This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 1990s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 7 Spin bowlers in ODI cricket in the 1990s.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-09-15

CONTENTS

3. PRIMARY CRITERIA

3.1. PROLIFIC

3.2. CONSISTENT

3.2.1. Against All Teams

3.2.2. Against Top Teams

3.3. ECONOMIC

3.3.1. Against All Teams

3.3.2. Against Top Teams

3.4. BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

3.5. BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

3.6. PRIMARY RATING

4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA

4.1. HOME/AWAY

4.1.1. At Home

4.1.2. Away From Home

4.2. FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

4.2.1. Favourable Conditions Rating

4.2.1.1. Non Asians In Asia

4.2.1.2. Asians In Asia

4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating

4.2.2.1. Non Asians Outside Asia

4.2.2.2. Asians Outside Asia

4.3. CONDITIONS RATING

5. SECONDARY CRITERIA

5.1. WORLD CUP

5.2. IMPACT INNINGS

5.3. TOP FORM

5.4. SECONDARY RATING

6. DECADES RATING

7. NON WEAK TEAMS

8. TOP TEAMS

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA	CONSTITUENTS
Primary	Wickets, Average, Economy, BBI (Wkts & Eco)
Conditions	Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary	World Cup, Top Form, Impact Inns

The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

TS Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
TS Points: 300.00(Max); Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00
Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.

TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
They are calculated by decades.
A bowler's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT)	15
Min Career Wkts	25

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Wickets Taken	200.00
Consistent	Average	300.00
Economic	Strike Rate	300.00
Best Bowling	Top Inns (Wkts)	100.00
Economic Bowling	Top Inns (Eco)	100.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK	BOWLER	NAT	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	A Kumble	IND	180	244	200.00
1	A Kumble	IND	180	244	200.00
2	SK Warne	AUS	131	212	173.77
3	Saqlain Mushtaq	PAK	108	210	172.13
4	M Muralitharan	SL	126	177	145.08
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	PAK	117	135	110.66
6	CL Hooper	WI	131	133	109.02
7	RA Harper	WI	37	45	36.89

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly it takes into account:-

Strength of Opposition.
Venues at which a bowler has played.
Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets	50
Min Wickets (TT)	30

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Saqlain Mushtaq	108	4077	210	19.41	20.26	150.00
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	108	4077	210	19.41	20.26	150.00
2	SK Warne	131	5147	212	24.28	25.48	119.29
3	M Muralitharan	126	4857	177	27.44	28.29	107.42
4	A Kumble	180	6861	244	28.12	28.78	105.61
5	RA Harper	37	1246	45	27.69	28.83	105.42
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	117	4418	135	32.73	33.86	89.77
7	CL Hooper	131	4674	133	35.14	34.03	89.31

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Saqlain Mushtaq	81	3100	145	21.38	21.54	150.00
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	81	3100	145	21.38	21.54	150.00
2	SK Warne	95	3842	147	26.14	26.61	121.41
3	RA Harper	23	779	27	28.85	28.44	113.61
4	M Muralitharan	91	3581	123	29.11	29.16	110.79
5	A Kumble	117	4586	156	29.40	29.47	109.62
6	CL Hooper	110	3955	111	35.63	34.15	94.60
7	Mushtaq Ahmed	80	3234	92	35.15	36.16	89.35

ECONOMIC

R ER

Relative Economy Rate (R ER) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with ER.

Criteria: Points For R ER

Min Qualification For TS
Min Balls	1000

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	RUNS	ER	R ER	RAT
TS	Akram Raza	43	2361	1450	3.68	3.71	150.00
1	RA Harper	37	1875	1246	3.99	4.02	138.33
2	M Muralitharan	126	6984	4857	4.17	4.17	133.56
3	A Kumble	180	9879	6861	4.17	4.19	132.66
4	SK Warne	131	7372	5147	4.19	4.20	132.52
5	Saqlain Mushtaq	108	5795	4077	4.22	4.22	131.78
6	CL Hooper	131	6505	4674	4.31	4.25	130.78
7	Mushtaq Ahmed	117	6190	4418	4.28	4.34	128.16

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	RUNS	ER	R ER	RAT
TS	Akram Raza	30	1728	1089	3.78	3.72	150.00
1	RA Harper	23	1173	779	3.98	3.97	140.84
2	Saqlain Mushtaq	81	4374	3100	4.25	4.23	132.16
3	A Kumble	117	6437	4586	4.27	4.24	131.69
4	M Muralitharan	91	4979	3581	4.32	4.24	131.63
5	CL Hooper	110	5450	3955	4.35	4.27	130.82
6	SK Warne	95	5292	3842	4.36	4.30	129.80
7	Mushtaq Ahmed	80	4211	3234	4.61	4.63	120.68

BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler against Non Weak Teams in the 1990s. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 5 innings divided by 5.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	BBW	RAT
TS	ST Jayasuriya	6/29	5/28	5/58	4/18	4/19	4.80	100.00
1	A Kumble	6/12	5/33	4/12	4/25	4/33	4.60	95.83
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	5/29	5/44	5/45	4/17	4/26	4.60	95.83
3	SK Warne	5/33	4/19	4/25	4/29	4/33	4.20	87.50
3	M Muralitharan	5/23	5/34	4/16	4/35	3/22	4.20	87.50
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	5/36	4/27	4/47	3/14	3/19	3.80	79.17
6	RA Harper	4/40	4/46	4/47	3/31	3/34	3.60	75.00
6	CL Hooper	4/34	4/37	4/52	3/9	3/27	3.60	75.00

BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against Non Weak Teams. Best Bowling By Economy (BBE) is the Relative Economy of the bowler in the 5 Inns. Only 30+ Balls performaces are counted in this criteria.

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	BBE	RAT
TS	Saqlain Mushtaq	7.0/9	9.0/13	8.0/13	9.0/17	7.0/14	1.65	100.00
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	7.0/9	9.0/13	8.0/13	9.0/17	7.0/14	1.65	100.00
2	A Kumble	9.0/11	7.0/12	6.1/12	8.0/17	10.0/22	1.85	89.00
3	SK Warne	10.0/11	10.0/18	10.0/19	10.0/21	10.0/25	1.88	87.58
4	CL Hooper	6.0/10	10.0/18	10.0/19	10.0/23	10.0/24	2.02	81.84
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	10.0/18	10.0/22	10.0/22	6.0/14	8.0/19	2.19	75.40
6	M Muralitharan	10.0/21	10.0/22	10.0/22	7.0/16	10.0/23	2.21	74.70
7	RA Harper	8.0/16	7.0/17	10.0/27	8.0/22	10.0/28	2.58	63.95

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK	BOWLER	PRO	CON	ECO	BBW	BBE	RAT	PRI PTS
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	172.13	300.00	263.94	95.83	100.00	931.90	372.76
2	A Kumble	200.00	215.24	264.35	95.83	89.00	864.42	345.77
3	SK Warne	173.77	240.69	262.32	87.50	87.58	851.86	340.75
4	M Muralitharan	145.08	218.21	265.19	87.50	74.70	790.68	316.27
5	CL Hooper	109.02	183.91	261.60	75.00	81.84	711.37	284.55
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	110.66	179.12	248.84	79.17	75.40	693.17	277.27
7	RA Harper	36.89	219.03	279.17	75.00	63.95	674.04	269.62

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA	POINTS
Home	20.00
Away	80.00
Favourable Conditions	20.00
Unfavourable Conditions	80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

U.A.E. and India are considered as Home for Afghanistan.
U.A.E. is also considered as a second home for Pakistan.
All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani bowlers are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	44	85	19.66	4.22	882.00	17.64
2	A Kumble	66	100	25.87	4.25	864.93	17.30
3	SK Warne	52	93	21.65	4.10	861.89	17.24
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	54	66	30.77	4.26	709.59	14.19
5	M Muralitharan	32	33	36.24	4.17	608.82	12.18
6	CL Hooper	34	29	41.86	4.47	575.46	11.51
7	RA Harper	13	18	26.00	4.09	500.00	10.00

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	64	125	19.25	4.22	906.58	72.53
2	M Muralitharan	94	144	25.42	4.17	841.23	67.30
3	A Kumble	114	144	29.68	4.12	817.99	65.44
4	SK Warne	79	119	26.34	4.25	804.43	64.35
5	CL Hooper	97	104	33.27	4.26	742.94	59.43
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	63	69	34.59	4.30	650.46	52.04
7	RA Harper	24	27	28.81	3.93	613.21	49.06

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

FC/UC RATING

Points to note:-

Unfavourable Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Spinners and In Asia for Pacers.
Favourable Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Favourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	34	49	27.90	4.27	983.82	19.68
2	CL Hooper	41	46	31.70	4.34	928.38	18.57
3	RA Harper	15	19	27.63	3.80	729.38	14.59

