In the ICC World Test Championship, the best teams have risen to the top. The teams with the most wickets are from the four teams that finished the league cycle in the top four spots in the standings.
Australia and India will play in the final of the ICC World Test Championship on June 7 at The Oval. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that two of the top three wicket-takers from the current WTC cycle play for the two teams in the final.
A fast player from South Africa sits between them in second place. He led his team to third place in the WTC standings, where just one win instead of a draw would have put them in the final.
After a bad start to the cycle, England’s success in BazBall moved them up to fourth in the WTC standings. This was due to a new, more assertive approach, but it could have also been due to their classy, reliable bowling.
With only the WTC final left to play in this cycle, we look at the players who have taken the most wickets.
Nathan Lyon has taken 83 outs.
The spinner was a big part of his team’s success at home and on the road.
During this WTC cycle, Lyon has an average of 26.97 runs per wicket. He also has five five-fors and one 10-for.
With just one game left, the WTC final, Lyon is already certain to finish as the player who took the most wickets in this tournament.
He started with the Ashes at home, where he took 16 wickets at an average score of 23.56, which helped Australia’s fast bowlers.
After that, they showed good discipline in tough conditions in Pakistan. Lyon took 12 wickets at an average of 44.91 runs per wicket. His 5/83 in the second innings at Lahore was a big part of Australia’s historic win in the series.
In Sri Lanka, where conditions were better, Lyon did very well. He took 11 wickets at a rate of 28.63, including a match-winning 9/121 in Galle. In the five Tests he played at home against West Indies and South Africa, he took 22 wickets.
The veteran may have done his best work in the Test series against India in February and March 2023. Lyon was the player who took the most wickets for Australia, with 22. He also helped Australia beat India at Indore by taking 3/35 and 8/64.
Kagiso Rabada – 67 wickets
During this run of WTC, the Proteas pacer ran an average of 21.05, which was faster than his usual 22.34.
Rabada’s first bowling match was against India. He was the best of the bowlers, taking 20 wickets before 19:05. His best bowling performance in the series was 4/42, which helped South Africa win the series 2-1 even though they lost the first Test.
He was once again South Africa’s best in New Zealand, taking 10 wickets at a rate of 21.9 per game. Rabada’s 8/106 at Christchurch made sure that the Proteas went home with the same number of wins and losses.
During the tough away tours in England and Australia, Rabada was his team’s best hope. During the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, he was the second most dangerous bowler in England, taking 14 wickets at a rate of 23.35. Down Under, he took 11 wickets at a rate of 32.
In the home series against the West Indies, Rabada again led the way in terms of wickets. His team won the series 2-0, and Rabada took 12 wickets at an average of only 11.
During the tough away tours in England and Australia, Rabada was his team’s best hope. During the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, he was the second most dangerous bowler in England, taking 14 wickets at a rate of 23.35. Down Under, he took 11 wickets at a rate of 32.
In the home series against the West Indies, Rabada again led the way in terms of wickets. His team won the series 2-0, and Rabada took 12 wickets at an average of only 11.
61 wickets for Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin took the most wickets in the last WTC, and he is currently in third place in this cycle. This is true even though the spinner didn’t play in five of India’s WTC games.
His average of 19.67 is also the best among the top 10 wicket-takers in this WTC.
Ashwin started this year’s WTC with 14 wickets against New Zealand at home at 11.35 a.m. His 8/42 in Mumbai beat Ajaz Patel’s 10-for in one innings, which helped India win by a huge 372-run margin.
Even though Ashwin had a hard time in South Africa, where he only took three wickets at a rate of 60.66, he was back to his best against Sri Lanka at home, where he took 12 wickets at a rate of 15.08.
Against Bangladesh, he kept making important contributions, like taking seven wickets at 35.14. In the second Test at Mirpur, where he had 6/137 and 42*, he was also named Player of the Match.
Ashwin had the most wickets against Australia at the time, with 25. Hfiguers were 6/91.
James Anderson – 58 wickets
The fast bowler who never quits is fourth on the list of the most wickets taken in the WTC. Anderson averaged just 20.37 and gave up only 2.27 runs per over.
Anderson played in all of the Pataudi Tests and tied with Ollie Robinson for the second-most wickets. His 21 wickets were taken at a rate of 22.66, and a great 5/60 in the first innings of the final Test at Birmingham in July 2022 was among them.
During England’s terrible Ashes tour in Australia, the veteran pacer was one of the few bright spots, taking eight wickets at 23.37.
Against New Zealand, he took 11 wickets in 18.63 overs, and against South Africa, he took 10 wickets in 16.6 overs.
During the tour of Pakistan, Anderson took eight wickets in the end. In the series, he averaged 18.5 runs per over and gave up 2.2 runs per over. This shows that he has a lot more cricket left in him.
Ollie Robinson – 53 wickets
Next on this list is another fast bowler from England, but the right-armer may fall out of the top five after the WTC final, when two bowlers from Australia will be close behind.
Robinson is tied with Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, with 53 wickets. Mitchell Starc, on the other hand, has 51 wickets so far in the WTC cycle.
During the Pataudi Trophy, the England fast bowler did well at home, taking 21 wickets at an average of 21.33 per game. This included a game at Leeds where he got 7/81 and was named Player of the Match.
The pacer wasn’t at his best during the Ashes because of health problems, but he still took 11 wickets at a rate of 25.54.
Robinson took 12 wickets at age 15 against South Africa, including 7/89 in a nine-wicket win over the Proteas at the Oval. This was after BazBall joined the team.
He took this confidence to Pakistan, where he took nine wickets in 21.22 overs, even though the conditions were better for batters.
Pat Cummins took 53 outs.
The Australia captain has been at his most dangerous for most of the WTC cycle. In 15 Tests, he has taken 53 wickets at an average of 21.22.
Cummins has been very good at home in recent years. In four Tests against England in 2021/22, he took 21 wickets at an average of 18.04, and in three Tests against South Africa the next summer, he took 12 wickets at an average of 16.91.
The star fast bowler showed that he can be effective even in unfamiliar conditions by taking 12 wickets at an average of 22.5 in three Tests in Pakistan. He could be a key player in the WTC final, which starts on June 7 at the Oval.
