Decades Rating - Best T20I Spin Bowlers In 2010s

Top T20I Spin Bowler of the Decade (2010 – 2019)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 2010s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 10 Spin bowlers in T20I cricket in the 2010s.

*Note: All T20I Ratings are updated till 2025-10-12

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
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, Impact Inns, Top Form
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 matches of T20 World Cup are also counted in TT.
  • TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 15
Min Overall Wkts 15

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The DECADES Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 250.00
Economic Strike Rate 250.00
Best Bowling Top Inns (Wkts) 100.00
Economic Bowling Top Inns (Eco) 200.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK BOWLER NAT INNS WKTS RAT
TS Shakib Al Hasan BAN 64 79 200.00
1 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 64 79 200.00
2 Saeed Ajmal PAK 52 66 167.09
3 Imran Tahir SA 38 63 159.49
4 Shahid Afridi PAK 71 61 154.43
5 S Badree WI 52 56 141.77
6 R Ashwin IND 46 52 131.65
6 SP Narine WI 49 52 131.65
8 MJ Santner NZ 38 49 124.05
9 Imad Wasim PAK 40 42 106.33
10 GP Swann ENG 29 40 101.27

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 25
Min Wickets (TT) 15

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS Kuldeep Yadav 19 499 37 13.49 14.18 100.00
1 Imran Tahir 38 948 63 15.05 14.46 98.08
2 GP Swann 29 641 40 16.03 15.28 92.82
3 MJ Santner 38 928 49 18.94 18.67 75.98
4 Saeed Ajmal 52 1274 66 19.30 19.97 71.02
5 Imad Wasim 40 877 42 20.88 20.80 68.19
6 S Badree 52 1180 56 21.07 21.25 66.73
7 SP Narine 49 1105 52 21.25 21.48 66.02
8 Shakib Al Hasan 64 1633 79 20.67 22.31 63.56
9 R Ashwin 46 1193 52 22.94 23.20 61.14
10 Shahid Afridi 71 1819 61 29.82 30.94 45.84

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GP Swann 28 619 38 16.29 15.40 150.00
1 GP Swann 28 619 38 16.29 15.40 150.00
2 Imran Tahir 35 880 52 16.92 16.09 143.63
3 MJ Santner 34 841 45 18.69 17.97 128.57
4 Saeed Ajmal 44 1099 61 18.02 18.08 127.77
5 SP Narine 39 911 42 21.69 21.08 109.60
6 Imad Wasim 33 742 34 21.82 22.20 104.06
7 Shakib Al Hasan 39 988 42 23.52 23.57 98.04
8 S Badree 39 944 37 25.51 24.20 95.48
9 R Ashwin 39 1031 42 24.55 24.38 94.78
10 Shahid Afridi 56 1444 49 29.47 29.52 78.27

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 500

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS Imad Wasim 40 882 877 5.97 5.76 100.00
1 Imad Wasim 40 882 877 5.97 5.76 100.00
2 GP Swann 29 630 641 6.10 5.82 99.00
3 SP Narine 49 1102 1105 6.02 6.26 92.07
4 Imran Tahir 38 845 948 6.73 6.42 89.77
5 Saeed Ajmal 52 1173 1274 6.52 6.43 89.51
6 S Badree 52 1146 1180 6.18 6.49 88.80
7 Shahid Afridi 71 1568 1819 6.96 6.93 83.14
8 MJ Santner 38 773 928 7.20 7.00 82.31
9 Shakib Al Hasan 64 1433 1633 6.84 7.03 81.99
10 R Ashwin 46 1026 1193 6.98 7.09 81.28

