IPL Most Wickets: All-Time Records

Yuzvendra Chahal has taken 233 wickets in the Indian Premier League, more than anyone, and he has done it while conceding 8.05 an over across fourteen seasons and four clubs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is seven behind on 226 from twenty-two more innings, and Sunil Narine third on 207 with the best economy rate of any bowler who has passed 150 — 6.79, in a competition where the tournament figure is now approaching ten.

Those three careers make the point that a bowling leaderboard needs. Chahal is a leg-spinner who buys wickets and accepts the runs; Narine is an off-spinner who takes them while barely conceding anything; Bhuvneshwar is a new-ball seamer who does both slightly less well but has bowled more overs than either. There is no single number that ranks them, so the list below carries four.

All figures are computed from ball-by-ball records of all 1,243 Indian Premier League matches from April 2008 to the 2026 final. Wickets credited here are those a bowler is credited with on a scorecard, so run-outs and the two instances of obstructing the field are excluded.

The all-time IPL wicket-takers

#	Bowler	Mat	Inns	Wkts	Runs	Ave	Econ	SR	Best	4w
1	Yuzvendra Chahal	189	184	233	5,417	23.25	8.05	17.3	5/40	9
2	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	206	206	226	5,913	26.16	7.71	20.4	5/19	5
3	Sunil Narine	201	200	207	5,261	25.42	6.79	22.5	5/19	8
4	Piyush Chawla	192	191	192	5,108	26.60	7.96	20.1	4/17	2
5	Jasprit Bumrah	158	158	187	4,441	23.75	7.34	19.4	5/10	5
5	Ravichandran Ashwin	219	217	187	5,652	30.22	7.20	25.2	4/34	1
7	Dwayne Bravo	160	158	183	4,360	23.83	8.38	17.0	4/22	2
8	Ravindra Jadeja	267	237	180	5,465	30.36	7.71	23.6	5/16	4
9	Rashid Khan	153	153	179	4,282	23.92	7.28	19.7	4/24	3
10	Amit Mishra	162	162	174	4,145	23.82	7.38	19.4	5/17	5
11	Lasith Malinga	122	122	170	3,366	19.80	7.14	16.6	5/13	7
12	Sandeep Sharma	142	142	151	4,294	28.44	8.16	20.9	5/18	3
12	Harshal Patel	123	121	151	3,727	24.68	8.92	16.6	5/27	5
14	Harbhajan Singh	163	160	150	4,030	26.87	7.08	22.8	5/18	2
15	Kagiso Rabada	101	101	148	3,358	22.69	8.80	15.5	4/21	6
16	Trent Boult	124	124	145	3,935	27.14	8.49	19.2	4/18	2
16	Mohammed Shami	132	132	145	4,208	29.02	8.67	20.1	4/11	2
18	Umesh Yadav	148	147	144	4,317	29.98	8.49	21.2	4/23	3
19	Axar Patel	177	173	139	4,431	31.88	7.43	25.7	4/21	1
20	Mohit Sharma	120	119	134	3,513	26.22	8.77	17.9	5/10	4
21	Mohammed Siraj	125	125	128	3,911	30.55	8.78	20.9	4/17	3
22	Andre Russell	139	121	123	2,863	23.28	9.51	14.7	5/15	3
23	Shardul Thakur	114	109	119	3,514	29.53	9.57	18.5	4/34	3
24	Jaydev Unadkat	116	115	114	3,504	30.74	8.94	20.6	5/25	2
25	Kuldeep Yadav	111	107	112	3,159	28.21	8.29	20.4	4/14	4
26	Varun Chakravarthy	94	94	111	2,745	24.73	7.72	19.2	5/20	2
26	Arshdeep Singh	97	95	111	3,111	28.03	9.19	18.3	5/32	3
28	Krunal Pandya	158	147	107	3,410	31.87	7.57	25.2	4/45	1

Seven of the top ten are spin bowlers — Chahal, Narine, Chawla, Ashwin, Jadeja, Rashid Khan and Amit Mishra — with only Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah and Bravo bowling seam. That share is far higher than a Twenty20 league in most other countries would show, and it is the clearest structural fact about IPL bowling: Indian surfaces reward slow bowling through the middle overs, and the competition's economy leaders are almost all spinners.

Rate against volume: the four ways to rank a bowler

The aggregate list is dominated by whoever bowled the most overs. Ranking the same population by average, economy and strike rate produces three different top fives, and all three are more useful than the aggregate for judging a bowler.

