As the year draws to a close, cricket enthusiasts have started turning their eyes to the year-end statistics — who shone the brightest, who lagged behind. And for Bangladeshi fans, there’s reason to smile when looking at the list of top wicket-takers in international T20s for 2024. Among the Test-playing nations, Bangladesh’s young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain currently sits at the very top.
However, there’s a small caveat here. When associate nations are included alongside the Test-playing ones, Rishad is not the leading wicket-taker overall in world T20 cricket this year.
That honour belongs to Rizwan Butt of Bahrain, who has claimed 50 wickets in 29 matches. Just behind him is Austria’s pacer Umair Tariq, with 48 wickets from 30 games, followed by another Austrian, Aqib Iqbal, who has taken 43 wickets in 36 matches.
If all nations are considered, Rishad currently sits in tenth position overall. In other words, the top nine bowlers are all from ICC associate nations. But among the Test-playing countries, he shares the number one spot.
That joint leader is West Indies pacer Jason Holder. Both Rishad and Holder have 26 wickets each — though Rishad has played 22 matches compared to Holder’s 17. Rishad bowled in 21 innings to collect his wickets, while Holder did so in 17.
Statistically, Rishad’s economy rate (8.50) is slightly better than Holder’s (8.59), though Holder’s bowling average (21.00) surpasses Rishad’s (24.30). In terms of overs bowled, Rishad has delivered 74.2 overs, compared to Holder’s 63.3.
Right behind these two are five bowlers who are also within striking distance of the top spot:
- Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan) – 25 wickets in 19 matches
- Jacob Duffy (New Zealand) – 25 wickets in 16 matches
- Richard Ngarava (Zimbabwe) – 25 wickets in 18 matches
- Taskin Ahmed (Bangladesh) – 24 wickets in 12 matches
- Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) – 23 wickets in 17 matches
This means that alongside Rishad and Holder, Taskin and Mustafizur also have a real chance to finish the year as leading wicket-takers among Test-playing nations.
Bangladesh, too, still have matches in hand. According to the ICC’s FTP, they are scheduled to play four more T20 internationals before the year ends — one remaining match against the West Indies in the ongoing series, followed by a three-match T20 series against Ireland in November–December.
So far in the West Indies series, Rishad has taken 3 wickets in two matches, leaving him with ample opportunity to move further ahead.