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS Imad Wasim 33 738 742 6.03 5.78 200.00
1 Imad Wasim 33 738 742 6.03 5.78 200.00
2 GP Swann 28 606 619 6.13 5.81 199.00
3 Saeed Ajmal 44 1009 1099 6.54 6.34 182.50
4 SP Narine 39 874 911 6.25 6.37 181.65
5 Imran Tahir 35 773 880 6.83 6.50 178.04
6 S Badree 39 870 944 6.51 6.63 174.55
7 Shahid Afridi 56 1244 1444 6.96 6.78 170.63
8 Shakib Al Hasan 39 846 988 7.01 7.03 164.43
9 MJ Santner 34 689 841 7.32 7.07 163.68
10 R Ashwin 39 864 1031 7.16 7.19 160.77

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 2010s. 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 YS Chahal 6/25 4/23 4/52 3/18 3/43 4.00 100.00
1 Saeed Ajmal 4/23 4/26 4/30 3/17 3/25 3.60 90.00
1 Imran Tahir 5/24 4/21 3/18 3/21 3/26 3.60 90.00
3 Shakib Al Hasan 5/21 3/8 3/24 3/27 3/37 3.40 85.00
3 R Ashwin 4/8 4/11 3/14 3/22 3/24 3.40 85.00
5 SP Narine 4/12 3/9 3/11 3/16 3/20 3.20 80.00
5 S Badree 4/15 3/10 3/12 3/14 3/17 3.20 80.00
7 Imad Wasim 5/14 3/20 3/21 2/17 2/28 3.00 75.00
7 MJ Santner 4/11 3/12 3/23 3/25 2/14 3.00 75.00
9 Shahid Afridi 4/14 3/15 3/28 2/17 2/19 2.80 70.00
10 GP Swann 3/13 3/14 3/24 2/14 2/17 2.60 65.00

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 12+ 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 Mohammad Hafeez 2.0/4 4.0/9 4.0/11 4.0/13 3.0/10 2.78 150.00
1 Imad Wasim 4.0/8 4.0/9 4.0/14 3.0/12 4.0/17 3.05 136.78
2 SP Narine 3.4/9 4.0/11 4.0/12 4.0/14 4.0/15 3.23 129.30
3 R Ashwin 4.0/8 3.2/11 4.0/14 3.0/11 4.0/15 3.27 127.57
4 S Badree 4.0/10 4.0/12 4.0/14 4.0/14 3.0/11 3.37 123.71
5 MJ Santner 4.0/11 4.0/12 4.0/14 4.0/15 3.0/14 3.37 123.57
6 GP Swann 4.0/13 4.0/14 4.0/14 2.0/8 4.0/16 3.44 121.18
7 Shahid Afridi 4.0/13 4.0/14 4.0/15 4.0/15 4.0/17 3.68 113.24
8 Saeed Ajmal 4.0/12 4.0/13 4.0/17 3.0/13 3.1/14 3.75 111.19
9 Imran Tahir 4.0/13 4.0/14 4.0/17 4.0/18 4.0/18 3.81 109.37
10 Shakib Al Hasan 3.1/8 2.0/8 4.0/16 4.0/17 2.0/9 3.93 106.13

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 Imran Tahir 159.49 241.71 267.81 90.00 109.37 868.39 347.36
2 Saeed Ajmal 167.09 198.79 272.02 90.00 111.19 839.09 335.63
3 GP Swann 101.27 242.82 298.00 65.00 121.18 828.26 331.31
4 Shakib Al Hasan 200.00 161.60 246.41 85.00 106.13 799.15 319.66
5 Imad Wasim 106.33 172.25 300.00 75.00 136.78 790.37 316.15
6 SP Narine 131.65 175.62 273.72 80.00 129.30 790.29 316.11
7 MJ Santner 124.05 204.55 245.98 75.00 123.57 773.16 309.26
8 S Badree 141.77 162.21 263.35 80.00 123.71 771.05 308.42
9 R Ashwin 131.65 155.93 242.05 85.00 127.57 742.19 296.88
10 Shahid Afridi 154.43 124.10 253.77 70.00 113.24 715.54 286.22

