Top 5 Leading wicket takers in Cricket World Cup history

#2. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) - 68 Wickets

Murali weaved his magic many a time at the World Cup

Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka’s ace spinner will go down in history as the greatest off-spinner to have graced the game. After all, the Sri Lankan racked up 800 Test wickets whereas his tally of 534 ODI wickets wasn’t too shabby either.

Muralitharan made a living bamboozling batsmen with his wizardry and guile. Though he had to encounter some problems at the start of his career, he ensured he silenced those critics with the ball.

The spinner’s record at the World Cup makes for impressive reading. In 40 games, he picked up 68 wickets at an astounding average of 19.63. Moreover, he also kept things quiet in the middle overs and made sure Sri Lanka built pressure on the opposition. His economy rate of 3.88 runs conceded per over drives the aforementioned fact home.

Apart from the raw numbers he produced, Murali had an aura about him. An aura very few bowlers across the globe can claim to have created. Whenever he came on to bowl, the batsmen always looked circumspect, no matter the situation and that eventually led to them perishing against the wily spinner.

Akin to any great sportsman, he also saved his best for the biggest of occasions and unsurprisingly, he finds himself as the 2nd highest wicket taker of all time in World Cup cricket.