Chennai Super Kings bowler Dwayne Bravo is one wicket away from surpassing Lasith Malinga as the highest wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League. Both Bravo and Malinga have taken 170 wickets in the IPL – while Bravo has taken 152 matches to get there, Malinga needed only 122 matches to finish with a record career-haul.

Dwayne Bravo will get an opportunity to sit atop the list for most wicket-takers in the IPL when 4-time champions Chennai Super Kings take on newbies Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. In the season opener, Bravo picked up 3 for 20 off his 4 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders to draw level with Lasith Malinga.

Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo were teammates at Mumbai Indians for two seasons before Bravo was bought by Chennai Super Kings ahead of the 2011 season. In 11 seasons for MI from 2009 to 2019, Malinga took 170 wickets from 122 matches at an average of 19.79, while Bravo’s 170 wickets came at an average of 24. As it stands, Malinga (7.14) has been a lot more economical than Bravo (8.33), which tends to be expensive.

However, there is no denying Dwayne Bravo’s supreme wicket-taking skills. In 2013, he set an IPL record for most wickets in a season with 32 scalps. Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore equaled the record tally 8 years later in 2021. In 2015, Bravo won the Purple Cap for the second time with 26 wickets in the season.

In fact, Dwayne Bravo and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad) are the only bowlers to have won the Purple Cap twice.

Dwayne Bravo also leads the charts for most wickets in all T20 cricket. In 523 matches from 2006, Bravo has taken 574 wickets at an average of 24.08. In the last 16 years, Bravo has represented Chennai Super Kings, Chittagong Kings, Comilla Victorians, Dhaka Dynamites, Dolphins, Essex, Fortune Barishal, Gujarat Lions, Kent, Lahore Qalandars, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Middlesex, Mumbai Indians, Paarl Rocks, Quetta Gladiators, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Surrey, Sydney Sixers, Trinbago Knight Riders, Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel, Victoria, West Indians, West Indies.