T20 cricket is fast-paced, and bowlers must be sharp with skills and quick decision-making, especially in the death over. In a game where the batter dominates with aggressive stroke play, it is very important to have a wicket-taking bowler in the team. The bowler who can also break a partnership by controlling the flow of runs is essential for winning the matches. Over the years, there have been many bowlers who have broken records for India in T20 cricket. But only one question on the fans’ minds: Who is India’s highest wicket-taker in T20? This article will give deep insights into bowlers who have taken the most wickets for India and important performances in ICC events.
Who is the Highest Wicket Taker in T20 for India?
Arshdeep Singh: Famous for His In-Swinging Deliveries
Young Indian bowler, Arsheep Singh, has taken the most wickets for India in T20 cricket. Arshdeep Singh has taken 99 wickets for India in just 63 matches. He has taken 99 wickets with an excellent average of 18.30. Making his debut in 2022, Arshdeep Singh has played 2 ICC events of T20 cricket for India. In the 2022 World Cup, against Pakistan, Arshdeep Singh took an important wicket of Babar Azam.
While his natural angle of swing bowling gives him an excellent advantage of swinging the ball into the right-handers, in his opening ICC T20 World Cup 2022 event, Arshdeep Singh took 10 wickets in 6 games. He took India to the semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. After that performance, Arshdeep Singh became a crucial member of the T20 squad of the Indian side.
In the T20 World Cup 2024, Arshdeep Singh performed brilliantly, becoming the highest wicket-taker in that tournament. Arshdeep Singh took 17 wickets and helped India to lift the ICC title after 11 years. Arshdeep Singh took two important wickets for India in the final game against South Africa. Besides ICC events, Arshdeep Singh played his first major tournament for India: the Asia Cup 2022. Arshdeep Singh took five wickets in that tournament for India.
Top 10 Highest Wicket Takers for India in T20 Internationals
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Strike Rate | Best Bowling |
| Arshdeep Singh | 63 | 99 | 18.30 | 13.23 | 4/9 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 80 | 96 | 25.09 | 18.37 | 6/25 |
| Hardik Pandya | 114 | 94 | 26.43 | 19.32 | 4/16 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 87 | 90 | 23.10 | 19.90 | 5/4 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 70 | 89 | 17.74 | 16.95 | 3/7 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 65 | 72 | 23.22 | 20.16 | 4/8 |
| Axar Patel | 71 | 71 | 22.12 | 18.18 | 3/9 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 40 | 69 | 14.07 | 12.46 | 5/17 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 42 | 61 | 19.37 | 15.80 | 4/13 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 74 | 54 | 29.85 | 25.11 | 3/15 |
The list of the top 10 highest wicket-takers is a balanced mixture of experienced and young talent of the Indian cricket team. Arshdeep Singh is standing tall in the first position with 99 wickets. The #2 number is captured by Yuzvendra Chahal, who has taken 96 wickets for India in T20 cricket. Chahal is also the highest wicket-taker in the IPL. Hardik Pandya has taken 94 wickets in 114 games for India.
The 4th position is occupied by experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has taken 90 wickets in T20 cricket for India. Jasprit Bumrah is standing in the 5th position with 89 wickets. Experienced Ashwin has taken 72 wickets for India. Axar Patel has 71 wickets for India, proving an excellent talent for India in T20 cricket. Kuldeep Yadav has taken 69 wickets with the best average of 14.07 among the top 10 highest wicket-takers. Ravi Bishnoi has taken 61 wickets while Jadeja has taken 54 for India in T20 cricket.
Kuldeep Yadav has the best average among these bowlers. His average is 14.07, while his strike rate is 12.46 to reach the 69 wickets mark in T20 cricket for India. At the same time, Arshdeep is standing firm in the first position with 99 wickets and an average of 18.30. His bowling strike rate is 13.23, and his best spell is 4/9. The stats he achieved at a young age prove he can become a bowling sensation for India in the future.
Spotlight on the #1: Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh started his T20 international career against England. In his debut game, he took two wickets with a brilliant economy of 5.14. In IPL, Arshdeep Singh has only played for the Punjab Kings. Making his debut in 2019, Arshdeep Singh has taken 97 wickets for the Punjab Kings. For his brilliant performance for Punjab Kings, he was sold for 18CR INR in the 2025 IPL auction. He took 21 wickets for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 to take Punjab to its 2nd IPL final.
In IPL 2023, Arshdeep Singh broke the stumps consecutive times to get Tilak Verma and Nehal Wadhera wickets. In his first T20 World Cup game against Arch-rivals, Arshdeep Singh took three wickets. In these three wickets, Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan are included. This performance opened his brilliant bowling career for India in T20 cricket.
Comparison with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is an experienced bowler who has played for India since 2012. His bowling excellence is well-known all over the world. His brilliant control of swing bowling in the powerplay made him the go-to bowler for India to take wickets in the powerplay. Due to this, it became the 4th highest wicket-taker for India in T20 internationals. Besides that, he has also made crucial contributions with the ball in the IPL. He helped SRH and RCB lift the first IPL title.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh is a young and energetic bowler who performed brilliantly for India in a short period. Looking at his T20 stats, Arshdeep Singh is far ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Arshdeep Singh mostly bowls on flat surfaces, which are tough for bowlers. But Arshdeep Singh is quite smart in dealing with the challenge and has become India’s highest wicket-taker.
