List of bowlers who have taken 300 or more wickets in One Day International cricket

Muttiah Muralitharan, being the highest wicket taker in ODI cricket.
Portrait of Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram, rated the best ODI bowler by Wisden in 2003,[1] is one of the two bowlers who have taken over 500 wickets in ODIs.[2]

Taking 300 or more wickets across a playing career is considered a significant achievement in One Day International (ODI) cricket.[3] As of July 2023, the feat has been accomplished by only 14 cricketers in the history of the game,[2] with Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram being the first to do so in October 1996.[4] Akram was also the first player to take 400 and 500 wickets in this format.[3][5] Four Sri Lankan players have taken 300 or more wickets, along with three Pakistanis, two Australians, two Indians, one New Zealander and one South African player and one Bangladeshi. England, the West Indies and Zimbabwe are yet to see a player reach the 300 mark.[2]

Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has the highest aggregate with 534 wickets; he also has 10 five-wicket hauls.[2] Australian Glenn McGrath has the best bowling average (22.02) among players who have taken 300 or more wickets.[6] In terms of matches played, Brett Lee—another Australian cricketer—took the fewest (171) to accomplish the feat.[7] South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock is the most economical with 3.67 runs per over, whereas Lee has the best strike rate of 29.4 balls per wicket.[2] Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas' eight wickets for 19 runs against Zimbabwe in 2001 remains the only occasion where a bowler has taken eight wickets in an ODI.[8] Waqar Younis's 13 five-wicket hauls remain the most by any bowler.[2] Shakib Al Hasan is the only active player who is having 300 wickets in ODI.[9]

Among the bowlers who have taken over 300 wickets in ODIs, Sanath Jayasuriya is the only cricketer who has also joined 10,000 runs club in ODI cricket.[10]

  1. ^ Wisden CricInfo staff (27 January 2003). "All-time W100 ODI Top 10s". ESPNcricinfo. Wisden. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Record / One-Day Internationals / Bowling record / Most wickets in career". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b Kureishi, Omar (31 January 2000). "Wasim's record – a remarkable feat". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2018. ... 400 (plus) wickets in one day internationals ... is a monumental achievement considering that no one else has even crossed the 300 mark.
  4. ^ "Wisden – Pakistan vs Zimbabwe". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Pakistan labour to victory". BBC Sport. 25 February 2003. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  6. ^ "Record / One-Day Internationals / Bowling record / Best career bowling average". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Record / One-Day Internationals / Bowling record / Fastest to 300 wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  8. ^ "One Day International Bowlng Records – Best figures in an innings". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Shakib Al Hasan becomes first Bangladesh bowler to take 300 ODI wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Player Profile: Sanath Jayasuriya". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.