The predominance of a bowler can change the game in an over or two. Their main objectives are either to take wickets or decrease the run rate. At many times cricket lovers have witnessed that the matches that have gone out of hand, was reversed completely because of brilliant bowling. The contribution of bowlers is often overshadowed by the performance of batsmen. But the truth is a team's complete performance includes an immense contribution from the bowlers as well as the other members of the team. Since the time Ashwin debuted, here are the top 5 bowlers with the most international wickets.
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1. Ravichandran Ashwin
The Indian off-spinner is the number 1 bowler with the most international wickets at this moment. The boy from Chennai was selected in the team as a replacement of Harbhajan Singh against South Africa in 2010. He showed his excellence and consistency in the early IPL matches and from there he was selected in the Indian squad for a tour to Zimbabwe. His journey started from the T20s to ODIs and soon to the Indian Test squad. In his maiden Test, he took nine wickets which are the second-highest by an Indian debutant. He took advantage of all the opportunities provided to him and steadily became an integral part of the Indian team. His entire career took a turn for good when after his phenomenal performance in the Border Gavaskar trophy in 2013 where he became the Man of the Series. Since then there is no looking back for him. And still, he's continuing his reign and picking up wickets at the crucial moments. He made his debut in 2010 and since then he literally destructed the opponent's batting line-up by picking up 611 wickets.
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2. James Anderson
James Anderson, the English fast bowler, is one of the best swing bowlers at the present moment. The dexterous English bowler did not have a fruitful career like this since his initial years. He made his debut in the early 2000s. He joined the ODI team in 2002 to the pace team in 2003 and the T20 team in 2007. Anderson played phenomenally in the 2003 World Cup against Pakistan but after that, he could not continue his performance up to the mark. He had a rough patch in his cricketing career till 2007 but after that, he plays on another momentum. His performance in test cricket beyond the other two formats. His ability to swing the ball especially on the home grounds has helped him in many matches. Anderson is the first English bowler to take 500 test wickets. He reached this prestigious momentum of his life in September 2017. Though all his performances were not preferable, rather horrible, when he played well, he literally created destruction. One of the most memorable performances of his life is the 11 wicket haul against Pakistan. In many tournaments, he has single-handedly helped the England team to win the match. And since Ashwin's debut, he took 559 wickets in all three forms of cricket.
3. Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad is the next bowler from England to enlist his name in this list of bowlers with the most international wickets. He made his debut in the England ODI and T20 squad in 2006 and his test debut in 2007. The partnership of James Anderson and Stuart Broad has brought fortune for the England team quite a few times. One of the fun parts about his career is that he started playing initially as an opening batsman but stick with bowling because he did not want to stand on all the time. Till now his career has been pretty great except when Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in his over in the 2007 T20 World Cup. But he overcame that phase and played phenomenally yet once again. On his 100th Test, he took 5 wickets in a single spell 7 times. One of his most remarkable performances ever is when he took 8 wickets for 15 against Australia in the Ashes test, 2015. All the Australian batsmen were bowled out in 18.3 overs and they were able to score only 60. He took a total of 548 wickets since Ashwin's debut in all three formats.
4. Tim Southee
The bowler from the New Zealand cricket team made his international debut when he was only 19 years. He was added to the Test squad against the New Zealand squad when Kylie Mills had to rule out due to injury. The seventh youngest test debutant of New Zealand started his Test career with a bang. He took 5 wickets for 55 runs and then scored 77 runs in 40 balls which included 9 sixes. He also made his T20 and ODI debut in the same year. The best skills of Southee are his peace and outswing. One of his many unforgetful performances is when he took 7 wickets for 64 in India. Another of the best performances of his ODI career is when he destroyed the English batting lineup and took 7 wickets for 33 runs in the 2015 world cup. Along with Trent Boult, they made the world's biggest partnership with the new ball. In all three formats, he took 519 wickets since Ashwin's debut.
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5. Trent Boult
The fifth bowler with the most international wickets is Trent Boult from New Zealand. The cricketer made his test debut in 2011, Odi debut in 2012, and T20 debut in 2013. One of the biggest assets of the New Zealand bowling lineup had a rough patch in his career due to injuries and bad performances. His techniques with the white ball were not that great but his kill with the red ball was absolutely great. In his 29th match, he took 100 wickets and within 2015 he became the bowler with the most wickets from New Zealand. He started having a great career since the 2015 World Cup and his skills in limited-overs were appreciated. He played wonderfully once again in the 2019 World Cup. Some of his important and crucial moments of the 2019 World Cup were when he took a hat-trick against Australia, the wicket of Virat Kohli in the semifinal, bowled in the last over, and the super-over in the finals against England. He took 496 wickets in all three formats since Ashwin's debut.
So the list of player with most international wickets since Ashwin's debut looks like this-