Analysing the best bowlers in the world across all formats

Top bowlers in terms of wickets (since 2013):

Compiling this list would obviously leave some of the newer bowlers at a distinct disadvantage, as they might’ve been just at the dawn of their careers. Despite this, here’s a look at the new list:

PLAYER	TEST WICKETS	ODI WICKETS	T20I WICKETS	TOTAL
1. Dale Steyn (Saf)	97	66	16	179
2. Stuart Broad (Eng)	115	29	9	153
3. Saeed Ajmal (Pak)	56	75	14	145
4. R. Ashwin (Ind)	56	77	11	144
5. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind)	42	86	7	135
6. Tim Southee (NZ)	79	44	9	132
7. M. Morkel (Saf)	53	70	6	129
8. Mitchell Starc (Aus)	26	61	11	98
9. Shakib Hasan (Ban)	40	35	17	92
10. Imran Tahir (Saf)	10	56	25	91

While Dale Steyn stays, quite deservingly, at the top spot, the most striking feature of the list is the presence of Stuart Broad at No.2. Despite Broad’s limited appearances in the shorter formats of the game recently, his outstanding performances in Test cricket gives him a huge lead over other bowlers in the wickets column. The 28-year-old pacer more than makes up for his mediocre showings in ODIs and T20Is with a stunning 115 Test wickets since 2013.

Saeed Ajmal and Ashwin occupy the third and fourth spots respectively, with the former pipping the latter by just one wicket. Another point to note is that Jadeja leapfrogs Southee, Starc, Tahir, and Shakib to take the No.5 spot, owing to his uncanny ability to bowl wicket to wicket and consistently chip away at the wickets.

The three pacers, Southee, Morkel, and Starc take the next three spots on the table, while Shakib and Tahir slip down the list by 5 and 4 spots respectively to No.9 and No.10.

Hafeez misses out this time as his combined wicket tally is a mere 67 across the formats.

*The references made in this article are correct as of 2nd June 2015.