Best Spinner in the World: Spin Bowlers Ranked

The international cricket circuit has seen many spinners doing well for their respective teams. There can be different varieties of spin bowlers, finger spinner and wrist spinner.

Best Spinner in the World

In this article, spin bowlers are ranked on the basis of their performances in all the formats of the game.

1. Muttiah Muralitharan

Muralitharan has been the best spinner, and possibly the best bowler, the world cricket has ever seen. In 483 matches of his career, he scalped a total of 1334 wickets, with 77 five wicket hauls, and 22 10 ten wicket hauls. He helped the Sri Lanka team to be quite competitive in the first decade of 21st century.

Matches	Wickets	5w/10w
483	1334	77/22

2. Anil Kumble

One of the finest spinner for the Indian team in the ODI and Test circuit has to be the 2nd best in the rankings. In 403 matches, Anil Kumble picked up 956 wickets with 37 five wicket hauls and 8 ten wicket hauls. Along with Harbhajan Singh, the Indian team rose to new heights.

Matches	Wickets	5w/10w
403	956	33/8

3. Shane Warne

Shane Warne was undoubtedly the best spinner for the Australian team in the 90s and the first few years of this century. He along with the pacers helped Australia to dominate and win the 1999 and 2003 World Cup. In 339 wickets, Shane bagged 1001 wickets with 38 five-for and 10 ten wicket hauls.

Matches	Wickets	5w/10w
339	1001	38/10

Related Fastest 400 wickets in Test

4. Shahid Afridi

Also known as ‘Lala’ by his fans, Shahid Afridi was a spinner who managed to go past the defense of most of the batters in the limited overs format. In 497 matches, including all the formats. He picked up a total of 541 wickets with seven four wicket hauls and 10 five wicket hauls. He certainly was the bowler, who held his nerves during the crucial situations to win the matches for the team.

Matches	Wickets	4w/5w
497	541	7/10

Related Highest wicket taker in ODI

5. Ravichandran Ashwin

The talented spinner has been terrific across all formats of the game and comes 5th in this list. In 246 international matches, R Ashwin scalped 641 wickets with 30 five wicket hauls and seven 10 wicket hauls for Team India. The highlight of his career has been his equal proficiency of taking wickets in away and home series.