Most Wickets By Fast Bowlers In IPL History

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah [Source: AFP]

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has proven to be a tournament where spinners have largely outplayed their fast-bowling counterparts on spin-friendly Indian surfaces. Such has been their enduring impact that four of the five highest wicket-takers in the league’s history are spinners.

But even in a league tilted towards spin, fast bowlers have quietly built impressive legacies of their own. A certain Indian pace legend even recently became the first-ever fast bowler, and the second bowler overall in IPL history to scale the 200-wicket landmark. Here is a look at five of the most successful fast bowlers in the history of IPL, in terms of number of wickets taken.

5. Harshal Patel – 151 wickets

Harshal Patel is one of only a handful of cricketers in IPL history to have won the Purple Cap twice in his career. The SRH fast bowler is also the fifth highest wicket-taker in IPL matches among all pacers, with 151 wickets to his name from just 118 innings at an impressive bowling average of 24.06.

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Patel has picked up four four-wicket hauls in the process, and one five-fer ever since he commenced his IPL journey back in 2012 for the RCB. The speedster picked up 32 of his 151 wickets in a single IPL season of 2021, thus marking the joint-highest for any bowler in a single edition of the tournament.

4. Lasith Malinga – 170 wickets

Mumbai Indians zealot Lasith Malinga spent a decade with the franchise, harvesting 170 wickets in the process in just 122 innings. His bowling average of 19.79 marks the best among all bowlers with more than 50 IPL wickets to their names, let alone 150. The legendary Sri Lankan cricketer was part of an IPL-winning unit four times in his career, all for the Mumbai Indians, and formed a formidable pace attack in the franchise with Jasprit Bumrah.

Malinga also maintained an impressive economy rate of just 7.14, and picked up six four-wicket hauls and a five-fer in his nine-season career.

3. Dwayne Bravo – 183 wickets

CSK’s three-time IPL winner Dwayne Bravo bagged 183 wickets in his 161-match career at a bowling average of 23.82. He also won the coveted Purple Cap twice in his career, both for CSK, doing so in the 2013 and 2015 editions of the tournament.

In IPL 2013, Bravo claimed 32 wickets in 18 matches to claim most wickets in a single season, before Harshal Patel levelled the feat. Unlike other bowlers on this list, the legendary West Indies all-rounder was also more than just a handy commodity with the bat, having aggregated over 1,500 runs at a strike rate of nearly 130.

2. Jasprit Bumrah – 183 wickets

Jasprit Bumrah made his IPL debut back in 2013 for the Mumbai Indians franchise. Often considered as one of the greatest IPL products and the league’s biggest gift for Indian cricket, Bumrah has played 147 matches for his franchise spanning 13 different seasons to date.

A five-time IPL winner for Mumbai Indians, the legendary Indian fast bowler has picked up 183 wickets in 147 innings at an average of 22.33 and with an economy of 7.24. Jasprit Bumrah’s magnum opus season with the ball remains his 2020 heroics, where he picked up 27 scalps in 15 innings at an average of 14.96.

1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 202 wickets

Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first fast bowler in IPL history, and only the second bowler overall to complete 200 wickets. The legendary Indian paceman attained the landmark figure in the earlier phase of the IPL 2026 season, i.e., in his 16th IPL edition.

As of now, Bhuvneshwar’s illustrious IPL tally consists of 202 wickets from 192 innings at an average of 27.14 and with an economy of 7.70. He was part of an IPL-winning side twice in his career, one each for the SRH and defending champions RCB. Moreover, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler in the history of the IPL to have won the ‘Purple Cap’ in successive years.

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