5 Greatest spinners of all time

1. Shane Warne:

Shane Warne

Nothing much should be said about a man who almost single-handedly revolutionized cricket by reinforcing the art of leg-spin bowling. One of the most charismatic players to have played the game, he remains one of the greatest match winners of all-time. He was truly a priceless cricketer for his team.

Warne featured in 145 Test matches for Australia and took 708 wickets with 37 5-wicket hauls. He tormented the English, the Kiwis and the South Africans alike and was the most important player in the great Australian team of the 1990s and 2000s. Warne’s best Test match figures were 8/71 including a hat-trick against England.

Warne could turn the ball a great deal, had exceptional control on line and length and got many LBW dismissals with his lethal flippers. He decisively won the spinners’ battle against Muralidharan when Australia beat Sri Lanka 3-0 in a test series on the Lankan soil in 2004. He also took 40 wickets in an Ashes series at the age of 36.

Warne’s bowling average was 25.41 in Test matches and it could have been better if the Indian batsmen had not played him so well. Warne also took 293 wickets in 194 ODIs and 1319 wickets at 26.11 in his first-class career.

He was a member of the 1999 World cup winning Australian side, but could not play in the subsequent edition of World Cup as he was banned for a year for taking illegal drugs. All the controversies, however, did not prevent Wisden from picking him as one of the 5 greatest cricketers of the 20th century.