Top 10 finger-spinners of all-time

There have been many great finger-spin bowlers in Test cricket over the years. While bowling off spin might not be particularly hard by itself, to be able to master the art to an extent such that you can dismiss top-class international batsmen takes years of practice and hard work. Because of the difficulty involved in having success with the off break delivery alone, many bowlers in the last decade or so have developed a doosra, a delivery which turns the other way as opposed to a conventional off break, to their armoury and have become doubly effective as a result.Here are the top 10 finger-spinners of all-time:

#10 Graeme Swann

It’s no surprise that Graeme Swann’s entry into Test cricket in late 2008 coincided with England’s ascent as a Test team, and in fact, his decline coincided with the team’s drop in form as well. In an era where it has become customary for off-spin bowlers to wear long sleeves in order to hide a fair degree of flex while bowling, Swann is worthy of huge praise for achieving success by the conventional means.

He had rare qualities as an off-spinner as he managed to achieve drift and heavy spin on the ball, which is unusal for a finger spinner, and was the reason for him amassing the number of wickets he did. He finished his Test career last year as England’s 2nd most successful spinner ever: having taken 255 wickets from 60 Tests, only behind the great Derek Underwood.

#9 Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action is a topic of constant debate at the moment, but one thing that cannot be debate is his inherent class as a spinner. Post the drop in form of Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria, there were concerns about the lack of a quality spinner in the Pakistan national team. But Ajmal’s rise quickly ensured that their concerns wouldn’t materialize. In fact, Ajmal has arguably been an upgrade on both Mushtaq and Kaneria. The difference between Ajmal and Mushtaq is the fact that the former uses his doosra much more judiciously, thereby retaining deadly effect with the off break too.

He has 178 wickets from just 35 Tests, and provided he can stay fit given that he is already 36, is poised to take a lot many more.

#8 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh has fallen out of favour with the Indian selectors over the last 2-3 years, but that shouldn’t make us overlook the match-winner he was in the early part of his career. India’s success as a Test side, especially away from home, started around the year 2000, and it’s no coincidence that it was around the time when Harbhajan was making his entry into the Test side.

He, along with his senior partner Anil Kumble, caused havoc to many opponents irrespective of the conditions and was one of the cornerstones of India’s success across all formats of the game between 2001 and 2010.

He has taken 413 wickets after having played 101 Tests, and he will be hoping that he can take many more in the next 2-3 years at the least, given that he is still only 34 years old.

#7 Saqlain Mushtaq

Saqlain Mushtaq, in my opinion, played a clinching role in reviving the art of off-spin bowling. With docile tracks and big bats engulfing the game in the late 1990s, there was a serious danger of off-spin bowling going out of the international game. But Mushtaq ensured that wasn’t the case by inventing the doosra, a delivery which turned in the opposite direction to the off-break.

Mushtaq should be largely pleased with his Test career, having taken an impressive 208 wickets from 49 Tests. I suppose, though, that the one disappointment he would have is the fact that he played his last Test at the age of just 28.

#6 Erapalli Prasanna

Erapalli Prasanna, who took 189 wickets from his 49 Tests, was part of the famous Indian spin quartet in the 1960s and 1970s and considered by many as one of the finest off-spinners of all-time. In fact, many great players of spin bowling like Ian Chappell and Doug Walters have gone on record to say that Pras, as he was affectionately known, was the greatest off-spinner they ever came across.

Great players of spin bowling often advocate coming down the track in order to reach the pitch of the ball and smother the spin, but that was nearly impossible against Prasanna. He stood out from other spinners as he seemingly had the ball on a string; batsmen would often step out of their crease in an effort to smother the spin, only to find themselves awfully short of the pitch of the ball.

#5 Bishan Singh Bedi

Bishan Singh Bedi was perhaps the most elegant left-arm spinner you are ever likely to come across. Apart from possessing a beautiful rhythmic action, what helped him was the fact that he was never afraid to toss the ball up above the eye-line of batsmen in the hope of deceiving them in the air and succeeded in his mission more often than not. His Test record of 266 wickets from 67 Test matches is indeed excellent. You can’t help but feel, though, that had he played in a stronger Indian side, he would have picked a truckload more of wickets than he eventually ended up doing.

#4 Derek Underwood

Derek Underwood was not your typical left-arm spinner as he generally relied on cutting the ball rather than spinnning it by traditional means. His average speed was about 8-10 kmph quicker than Anil Kumble’s faster delivery, which gives you an idea of the pace Underwood operated at, but he was extremely effective nonetheless. He was nicknamed ‘Deadly’ by his Kent team-mates due to the havoc he caused on wet pitches in particular. Although Underwood was assisted greatly by playing in the era of uncovered pitches, for him to have taken 297 wickets in 86 Tests for England suggests that he wasn’t too bad on good wickets either.

#3 Jim Laker

Jim Laker’s contributions to the game of cricket are remebered to this day, which is great credit to the man who played for England decades ago, in the 1950s. He rightly gained legend status in England when he took a breathtaking 9/37 in the first innings and 10/53 in the second against Australia in the 1956 Ashes Test at Old Trafford. Although he tends to be remembered for his exploits in the Old Trafford Test, he was a mighty fine bowler who contributed in a number of other Test match victories for England. The right-arm offspinner ended his career against Australia, his favouriite opposition, in 1959, finishing off a glorious 11-year career with 193 wickets from 46 Tests.

#2 Lance Gibbs

West Indies’ Lance Gibbs was probably one of the first great off-spin bowlers in Test cricket. He holds the distinction of being the second bowler after England fast bowler Fred Trueman, and the first spinner, to reach 300 wickets in Test matches. The off-spinner played 79 Tests in a 18-year international career - a tribute not just to his vast ability but also his longevity. He had splendid accuracy in addition to the durability to bowl long spells, and that held him in good stead for the rigorous demands of Test match cricket. His best performance came against India, who are good players of spin bowling, at Barbados in 1962, when he bowled a colossal 53.5 overs and took 8 wickets for just 38 runs.

#1 Muttiah Muralitharan

Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, without a shadow of a doubt, is the greatest off-spinner to have graced the field of cricket, having taken a truly mind-boggling 800 wickets from his 133 Tests. They say records are meant to be broken, but I think it would be quite safe to say that no bowler will finish up with a higher tally of wickets in Test cricket from the same or fewer number of matches. While Saqlain Mushtaq deserves credit for inventing the doosra and changing the face of off-spin bowling as a result, Murali arguably used the doosra more effectively and ended up confounding plenty of great batsmen of his time.

He probably had a bit of an unfair advantage over other bowlers because of his freakish right shoulder and rubber-like wrist, but he still had to be pretty good to take the number of wickets that he did and he sure was.