Cricket World Cup History: 3 highest wicket-takers in the tournament 

#2 Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan after taking a wicket in the 2011 World Cup

Arguably the best spinner Sri Lanka has ever produced, Muttiah Muralitharan comes in at the 2nd position on this list. Being a spinner and on this list is a huge achievement by itself as majority of World Cups have taken place in conditions not suitable for a spinner. Regardless of this, spin wizard Muralitharan was able to take a spectacular total of 68 wickets in the 40 matches he played, including 11 3-wicket hauls.

Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan squad for 5 world cups, with the first one being the 1996 edition. The year Sri Lanka were titled 'Champions' for the first time. Even though Sri Lanka won the World Cup that year, Muralitharan did not leave the mark he would've hoped for. He was only successful in taking a mere 7 wickets in 6 matches. This was followed by yet another disappointing edition in 1999, where he took just 6 wickets in 5 games. However, the 2003 World cup in South Africa was where he was a different threat. He improved his tally to an impressive 17 wickets in 10 matches.

From then on, he did not stop. In the 2007 edition of this pristine tournament, Muttiah Muralitharan displayed his expertise by claiming 23 wickets in just 10 games, resulting in him being the leading wicket-taker for his team and also leading them to the finals. 4 years later, when the tournament reached India and Sri Lanka, Muralitharan continued to enjoy his purple patch from the previous edition. The spinner collected 15 wickets in 9 games, became the highest Lankan wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup and led his team to yet again final.

Muttiah Muralitharan also happens to be the highest ever wicket-taker in ODIs with 534 wickets to his name.