Given the Champions Trophy is returning after a hiatus of eight long years, none of the new-age bowlers make the cut
From February 19, cricket fans will be glued to their television, laptop, or smartphone screens to watch the ICC Champions Trophy, a knockout 50-over tournament returning after a hiatus of eight lengthy years. Therefore, before the tournament begins, let us walk through some of the top performers the tournament has witnessed since 1998.
In this article, we have compiled the top bowlers with the most wickets taken in the tourney. Surprisingly, no new-age bowlers made the top cut, given that several of them made their debuts after 2017 and never featured in the tourney or were too young to be part of the 2017 edition and editions prior to that.
Injuries, inconsistency, and disciplinary issues are the reasons why the name Kyle David Mills doesn’t ring a bell. Despite picking 240 ODI wickets, Mills did not enjoy memorable campaigns in any of the World Cups he played for New Zealand. However, in the Champions Trophy, he did make an impact with 28 wickets in 15 matches at an economy of 4.29 with a best figure of 4/30. Despite several legendary bowlers playing more Champions Trophy matches, Mills remains at the top. In fact, his performed helped New Zealand win the final in 2000.
One of the most ferocious bowlers ever to grace the game, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga appeared in the Champions Trophy, playing 16 games. In those 16 games, he grabbed 25 wickets with an economy of 5.31 and the best bowling figure of 4/34.
Hailing from Kandy, Sri Lanka, MuthiahMuralidaran is among the finest ever to spin the ball. With 24 wickets in 17 matches, he remains the third-highest wicket-taker in the Champions Trophy history despite playing his last edition in 2009. His best bowling figure was 4/15, with an impressive economy of 3.60.
In this list, Brett Lee is the only bowler to have not one but two ICC Champions Trophies that he won in 2006 and 2009 with Australia. Between 2000 and 2009, he played 16 matches, scalping 22 wickets at an economy of 4.79 with a best bowling figure of 3/38.
Three ICC World Cups, but Glenn wasn’t part of Australia’s ICC Champions Trophy winning squads. He only played 12 games but picked 21 wickets at an economy of 4.03 with a best bowling figure of 5/37.
As mentioned in the second paragraph, active bowlers are far from making it into the top five or even the top 10 of this list. If we look at India’s squad for the upcoming tournament, only Ravindra Jadeja’s name is on the list, with a rank of 14 for picking 16 wickets in 10 matches that he played between 2013 and 2017. To break into the top five, he will need to grab at least seven wickets.
