This is the list of “leading wicket takers in each calendar year” (from 1996 to 2012)
- 1996 Anil Kumble 90 wickets
- 1997 Saqlain Mushtaq 101 wickets
- 1998 Allan Donald 107 wickets
- 1999 Glenn McGrath 119 wickets
- 2000 Muttiah Muralitharan 109 wickets
- 2001 Muttiah Muralitharan 136 wickets
- 2002 Harbhajan Singh 102 wickets
- 2003 Makhaya Ntini 104 wickets
- 2004 Steve Harmison 93 wickets
- 2005 Glenn McGrath 104 wickets
- 2006 Muttiah Muralitharan 128 wickets
- 2007 Zaheer Khan 81 wickets
- 2008 Dale Steyn 90 wickets
- 2009 Mitchell Johnson 113 wickets
- 2010 Graeme Swann 111 wickets
- 2011 Saeed Ajmal 89 wickets
- 2012 Saeed Ajmal 95 wickets
According to this list, Murali has been the leading wicket taker in a calender year thrice and Mcgrath and Ajmal twice.