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 Imran Tahir 14 27 12.48 6.61 803.00 16.06
2 Saeed Ajmal 15 22 14.91 5.56 769.91 15.40
3 Imad Wasim 19 23 19.04 5.92 754.05 15.08
4 Shakib Al Hasan 30 38 20.00 6.81 735.46 14.71
5 S Badree 19 23 17.57 5.61 721.60 14.43
6 MJ Santner 25 32 19.41 7.51 714.13 14.28
7 GP Swann 10 10 21.60 6.17 684.45 13.69
8 R Ashwin 16 19 20.74 7.16 659.67 13.19
9 SP Narine 21 20 23.05 5.91 636.12 12.72
10 Shahid Afridi 20 15 32.93 7.01 561.32 11.23

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 GP Swann 19 30 14.17 6.07 840.32 67.23
2 Saeed Ajmal 37 44 21.50 6.93 814.57 65.17
3 SP Narine 28 32 20.13 6.09 807.42 64.59
4 Imran Tahir 24 36 16.97 6.80 801.96 64.16
5 Shahid Afridi 51 46 28.80 6.94 753.13 60.25
6 S Badree 33 33 23.52 6.52 736.93 58.95
7 Shakib Al Hasan 34 41 21.29 6.87 721.42 57.71
8 R Ashwin 30 33 24.21 6.89 708.04 56.64
9 MJ Santner 13 17 18.06 6.65 694.91 55.59
10 Imad Wasim 21 19 23.11 6.01 669.08 53.53

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 S Badree 22 28 18.89 6.22 882.98 17.66
2 GP Swann 11 18 12.33 5.55 847.81 16.96
3 Imran Tahir 19 29 15.97 6.34 834.30 16.69
4 SP Narine 18 17 22.35 5.70 744.55 14.89
5 MJ Santner 11 15 17.27 6.45 726.02 14.52

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Saeed Ajmal 31 40 18.85 6.21 870.67 17.41
2 R Ashwin 31 40 17.98 6.42 840.46 16.81
3 Shakib Al Hasan 45 55 20.91 6.86 824.51 16.49
4 Imad Wasim 24 27 19.89 6.10 795.49 15.91
5 Shahid Afridi 45 34 33.41 6.91 677.20 13.54

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Imran Tahir 19 34 14.26 7.15 926.83 74.15
2 SP Narine 31 35 20.71 6.20 862.95 69.04
3 GP Swann 18 22 19.05 6.45 811.16 64.89
4 MJ Santner 27 34 19.68 7.55 792.10 63.37
5 S Badree 30 28 23.25 6.14 732.31 58.58

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 Saeed Ajmal 21 26 20.00 7.01 822.52 65.80
2 Shahid Afridi 26 27 25.30 7.05 799.23 63.94
3 Shakib Al Hasan 19 24 20.13 6.79 734.40 58.75
4 Imad Wasim 16 15 22.67 5.76 700.57 56.05
5 R Ashwin 15 12 39.50 8.03 511.59 40.93

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 Imran Tahir 64.16 16.06 74.15 16.69 171.05
2 Saeed Ajmal 65.17 15.40 65.80 17.41 163.78
3 GP Swann 67.23 13.69 64.89 16.96 162.76
4 SP Narine 64.59 12.72 69.04 14.89 161.24
5 S Badree 58.95 14.43 58.58 17.66 149.63
6 Shahid Afridi 60.25 11.23 63.94 13.54 148.96
7 MJ Santner 55.59 14.28 63.37 14.52 147.76
8 Shakib Al Hasan 57.71 14.71 58.75 16.49 147.67
9 Imad Wasim 53.53 15.08 56.05 15.91 140.56
10 R Ashwin 56.64 13.19 40.93 16.81 127.57

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 RATING

Points to note:-

  • Qualifying round is the round in some editions of World Cup in which the main teams don't play.
  • Matches in qualifying round are not considered in our rating.

