	Mushtaq Ahmed	52	89	2088.4	12532	6100	185	32.97	2.92	67.7	7/56	10/106	6	10	3
73	Geoff Lawson	46	78	1853	11118	5501	180	30.56	2.96	61.7	8/112	11/134	6	11	2
74	Saeed Ajmal	35	67	1932	11592	5003	178	28.1	2.58	65.1	7/55	11/111	9	10	4
75	Shoaib Akhtar	46	82	1357.1	8143	4574	178	25.69	3.37	45.7	6/11	11/78	10	12	2
76	Angus Fraser	46	79	1812.4	10876	4836	177	27.32	2.66	61.4	8/53	11/110	5	13	2
77	Suranga Lakmal SL	70	122	2073.5	12443	6232	171	36.44	3	72.7	5/47	7/80	7	4	0
78	Iqbal Qasim	50	86	2169.5	13019	4807	171	28.11	2.21	76.1	7/49	11/118	13	8	2
79	Umesh Yadav	57	112	1496.3	8979	5263	170	30.95	3.51	52.8	6/88	10/133	6	3	1
80	Terry Alderman	41	73	1696.5	10181	4616	170	27.15	2.72	59.8	6/47	10/151	5	14	1
81	Monty Panesar	50	85	2079.1	12475	5797	167	34.71	2.78	74.7	6/37	11/210	4	12	2
82	Shannon Gabriel WI	59	104	1563.1	9379	5348	166	32.21	3.42	56.5	8/62	13/121	5	6	1
83	Fidel Edwards	55	97	1600.2	9602	6249	165	37.87	3.9	58.1	7/87	8/132	3	12	0
84	Umar Gul	47	90	1599.5	9599	5553	163	34.06	3.47	58.8	6/135	9/164	12	4	0
85	Jason Holder WI	69	122	1884.1	11305	4924	162	30.39	2.61	69.7	6/42	11/103	4	8	1
86	Dilruwan Perera	43	78	1800.5	10805	5780	161	35.9	3.2	67.1	6/32	10/78	8	8	2
87	Danny Morrison	48	71	1677.2	10064	379	160	8.42	3.3	22.34	7/89	8/83	9	10	0
88	Ravi Shastri	80	125	2625.1	15751	6185	151	40.96	2.35	104.3	5/75	8/179	11	2	0
89	John Emburey	64	103	2565.1	15391	5646	147	38.4	2.2	104.7	7/78	7/105	5	6	0
90	Chris Old	46	81	1476.2	8858	4020	143	28.11	2.72	61.9	7/50	9/88	7	4	0