The T20 format of cricket is a batting-friendly game. But bowlers also play a crucial role for their respective teams. In the shortest format like T20 cricket, you have to take wickets to put pressure on the batting team. Every bowler wants to take wickets especially when it comes to the stage of the World Cup. Over the years, we have witnessed some extraordinary bowling in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. We have seen six different bowlers lead the wickets chart in a total of seven editions. Only One of the bowlers took his name on this list twice. Let’s look at the Highest wicket-takers in each edition of T20 World Cup
we have seen some spin dominance for the last few years, as in the early year of the T20 World Cup, we saw the dominance of quick bowlers in the highest wicket-taker list.
Here is the list of the Highest wicket-takers in each edition of T20 World Cup
| YEAR | NAME | TEAM | WICKETS | INNINGS | ECONOMY RATE | BEST FIGURE |
| 2007 | Umar Gul | Pakistan | 13 | 7 | 5.60 | 4/25 |
| 2009 | Umar Gul | Pakistan | 13 | 7 | 6.44 | 5/6 |
| 2010 | Dirk Nannes | Australia | 14 | 7 | 7.03 | 4/18 |
| 2012 | Ajantha Mendis | Srilanka | 15 | 6 | 6.12 | 6/8 |
| 2014 | Imran Tahir Ahsan Malik | South Africa Netherlands | 12 12 | 5 7 | 6.55 6.68 | 4/21 5/19 |
| 2016 | Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan | 12 | 7 | 6.07 | 4/20 |
| 2021 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Srilanka | 16 | 8 | 5.20 | 3/9 |
| 2022 | Wanindu Hasaranga | Srilanka | 15 | 8 | 6.41 | 3/8 |
Also Read: Top Runs Scorers in each T20 World Cup
2007 T20 World Cup – Umar Gul
Pakistan pacer Umar Gul started the tournament by taking four wickets against Scotland in the inaugural season of the T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Gul’s best performance in the tournament came against New Zealand in the semi-finals where he took 3 wickets for conceding 15 runs and was awarded the Player of the Match. He finished the tournament with 13 wickets.
2009 T20 World Cup – Umar Gul
For the second time in a row, Gul led the wicket-taker list with 13 wickets like in 2007.
Umar Gul performed his career-best performance against kiwi where he took five wickets for six runs at the Oval where Pakistan bowled out Newzeland by 99 runs. This year his team Pakistan finished as champion side as they clinched their first T20 World Cup title. Check the scorecard of the match.
2010 T20 World Cup – Dirk Nannes
In the edition 2010 Aussie pacer Dirk Nannes was in great form throughout the tournament. He finished the tournament as the leading wicket-takers with 14 wickets. He took three-plus wickets three times in that edition against Pakistan, Bangladesh And India. His team Australia finished as a runner-up in the tournament.
2012 T20 World Cup – Ajantha Mendis
Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis was in fiery form in the 2012 T20 World Cup. He took sixteen wickets in only six innings. He took six wickets for conceding only eight ruins in the opening match against Zimbabwe. That was still a world record in this format. He had a stunning tournament and his tremendous form led Sri Lanka into the final of the tournament. In the Final match also he bowled a fantastic spell of 4/12, taking three big wickets of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard. But unfortunately, Srilanka lost the match and finished as a runner-up.
2014 T20 World Cup – Imran Tahir & Ahsan Malik
In the edition of 2014 South African Imran Tahir and Netherland’s Ahsan Malik shared the place of highest wicket-taker in the tournament by taking 14 wickets each. Ahsan Malik took a five-wicket haul against South Africa. He helped the Netherlands to qualify for the first round.
2016 T20 World Cup – Mohammad Nabi
Afghanistan’s spinner took the most wickets in the 2016 edition. He took 12 wickets. His teammate Rashid Khan is in second place on this list by taking 11 wickets. Nabi’s best figure in the tournament was 4/20 against the Hong Kong team.
2021 T20 World Cup – Wanindu Hasaranga
In the edition of 2021 in Dubai Srilankan spinner was bowled impressively well throughout the tournament. He finished the tournament with 16 wickets in the 8 matches. His 16 wickets in the 2021 T20 World Cup are the most wickets taken by any bowler in a single edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup so far.
2022 T20 World Cup – Wanindu Hasaranga
Once again Srilanks’s Wanindu Hasaranga became the highest wicket-taker in the 2022 T20 world cup. He took 15 wickets in 8 matches with the best figure of 3/8.
