2024 saw 53 Tests being played - the third-highest ever in a calendar year and here are the leading wicket-takers in Test cricket from 2024.
Only four times ever have 50 or more Test been played in one year, the latest of which came in 2004. With just three draws, there were a lot more result-oriented games, which also led to a huge spike in the number of wickets taken in the year.
Overall, bowlers took 1,820 scalps in Test cricket in 2024 - 143 more than in 2018 - at an average of 29.01. While runs were easier to score - the batters made them at 3.65 an over, the highest run rate ever that the batters have maintained, and a slight rise from the 3.52 last year - it also got the bowlers in the game.
Jasprit Bumrah led the wicket-takers charts of 2024 - as is well-known, ending with a phenomenal average of 14.92. He was just one of two bowlers to end the year with more than 50 Test wickets, with Gus Atkinson in second place.
Also Read: Wisden's 2024 men's Test debutants XI
The leading wicket-taker among spinners was Shoaib Bashir, who made his debut against India at the start of the year, followed by Ravindra Jadeja, who got 48 scalps, one fewer than what Bashir managed. In the overall list, Jadeja is tied for the fourth spot, alongside New Zealand’s Matt Henry and Prabath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka.
Most wickets in men's Tests in 2024: Full list
| Player | Team | Matches | Wickets | Best innings figures | Average | Economy rate | Strike rate | Five-fors | 10-wicket match hauls |
| Jasprit Bumrah | India | 13 | 71 | 6/45 | 14.9 | 3.0 | 30.1 | 5 | 0 |
| Gus Atkinson | England | 11 | 52 | 7/45 | 22.2 | 3.7 | 35.6 | 3 | 1 |
| Shoaib Bashir | England | 15 | 49 | 5/41 | 40.2 | 3.8 | 64.2 | 3 | 0 |
| Matt Henry | New Zealand | 9 | 48 | 7/67 | 18.6 | 3.3 | 33.9 | 3 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | 12 | 48 | 5/41 | 24.3 | 3.3 | 43.7 | 3 | 1 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 9 | 48 | 6/42 | 32.2 | 3.2 | 59.6 | 4 | 0 |
| R Ashwin | India | 11 | 47 | 6/88 | 27.3 | 3.8 | 42.9 | 3 | 0 |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 9 | 37 | 5/57 | 24.0 | 3.2 | 44.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Asitha Fernando | Sri Lanka | 9 | 37 | 5/102 | 24.5 | 3.6 | 40.4 | 1 | 0 |
| William O'Rourke | New Zealand | 10 | 36 | 5/34 | 24.8 | 3.8 | 39.5 | 2 | 0 |
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