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 3

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE ECO RAT WTG
1 S Badree 15 24 13.58 5.53 911.44 136.72
2 Saeed Ajmal 16 24 18.50 7.24 800.53 120.08
3 SP Narine 12 15 15.40 5.17 772.97 115.95
4 R Ashwin 15 20 16.70 6.19 764.63 114.69
5 Imran Tahir 9 18 11.89 5.94 761.55 114.23
6 GP Swann 11 17 15.35 6.37 728.99 109.35
7 MJ Santner 5 10 11.40 6.28 673.41 101.01
8 Shahid Afridi 20 16 35.63 7.22 579.62 86.94
9 Shakib Al Hasan 12 10 34.00 7.39 513.17 76.97
10 Imad Wasim 3 3 23.33 7.00 500.00 75.00
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 12 balls and has a low ER.
  • The required ER increases as wickets increase.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 SP Narine 49 34 69.39 960.81 144.12
2 Imran Tahir 38 27 71.05 913.78 137.07
3 Saeed Ajmal 52 33 63.46 852.80 127.92
4 Imad Wasim 40 25 62.50 828.73 124.31
5 S Badree 52 32 61.54 817.36 122.60
6 Shakib Al Hasan 64 35 54.69 762.66 114.40
7 Shahid Afridi 71 36 50.70 758.73 113.81
8 R Ashwin 46 27 58.70 752.36 112.85
9 GP Swann 29 18 62.07 719.52 107.93
10 MJ Santner 38 21 55.26 644.03 96.61
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 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 Imran Tahir 30 50 14.38 6.43 925.25 92.52
2 Saeed Ajmal 30 46 15.67 6.32 864.62 86.46
3 S Badree 30 40 15.58 5.56 860.40 86.04
4 GP Swann 29 40 16.03 6.10 842.75 84.28
5 R Ashwin 30 42 17.14 6.37 841.01 84.10
6 Imad Wasim 30 33 20.61 5.86 798.94 79.89
7 SP Narine 30 36 18.94 6.16 773.75 77.38
8 MJ Santner 30 37 19.81 7.13 756.63 75.66
9 Shakib Al Hasan 30 34 22.56 6.91 692.97 69.30
10 Shahid Afridi 30 26 27.42 6.71 647.54 64.75

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 S Badree 136.72 122.60 86.04 345.36
2 Imran Tahir 114.23 137.07 92.52 343.82
3 SP Narine 115.95 144.12 77.38 337.44
4 Saeed Ajmal 120.08 127.92 86.46 334.46
5 R Ashwin 114.69 112.85 84.10 311.65
6 GP Swann 109.35 107.93 84.28 301.55
7 Imad Wasim 75.00 124.31 79.89 279.20
8 MJ Santner 101.01 96.61 75.66 273.28
9 Shahid Afridi 86.94 113.81 64.75 265.51
10 Shakib Al Hasan 76.97 114.40 69.30 260.67

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 Imran Tahir SA 347.36 171.05 343.82 862.23
2 Saeed Ajmal PAK 335.63 163.78 334.46 833.87
3 SP Narine WI 316.11 161.24 337.44 814.80
4 S Badree WI 308.42 149.63 345.36 803.41
5 GP Swann ENG 331.31 162.76 301.55 795.62
6 R Ashwin IND 296.88 127.57 311.65 736.10
7 Imad Wasim PAK 316.15 140.56 279.20 735.91
8 MJ Santner NZ 309.26 147.76 273.28 730.31
9 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 319.66 147.67 260.67 727.99
10 Shahid Afridi PAK 286.22 148.96 265.51 700.68

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2000s PAK SA SL IND WI AUS NZ ENG BAN
2010s IND SA PAK AUS ENG NZ SL WI BAN AFG
2020s IND AUS ENG NZ PAK SA BAN WI SL US AFG

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2000s PAK SA SL IND WI AUS NZ ENG
2010s IND SA PAK AUS ENG NZ SL WI
2020s IND AUS ENG NZ PAK SA BAN WI

* Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks.

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