Shaheen Shah Afridi is leading Pakistan’s fast bowling attack in the first Test against Bangladesh, which kicked off at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Friday, May 8. On Day 1 of the first day’s play, Shaheen opened his wicket account by dismissing Bangladesh opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy. Joy, who made 8 runs from 19 balls, was caught by Mohammad Rizwan on the first ball of the seventh over. The wicket of Joy helped Shaheen enter his name in the record books as he became the first Pakistani bowler to take 100 wickets in the World Test Championship.
Prior to the start of the match, Shaheen had dismissed 99 batters in 47 innings of 28 WTC matches for Pakistan and joined the elite list in the first session of the game itself.
In the list of
bowlers with most wickets for Pakistan in WTC, Shaheen is followed by spinner Noman Ali. Noman, who was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker in the 2023-2025 edition of WTC, has 89 wickets to his name in 20 WTC matches. Spinner Sajid Khan is third on the list of bowlers with most wickets. He has accounted for the dismissal of 63 batters so far in 12 WTC matches for Pakistan.
Most wickets for Pakistan in WTC
| PLAYER | MATCHES | WICKETS | BEST FIGURES | 5-WICKET HAULS |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | 29* | 100* | 6/51 | 3 |
| Noman Ali | 20* | 89* | 8/46 | 8 |
| Sajid Khan | 12 | 63 | 8/42 | 4 |
| Naseem Shah | 20 | 60 | 5/31 | 1 |
| Abrar Ahmed | 10 | 46 | 7/114 | 2 |
The overall record of taking most wickets in WTC is held by legendary Australian spinner Nathan Lyon. Lyon, who is the second highest wicket-taker in Tests for Australia, has picked up 224 wickets in 55 WTC matches. His Australian teammate and captain Pat Cummins is second on the list with 222 wickets in 54 matches, and left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc takes the third position.
Starc, who played a big role in Australia’s Ashes series win earlier this year, has dismissed 221 batters so far in 52 WTC matches.
Most wickets in WTC
| PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | WICKETS | BEST FIGURES | 5-WKT HAULS |
| Nathan Lyon | Australia | 55 | 224 | 8/64 | 10 |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 54 | 222 | 7/58 | 7 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 52 | 221 | 6/28 | 10 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 41 | 195 | 7/71 | 11 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 42 | 185 | 6/27 | 13 |
| Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 36 | 164 | 6/46 | 8 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | 48 | 156 | 7/42 | 6 |
| Mohammed Siraj | India | 45 | 139 | 6/15 | 5 |
| Stuart Broad | England | 33 | 134 | 6/31 | 3 |
| Josh Hazlewood | Australia | 32 | 131 | 5/8 | 7 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 37 | 127 | 5/32 | 6 |
| Keshav Maharaj | South Africa | 36 | 120 | 7/32 | 7 |
| James Anderson | England | 36 | 116 | 6/40 | 5 |
| Ben Stokes | England | 62 | 112 | 5/23 | 2 |
| Chris Woakes | England | 34 | 110 | 5/50 | 2 |
| Kemar Roach | West Indies | 33 | 109 | 5/47 | 3 |
| Jack Leach | England | 30 | 106 | 5/66 | 3 |
| Taijul Islam | Bangladesh | 26* | 104* | 7/116 | 8 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | 29* | 100* | 6/51 | 3 |
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin tops the list of Asian bowlers with the most wickets in the WTC. Ashwin, who retired from all forms of international cricket in December 2024, finished his career with 195 wickets in 41 WTC matches. India’s premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who sits at No. 1 position in the ICC Test bowler’s ranking, is in 2nd place among Asian bowlers (fifth overall) with 185 wickets in 42 WTC matches.