Best average (min 100 wkts)	Wkts	Ave	Best economy (min 250 overs)	Overs	Econ	Best strike rate (min 100 wkts)	Wkts	SR
Lasith Malinga	170	19.80	Muttiah Muralitharan	254	6.68	Andre Russell	123	14.7
Kagiso Rabada	148	22.69	Sunil Narine	775	6.79	Kagiso Rabada	148	15.5
Yuzvendra Chahal	233	23.25	Dale Steyn	363	6.92	Lasith Malinga	170	16.6
Andre Russell	123	23.28	Harbhajan Singh	569	7.08	Harshal Patel	151	16.6
Ashish Nehra	106	23.54	Lasith Malinga	471	7.14	Dwayne Bravo	183	17.0
Jasprit Bumrah	187	23.75	Ravichandran Ashwin	785	7.20	Yuzvendra Chahal	233	17.3
Amit Mishra	174	23.82	Rashid Khan	588	7.28	Mohit Sharma	134	17.9
Dwayne Bravo	183	23.83	Jasprit Bumrah	605	7.34	Ashish Nehra	106	18.0

Malinga is the only bowler to have taken 150 wickets at under twenty, and he did it in 122 innings with seven four-wicket hauls. Muralitharan's 6.68 across 254 overs remains the lowest economy rate in the competition, achieved across seven seasons from 2008 to 2014, when the tournament's own figure sat between 7.3 and 8.2 — a margin of about eighty runs a season over a par bowler.

The three qualification bars above are ours, not anyone's official standard, and are printed so the tables can be argued with.

Every Purple Cap season

Season	Bowler	Team	Inns	Wkts	Ave	Econ
2008	Sohail Tanvir	Rajasthan Royals	11	22	12.09	6.46
2009	RP Singh	Deccan Chargers	16	23	18.13	6.99
2010	Pragyan Ojha	Deccan Chargers	16	21	20.43	7.29
2011	Lasith Malinga	Mumbai Indians	16	28	13.39	5.95
2012	Morne Morkel	Delhi Daredevils	16	25	18.12	7.19
2013	Dwayne Bravo	Chennai Super Kings	18	32	15.53	7.95
2014	Mohit Sharma	Chennai Super Kings	16	23	19.65	8.40
2015	Dwayne Bravo	Chennai Super Kings	16	26	16.38	8.14
2016	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	17	23	21.30	7.42
2017	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Sunrisers Hyderabad	14	26	14.19	7.05
2018	Andrew Tye	Kings XI Punjab	14	24	18.67	8.00
2019	Imran Tahir	Chennai Super Kings	17	26	16.58	6.70
2020	Kagiso Rabada	Delhi Capitals	17	30	18.27	8.35
2021	Harshal Patel	Royal Challengers Bangalore	15	32	14.34	8.15
2022	Yuzvendra Chahal	Rajasthan Royals	17	27	19.52	7.75
2023	Mohammed Shami	Gujarat Titans	17	28	18.64	8.03
2024	Harshal Patel	Punjab Kings	14	24	19.88	9.73
2025	Prasidh Krishna	Gujarat Titans	15	25	19.52	8.27
2026	Kagiso Rabada	Gujarat Titans	17	29	21.59	9.68

Thirty-two is the season record and two men share it: Bravo in 2013 from eighteen innings and Harshal Patel in 2021 from fifteen. Malinga's 28 at 5.95 an over in 2011 is the only Purple Cap season under six an over, and the economy column in the last three rows — 9.73, 8.27, 9.68 — shows what a leading wicket-taker now has to pay.

Bravo, Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel and Rabada each have two caps; no bowler has three.

The best single spells

Figures	Overs	Bowler	Team	Opponent	Venue	Date
6/12	3.4	Alzarri Joseph	Mumbai Indians	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Hyderabad	6 Apr 2019
6/14	4	Sohail Tanvir	Rajasthan Royals	Chennai Super Kings	Jaipur	4 May 2008
6/19	4	Adam Zampa	Rising Pune Supergiants	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Visakhapatnam	10 May 2016
5/5	3.3	Akash Madhwal	Mumbai Indians	Lucknow Super Giants	Chennai	24 May 2023
5/5	3.1	Anil Kumble	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Rajasthan Royals	Cape Town	18 Apr 2009
5/10	4	Jasprit Bumrah	Mumbai Indians	Kolkata Knight Riders	Navi Mumbai	9 May 2022
5/10	2.2	Mohit Sharma	Gujarat Titans	Mumbai Indians	Ahmedabad	26 May 2023
5/12	3	Ishant Sharma	Deccan Chargers	Kochi Tuskers Kerala	Kochi	27 Apr 2011
5/13	3.4	Lasith Malinga	Mumbai Indians	Delhi Daredevils	Delhi	10 Apr 2011
5/14	4	Ankit Rajpoot	Kings XI Punjab	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Hyderabad	26 Apr 2018
5/14	4	Mark Wood	Lucknow Super Giants	Delhi Capitals	Lucknow	1 Apr 2023
5/15	2	Andre Russell	Kolkata Knight Riders	Mumbai Indians	Chennai	13 Apr 2021
5/16	4	Ravindra Jadeja	Chennai Super Kings	Deccan Chargers	Visakhapatnam	7 Apr 2012

