Australia's pace spearhead, Mitchell Starc has reduced Lasith Malinga's colossal World Cup record to dust and has rewritten the pages of cricketing history.
Starc, 34, claimed the wicket of Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim in the fourth Super Eight game of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup to become the new leading wicket-taker in World Cup (T20 and ODI) history.
Starc has surpassed the Sri Lankan legend to create a new all-time record with 95 wickets in the ODI and the T20 World Cups combined and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Starc has bagged 65 wickets in the ODI World Cup and snared 30 already in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup history.
Malinga previously held the record with 94 scalps to his name - 56 in the 50-over World Cup and 38 wickets in the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh's veteran allrounder Shakib Al Hasan is third on the list of the all-time leading wicket-takers. Shakib has 92 wickets in his kitty and can go past Starc in the ongoing T20 carnival in the Caribbean.
New Zealand's Trent Boult is fourth with 87 scalps whereas the former spin wizard Muttiah Muralidaran is fifth with 79 poles to his name.
Notably, Boult has already called time on his T20 World Cup career and with the next ODI World Cup still three years away, it looks highly unlikely for the Kiwi pacer to be available for the marquee tournament.
Most wickets in Men's World Cups (ODIs and T20)
| S. No. |
Player |
Matches |
Wickets |
ODI/T20 |
| 1. |
Mitchell Starc |
52* |
95 |
65/30 |
| 2. |
Lasith Malinga |
60 |
94 |
56/38 |
| 3. |
Shakib Al Hasan |
77* |
92 |
43/49 |
| 4. |
Trent Boult |
47 |
87 |
53/34 |
| 5. |
Muttiah Muralidaran |
49 |
79 |
68/11 |
Barring Shakib, there's no other player who can compete with Starc for the record. Shakib is still tight-lipped about his international future but looks fit enough to continue for a few more years.
On the other hand, Starc is likely to play a huge role in helping Australia claim the most sought-after treble of winning the ICC World Test Championship, ODI World Cup and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup all at once. The left-arm quick has had a quiet tournament so far and therefore would like to turn things around quickly.
