Cricket
500 Club: T20 Bowlers with More than 500 Wickets Ranked
T20 cricket is more than just towering sixes and feats of batting greatness. The bowlers have muscled in on the action, demonstrating a combination of dexterity, durability, and adaptability that has allowed them to make a name for themselves.
Only a select few have reached the exclusive ‘500 T20 Wickets Club’, an incredible milestone worth celebrating. The four legends reviewed on this page are Rashid Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, and Imran Tahir. They have had a huge impact, showcasing their undeniable talent both on the global stage playing T20Is and domestically in some of the biggest leagues, such as the Indian Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League.
Rashid Khan of Afghanistan/Getty Images
SportsBoom has assessed the credentials of the T20 bowling legends, crunching the numbers, and using a concrete statistical model to reach a definitive conclusion on who is the best.
SB Market Index: How We Evaluate the Elite 500-Wicket Bowlers
Our evaluation of the top T20 wicket takers was a multi-layered process. We combined a detailed statistical analysis of their career bowling records with expert and media perception to provide a comprehensive ranking of these legends. Fusing these aspects engineered the ‘SB Market Index’. Our custom-built system ensured fairness and transparency across the results.
Industry Insights
A curated analysis from the top 10 cricketing and sports media sources measures how prominently each of the bowlers with 500 T20 wickets featured in conversations about the greatest bowlers of all time in that format.
| Source Name | Rashid Khan | Dwayne Bravo | Sunil Narine | Imran Tahir |
| ESPNcricinfo – T20 XI of the Decade | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wisden – T20 Cricketer of the 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sky Sports – “T20 GOAT Bowler” debate | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cricbuzz – “Best T20 Players Ever” feature | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| The Cricketer – Top 50 T20 Players List | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sportskeeda – “Greatest T20 Bowlers of All Time” | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Reddit r/Cricket – All-Time T20 XI polls | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bleacher Report – “Ranking T20’s Most Feared Bowlers” | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cricket Monthly – Impact Bowler Analysis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| TalkSPORT – “Top 10 T20 Bowlers” countdown | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total Mentions | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 |
SB Score
| Player | Wickets | Matches | Average | Strike Rate | SB Score |
| Rashid Khan | 643 | 477 | 18.62 | 16.9 | 1.000 |
| Imran Tahir | 547 | 434 | 19.68 | 16.9 | 0.908 |
| Sunil Narine | 589 | 554 | 21.94 | 21.3 | 0.781 |
| Dwayne Bravo | 631 | 582 | 24.40 | 17.7 | 0.778 |
This score is calculated based on three key T20 career bowling metrics: Bowling Strike Rate (40% weightage), Bowling Average (35% weightage), and Total Wickets (25%). This helped with the best T20 bowlers ever ranking system.
SB Market Index
| Rank | Player | SB Score | Industry Insights | SB Market Index |
| 1 | Rashid Khan | 1.000 | 10 | 8.200 |
| 2 | Dwayne Bravo | 0.778 | 10 | 8.156 |
| 3 | Sunil Narine | 0.781 | 10 | 8.156 |
| 4 | Imran Tahir | 0.908 | 6 | 4.982 |
The T20 Bowling GOATs: Khan, Bravo, and Narine
A bowling titan, Rashid Khan has more T20 wickets than the others on this list (643). Renowned for his devilish googly, Khan was Afghanistan cricket’s first global superstar, and he constantly put batters under pressure like his cricketing idol Shahid Afridi, one of Pakistan’s best bowlers of all time. His perfect ‘SB Score’ and ‘Industry Insight’ score meant top spot was fully merited.
Dwayne Bravo’s T20 record, meanwhile, has been spectacular. Although he grew up with ambitions of becoming the next Brian Lara, the West Indies all-rounder, was an undoubted hit. Becoming the first bowler to reach 500 T20 wickets, Bravo boasted plenty of flair as a medium pacer, and while he gained a perfect ‘Industry Insights’ score, his ‘SB Score’ pulled him just below Khan.
Similarly, Sunil Narine’s bowling stats are worth touching on. As a specialist slow bowler, Narine had a bag of tricks up his sleeve that he used to befuddle many of the best T20 batsmen. Again, Narine gained plenty of admiration from the experts with his perfect ‘Industry Insights’ score, and he gained a better ‘SB Score’ than his compatriot Bravo.
The Statistical Standout: Imran Tahir
Statistically speaking, Imran Tahir’s T20 career was phenomenal. A great economy rate along with an excellent average made Tahir one of the most feared googly bowlers, and he was a feisty character. Tahir’s stats drove his exceptional ‘SB Score’, and he gave a strong showing overall even if he didn’t rank so highly for ‘Industry Insights’.
The Art of Wicket-Taking
Many of the T20 bowlers we referred to were masters of spin, bringing their expertise to wicket-taking. Khan, for example, was extraordinarily effective as an aggressive legspinner. He might not have always turned the ball too much, but he could probe top batsmen, and he was often the first name on the wishlist of T20 teams around the world.
Narine, on the other hand, provided the mystery factor. Whether it was skidders, knuckleballs, or carrom balls, Narine constantly perplexed batters with his variation.
Meanwhile, Tahir is revered for his wild celebrations, sprinting further than the run-ups of most fast bowlers to enjoy capturing prized wickets. Tahir was great during the middle periods of innings, while Bravo, the only seamer on this list, was formidable during the death overs.
Conclusion on T20’s Bowling Pantheon
In summary, Rashid Khan topped our bespoke rankings system. Apart from amassing the most wickets in T20 cricket history, our comprehensive model illustrated Khan was extremely popular with the experts, and he had a brilliant ‘SB Score’ to boot.
That said, it is worth noting that Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine were also held in high esteem by the experts, reflecting their respective impacts in T20 cricket.
All four bowlers discussed on this page are undisputed legends. They carved out incredible careers, and they redefined the art of wicket-taking to leave fans speechless.
Charles Perrin is a highly experienced sports betting content writer with over six years of working with some of the leading sportsbooks in the UK, including bet365 and William Hill.