Top five wicket-takers in the Asia Cup tournament

Asia Cup 2018 tournament in UAE has been done and dusted with the mighty Indians winning the title for a record seventh time. The Indians were crowned champions in the final as they defeated Bangladesh taking the chase deep down to the very last delivery of the chase!. Many players made a good comeback into the ODI side with this tournament while some have wasted their rare opportunities.

Afghanistan as a team performed very well in the Asia Cup 2018 season and won many hearts. In all their three ‘Super Four’ games they were so close to winning but were unfortunate how they ended up at last. Sri Lanka’s performance had come as a shocker as they were the first team to bow out of the 2018 tourney.

However, it was not the same boring performance that one witnessed from the Sri Lankans in the previous seasons. They won the Asia Cup title five times and had produced some amazing performances on the field. If you consider the list of top wicket-takers in the history of Asia Cup, four off the five places have been occupied by the Sri Lankan bowers.

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#5 Chaminda Vaas (SL)

Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas is at the fifth position in this list. Having featured in 19 Asia Cup games, he picked up 23 wickets at a bowling average of just over 27. He has a good bowling economy rate of 4.19 in the 152.2 overs he bowled in this tournament. These are really good figures for a player who bowls with a new ball as well as in the death overs!

Vaas made his Asia Cup debut against Bangladesh in April 1995 and he bowled brilliantly in that game. Having bowled seven overs in that game, he gave away just nine runs and picked up a wicket while delivering four maiden overs. It was one of those games, Vaas would not forget anytime soon!

His best bowling figures in the Asia Cup came in the 2004 edition against Bangladesh where he picked up three wickets for just 30 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Much to his delight, he also effected a run-out in that game against Bangladesh. On a lighter note, Sri Lanka won this game against Bangladesh by a big margin of 10 wickets.

#4 Saeed Ajmal (Pak)

Saeed Ajmal

Ajmal is the only player in this list who is not a Sri Lankan. Having featured in 12 Asia Cup games, Ajmal picked up 25 wickets bowling at a good average of 19.40. Not once in the Asia Cup matches, Saeed Ajmal was wicketless. In his 12 Asia Cup ODIs, he registered a three-wicket haul in four games, two-wicket hauls in five games and a wicket each in the rest of his three games!

His performance against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2014 final would be the one he will cherish for a long time! He dismissed all the Sri Lankan top three batsman which includes removing Kumar Sangakkara for a first-ball duck. 3 for 26 in 10 overs was his bowling figures in that game.

Ajmal had a successful but controversial career for Pakistan. His bowling action was twice reported for chucking, during the ODI series against Australia in 2009 and during the Test series against Sri Lanka in 2014. However, at the age of 40 (in 2017), Ajmal announced his retirement with 447 wickets across all the three formats of the game.

#3 Ajantha Mendis (SL)

Ajantha Mendis

Mendis featured in only two Asia Cup editions for Sri Lanka, 2008 in Pakistan & 2014 in Bangladesh. He was wicketless in his Asia Cup debut match against Bangladesh in 2008. However, he won the title for Sri Lanka with his brilliant bowling performance against India in the final of the same Asia Cup 2008 season.

In the final against India (2008), Mendis picked up 6 wickets while conceding just 13 runs! These are also his career-best bowling figures in ODIs. With this great performance, he helped Sri Lanka win the Final by 100 runs to take the trophy.

In the eight ODI games he played for Sri Lanka in Asia Cup, Mendis picked up 26 wickets at a bowling average of 10.42. He picked up two four-wicket hauls, a five-wicket haul and a six-wicket haul in this tournament.

Despite going wicketless in one of his eight Asia Cup games, he managed to pick up as many as 26 wickets. His bowling economy of 3.98 is among the best in this tournament.

#2 Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

Muttiah Muralitharan (center)

A name that needs no introduction. The format of the game doesn’t matter to this Sri Lankan legend as he made his mark with the ball against almost every nation. He featured in 24 Asia Cup games, third-most for any player, and it comes as no surprise to see his name in the list among the top bowlers!

In his 24 Asia Cup games, Murali picked up 30 wickets at an average of just over 28. His economy rate of just 3.75 runs per over is the second best for any bowler in Asia Cup who bowled in at least 10 ODIs. Pakistan’s Wasim Akram is at the top of this list with an economy rate of just 3.22 in 12 Asia Cup ODIs.

His best bowling performance has come against Bangladesh during the 2008 season where he picked up a 5 wicket haul in his 10 overs conceding just 31 runs. With his blistering spell, Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by a 158-run margin in that ‘Super Four’ game.

#1 Lasith Malinga (SL)

Lasith Malinga

Fans across the globe call him ‘Slinga Malinga". In his 15 Asia Cup games (14 ODIs and a T20I), he picked up 33 wickets to feature at the top of this list. He registered two four-wicket hauls and three five-wicket hauls in his 15 games in this tournament. Malinga is also the only bowler till date to pick up three five-wicket hauls in this Asia Cup tournament!

All his three five-wicket hauls resulted in wins for Sri Lanka in crucial games. Among the three, Malinga’s 5 for 36 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2014 final has to be his best. Pakistan, batting first in that game, lost only five wickets in their innings and all the five wickets were picked up by Lasith Malinga!

In the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2018 season, Malinga picked up four wickets in his comeback match against Bangladesh and with that spell he surpassed Muralitharan to become leading wicket-taker in Asia Cup tournament. He was not a regular in the Sri Lankan ODI side in the recent past, however, with such a brilliant spell he certainly booked his place in the struggling Sri Lankan side for the World Cup next year.