Top 5 bowlers with the most wickets in T20Is in 2025

T20Is in 2025 gave frontline bowlers plenty of opportunity — frequent bilateral windows, regional events and ICC qualifiers. Limiting the list to players from full-member nations highlights those who combined a clear role, execution and game awareness to pile up wickets. Below are the five leading full-member wicket-takers for the year.

1. Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan) - 36 wickets

Mohammad Nawaz turned left-arm spin into one of Pakistan’s most dependable wicket channels in T20Is. Operating mainly in the middle overs, Nawaz mixed control with subtle variations — an unpredictable arm-ball, a well-timed quicker and a flatter delivery that skidded through. 

Opponents often tried to force the pace against him and paid for it. Nawaz’s strength was reading when a batter would attempt the aerial shot and then executing an aggressive field to convert pressure into wickets. His 36 wickets were a product of volume and a role that matched his craft perfectly.

2. Varun Chakravarthy (India) - 36 wickets

Varun Chakravarthy’s mystery spin remained an X-factor across 2025. Chakravarthy doesn’t rely on prodigious turn so much as deceit — subtle change of pace, a disguised arm-ball and the ability to hide the seam. That made him particularly effective in the middle overs when batters hunt boundaries. 

India used him situationally: sometimes in the powerplay to exploit inexperienced batters, often in the middle phases to throttle scoring and claim wickets. His 36 dismissals reflect how dangerous a wrist-style leggy finger spinner can be in short formats when the lines are tight, and attackers misread length.

3. Jacob Duffy (New Zealand) - 35 wickets

Jacob Duffy’s 2025 T20 year was about craft rather than raw heat. A seamer who moves the ball and varies length cleverly, Duffy picked early wickets by swinging the new ball and later returned in death overs with cutters and slower bouncers. 

New Zealand’s usage of him across powerplay and death phases allowed Duffy to exploit match-ups. He regularly struck against middle-order batters who misjudged pace changes. His strength is consistency: hitting the seam, varying trajectory and forcing batters into one more ball than they expected. 

4. Rishad Hossain (Bangladesh) - 33 wickets

Rishad Hossain emerged as Bangladesh’s go-to spinner in all white-ball formats in 2025, and his figures reflect heavy usage plus often-astute execution. A wrist-spinner with a sharp googly and the ability to bowl a tight stock ball, Rishad regularly broke partnerships and picked up wickets when teams tried to accelerate. 

He bowls with an attacking field plan. Bowlers who invite aerial shots will get dismissals when the variations are good, and Rishad delivered. His economy wasn’t always the story; it was the knack for picking that one big wicket that changed momentum. Across 25 matches, those moments added up to 33 wickets.

5. Jason Holder (West Indies) - 31 wickets

Jason Holder’s all-round remit continued to pay dividends with the ball in T20Is. Holder’s seam bowling in 2025 was built on subtle cutters, changes of length and clever slower deliveries — not express pace, but effectiveness through deception. He was especially valuable in the death overs, where batters’ risk-taking handed him wickets, and his height allowed him to extract awkward bounce when needed. 

Holder’s experience means he reads game situations well. H knows when to stifle and when to hunt wickets. That tactical nous, combined with consistent selection, produced 31 wickets across 23 appearances.

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