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	65	132	19.48	4.37	876.31	17.53
2	A Kumble	130	178	28.12	4.22	872.87	17.46
3	M Muralitharan	81	106	29.51	4.20	752.29	15.05
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	62	74	31.53	4.24	661.75	13.24

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	97	163	23.19	4.16	964.91	77.19
2	CL Hooper	90	87	36.97	4.30	748.88	59.91
3	RA Harper	22	26	27.73	4.13	736.75	58.94

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	43	78	19.29	3.99	944.52	75.56
2	M Muralitharan	45	71	24.35	4.13	834.40	66.75
3	A Kumble	50	66	28.11	4.04	800.72	64.06
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	55	61	34.18	4.33	732.40	58.59

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK	BOWLER	AW	HM	UC	FC	CON PTS
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	72.53	17.64	75.56	17.53	183.25
2	SK Warne	64.35	17.24	77.19	19.68	178.46
3	A Kumble	65.44	17.30	64.06	17.46	164.25
4	M Muralitharan	67.30	12.18	66.75	15.05	161.27
5	CL Hooper	59.43	11.51	59.91	18.57	149.42
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	52.04	14.19	58.59	13.24	138.06
7	RA Harper	49.06	10.00	58.94	14.59	132.58

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA	POINTS
World Cup	150.00
Impact Innings	150.00
Top Form	100.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 3

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	17	32	19.50	3.83	904.77	135.72
2	Mushtaq Ahmed	14	26	21.12	4.07	757.80	113.67
3	A Kumble	14	23	24.48	4.11	695.91	104.39
4	Saqlain Mushtaq	11	19	21.95	4.45	669.13	100.37
5	RA Harper	8	14	20.14	3.92	634.15	95.12
6	M Muralitharan	11	13	28.77	3.73	603.29	90.49
7	CL Hooper	8	8	39.00	3.90	474.82	71.22

IMPACT INNINGS (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or economy rate. Know All About II. These are the criteria for an inning to be included in II:-

A Bowler takes equal to or more wickets than 4.
A Bowler bowls more than 30 balls and has a low ER.
The required ER is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	108	53	49.07	863.94	129.59
2	A Kumble	180	71	39.44	853.96	128.09
3	SK Warne	131	53	40.46	807.99	121.20
4	M Muralitharan	126	48	38.10	741.65	111.25
5	RA Harper	37	11	29.73	483.53	72.53
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	117	30	25.64	461.23	69.18
7	CL Hooper	131	31	23.66	390.28	58.54

TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

Top Form is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	50	103	18.12	4.12	982.01	98.20
2	SK Warne	50	89	20.98	3.97	872.73	87.27
3	A Kumble	50	87	21.89	4.12	833.56	83.36
4	M Muralitharan	50	79	24.68	4.16	812.33	81.23
5	CL Hooper	50	62	27.89	3.93	752.42	75.24
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	50	58	33.47	4.17	695.52	69.55
7	RA Harper	36	42	29.31	4.07	670.58	67.06

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK	BOWLER	WC	II	TF	SEC RAT
1	SK Warne	135.72	121.20	87.27	344.19
2	Saqlain Mushtaq	100.37	129.59	98.20	328.16
3	A Kumble	104.39	128.09	83.36	315.84
4	M Muralitharan	90.49	111.25	81.23	282.97
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	113.67	69.18	69.55	252.41
6	RA Harper	95.12	72.53	67.06	234.71
7	CL Hooper	71.22	58.54	75.24	205.01

DECADES RATING

DECADES Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK	BOWLER	NAT	PRI PTS	CON PTS	SEC PTS	FIN RAT
1	Saqlain Mushtaq	PAK	372.76	183.25	328.16	884.18
2	SK Warne	AUS	340.75	178.46	344.19	863.39
3	A Kumble	IND	345.77	164.25	315.84	825.86
4	M Muralitharan	SL	316.27	161.27	282.97	760.52
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	PAK	277.27	138.06	252.41	667.73
6	CL Hooper	WI	284.55	149.42	205.01	638.98
7	RA Harper	WI	269.62	132.58	234.71	636.91

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1970s	WI	ENG	AUS	NZ	PAK	SL	IND
1980s	WI	ENG	AUS	PAK	IND	NZ	SL	ZIM
1990s	SA	AUS	PAK	WI	IND	SL	ENG	NZ	ZIM
2000s	AUS	SA	SL	PAK	IND	NZ	ENG	WI	BAN
2010s	IND	SA	AUS	ENG	NZ	PAK	SL	BAN	WI
2020s	IND	NZ	SL	AUS	PAK	SA	BAN	ENG	WI	AFG