Only three six-wicket hauls exist in nineteen seasons, and Alzarri Joseph's 6/12 came on his IPL debut. Anil Kumble's 5/5, bowled in the 2009 tournament staged in South Africa, is the cheapest five-wicket return, and Russell's 5/15 from two overs the shortest.

Note how few of these are recent. Only three of the thirteen come from the last four seasons — the period in which batting has been most productive — because a bowler now rarely gets a spell in which the opposition keeps attacking without succeeding.

What bowling in this competition now costs

Season	Wickets	Economy
2008	604	8.10
2009	621	7.31
2013	829	7.52
2018	662	8.53
2021	670	7.92
2023	857	8.85
2024	830	9.42
2025	830	9.51
2026	835	9.77

The wicket count has held roughly steady once the number of matches per season is accounted for; the cost has not. A bowler in 2026 conceded 9.77 an over against 7.31 in 2009, which means an equivalent four-over spell now costs ten runs more.

That is why the career lists are hard to read across eras and why Rabada's 2026 Purple Cap at 21.59 is arguably a better season than several caps won at fifteen. It is also why bowlers who arrived after 2022 are almost absent from the average and economy tables: Arshdeep Singh's 111 wickets have cost 28.03 each at 9.19 an over, figures that would have been unremarkable-to-poor a decade ago and are close to the tournament par now.

The leading wicket-taker at each club

Sunil Narine's 207 for Kolkata Knight Riders is the largest haul any bowler has taken for a single franchise, and one of very few one-club bowling careers in the competition. Jasprit Bumrah has taken all 187 of his for Mumbai Indians across thirteen seasons, passing Malinga's 170 — also entirely for the same club — during 2025. Behind those two, the largest single-franchise hauls are Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 157 for Sunrisers, Ravindra Jadeja's 143 for Chennai and Chahal's 139 for Royal Challengers.

Chahal is the outlier in the other direction. His 233 are spread across Royal Challengers, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians; Piyush Chawla is the only other bowler in the top ten to have taken wickets for four franchises, with 84 for Kings XI Punjab, 66 for Kolkata, 36 for Mumbai and six for Chennai. Chahal's own club-by-club record is set out on the Yuzvendra Chahal IPL wickets page.

Three things the wicket list shows

Volume and quality separate almost completely. Of the eight bowlers with the best career averages, only Chahal and Bumrah are also inside the top six by aggregate. Malinga, Rabada, Russell and Nehra all bowled fewer than 130 innings.

Four-wicket hauls are rarer than the aggregates suggest. Chahal's nine is the most, and he needed 184 innings for them. Ashwin took 187 wickets and has one. In a four-over allocation, taking four is a near-perfect spell rather than a good one, which is why the fifty-plus-wicket bowlers with none are not unusual.

India's fast bowlers dominate the last decade of the list. Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Arshdeep Singh and Sandeep Sharma are all inside the top twenty-six, and every one of them made a Test or one-day debut for India. The competition has been the principal seam-bowling finishing school in the country for fifteen years — a role the wider Indian structure is described from on the cricket in India hub. The batting side of the same nineteen seasons is on the IPL most runs page.

Sources and method

Bowling figures are computed from the ball-by-ball archive published by Cricsheet (cricsheet.org, ODC-BY 1.0), which records every delivery of the 1,243 IPL matches played from 18 April 2008 to the 2026 final on 31 May 2026.

A wicket is credited to the bowler only where the dismissal type does so: bowled, caught, caught and bowled, leg before wicket, stumped and hit wicket. Run-outs, retirements and obstruction are counted as team wickets but not as the bowler's. Runs conceded include wides and no-balls; overs bowled exclude them, which is standard and means economy rate is runs conceded per six legal deliveries. Super-over spells are excluded from every career and season figure.

Averages are runs conceded per wicket, and strike rate is legal deliveries bowled per wicket. Best figures are ranked by wickets first and runs conceded second, which is how scorecards order them. Where a bowler's best return is shared across two matches, the earlier is shown.

Purple Cap winners were derived by taking the leading wicket-taker for each season from the same archive, with runs conceded as the tie-break, and checked against the published season records. Season labels use the calendar year in which the tournament was played. Everything here is current to the close of the 2026 season.