T20 Wicket-Taking Trends in Indian Cricket
Historically, Indian cricket has mostly focused on the batting department. Looking at the legends India produced, they were mostly batters. But in the recent decade, everything has changed. India has massively invested in young bowlers. Therefore, the Indian team got massive benefits from upgrading its bowling lineup.
In the last decade, many names like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, and new players like Arshdeep Singh appeared in the Indian cricket team. India now has a wide pool of bowlers who can deliver match-winning performances at any surface worldwide.
Yuzvendra Chahal played an important role in the middle phase for India in the recent 6-7 years. Therefore, he becomes 2nd second-highest wicket-taker for India in T20 cricket. His smart bowling took India to big wins in international games.
Chahal has been out of the side for more than 2-3 years, and this job has been handed over to Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. Both players gave brilliant performances in the middle phase of the innings. Axar Patel is also used in the opening overs of the game, making him more important as a bowler for India.
In T20 cricket, the Indian team always made a strategy of taking wickets at crucial times. Therefore, in the recent decade, the captains of the Indian cricket team have always looked for wickets. It puts pressure on the opposition side and greatly benefits the Indian team.
Due to this strategy, the Indian cricket team became so lethal in away conditions. In Australia, India won the T20 series in recent tours. The standard of Indian cricket in T20 international is set at a high level. The main focus of the Indian cricket team management is to rotate players to make them fresh and ready for any big tournament.
Another factor that plays a crucial role in the success of the Indian cricket team is a balanced chance for every deserving player. A player who has done brilliantly in IPL and other domestic leagues also puts pressure on the Indian team management to include him. The Indian team uses these players wisely, giving them regular chances to become more mature in international cricket.
IPL has impacted Indian cricket massively. Almost all the important players of every team worldwide participate in the IPL. So, the Young bowler got a brilliant chance to play with modern-day greats. In this way, they become more mature and develop the sense to absorb the pressure that they feel in their debut match. Therefore, players put more energy into their performance during the IPL and learn from the best. This affects their overall performance and brings the best performance out of them.
In the recent 5 years, India has lacked an express fast bowler who can bowl above 145+ KPH regularly. Umran Malik emerged as one of the fastest bowlers in Indian cricket history, regularly hitting 145+ KPH. His only concern is that he has to rest well. In recent times, he has been injured a couple of times.
Upcoming Talents to Watch
As mentioned above, India has a massive pool of young and talented bowlers in T20 cricket. These bowlers will be able to lead the bowling attack of the Indian cricket team in the future. Arshdeep Singh is a prominent name and needs no justification to be in the list of top bowlers of the Indian cricket team in the future. His T20 records in just 3 years prove that he will break records for India in T20 cricket. Now he is making massive progress in ODI and Test cricket as well.
Besides Arshdeep, there is a list of some exciting talent for India for the future. Ravi Bishnoi is one of the top-class leg spin bowlers. He has taken 61 wickets for India in T20 cricket, making him the 9th overall highest wicket taker for India in T20 cricket. His role is similar to Yuzvendra Chahal’s role. He took wickets in the middle phase of the innings and put pressure on the opposition side.
Umran Malik performed excellently in the IPL. Due to his express pace, he debuted for India in T20 cricket. However, due to injuries, Umran did not secure a permanent place on the Indian team squad. However, his performances and express pace show that he can make a massive comeback for the Indian cricket team in the future.
Harshit Rana is another exciting talent added to the Indian side after his remarkable performances in IPL 2024. In IPL 2025, he took 15 wickets and became one of the top wicket-takers for KKR. He has played in the test and ODI squads for Indian cricket, which shows his temperament for big games. In BGT 2024-25, Harshit Rana took crucial wickets for India.
Mayank Yadav is another exciting name who can become one of the top wicket-takers for India in T20 cricket. He performed excellently in IPL 2024, where he bowled at a speed of 150+ KPH. His impressive pace bowling made him a promising young fast bowler for India in the future. Mayank has played 3 T20 games for India and taken four wickets.
Due to several injuries, Mayank has not played a lot of cricket in the recent past. In IPL 2025, Mayank Yadav took nine wickets in his six games. His impressive pace bowling and wicket-taking ability make him one of India’s top talents for the future.
Who might be future leaders in the wicket column?
Looking at current records and performances, Arshdeep is way ahead of any bowler in T20 cricket. He has taken 99 wickets in just 3 years of his career. In IPL, he is a crucial bowler for the Punjab Kings to take wickets in the starting phase of the game. He has to make massive improvements in the ODI and Test formats to become one of India’s greatest bowlers. Arshdeep has not gotten massive injuries during his career till now, which is a big positive sign for India and him. His impressive swing bowling and incredible fitness helped him become India’s highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket.
Ravi Bishnoi is another exciting name for India, who can become one of the highest wicket-takers for India in the future. He is now the #9 position of all-time highest wicket-taker for India in T20 cricket. He also took crucial wickets for India in a crunch situation of the game, especially in the middle phase. Ravi is even younger than Arshdeep Singh, which is a massive benefit for him in competing with Arshdeep to get the first position in the future.
