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 10 Spin bowlers in Test Cricket in the 1990s.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2026-02-05

CONTENTS

3. PRIMARY CRITERIA

3.1. PROLIFIC

3.2. CONSISTENT

3.2.1. Against All Teams

3.2.2. Against Top Teams

3.3. ATTACKING

3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

3.5. 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. TOP FORM AT HOME

5.2. TOP FORM AWAY

5.3. IMPACT INNINGS

5.4. SECONDARY RATING

6. DECADES RATING

7. TOP TEAMS

7.1. Top Teams In Asia

7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA	CONSTITUENTS
Primary	Wickets, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions	Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary	Top Form Home, Top Form Away, 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.

Top Teams (TT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the Top Teams:-

Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
The top teams are calculated by decades.
Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
A bowler's performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT)	20
Min Career Wkts	50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Wickets Taken	200.00
Consistent	Average	400.00
Attacking	Strike Rate	300.00
Best Bowling	Top Bowling Performances	100.00

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK	BOWLER	NAT	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	SK Warne	AUS	146	351	200.00
1	SK Warne	AUS	146	351	200.00
2	A Kumble	IND	103	264	150.43
3	M Muralitharan	SL	74	227	129.34
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	PAK	73	172	98.01
5	PCR Tufnell	ENG	68	119	67.81
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	PAK	42	107	60.97
7	SLV Raju	IND	49	92	52.42
8	DL Vettori	NZ	47	91	51.85
9	PR Adams	SA	47	86	49.00
10	SCG MacGill	AUS	21	59	33.62

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 player has played.
Time Period in which a bowler has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets	20

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	SCG MacGill	21	1376	59	23.32	21.91	200.00
1	SCG MacGill	21	1376	59	23.32	21.91	200.00
2	SK Warne	146	9009	351	25.67	24.84	176.43
3	M Muralitharan	74	6140	227	27.05	26.73	163.92
4	A Kumble	103	7341	264	27.81	27.75	157.91
5	PR Adams	47	2560	86	29.77	27.82	157.54
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	73	5152	172	29.95	29.35	149.28
7	Saqlain Mushtaq	42	3119	107	29.15	29.63	147.89
8	SLV Raju	49	2741	92	29.79	29.73	147.41
9	DL Vettori	47	3161	91	34.74	30.71	142.70
10	PCR Tufnell	68	4289	119	36.04	32.75	133.79

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	SCG MacGill	21	1376	59	23.32	21.91	200.00
1	SCG MacGill	21	1376	59	23.32	21.91	200.00
2	Saqlain Mushtaq	20	1542	60	25.70	23.25	188.52
3	SK Warne	105	6648	259	25.67	24.87	176.19
4	M Muralitharan	43	4101	140	29.29	26.55	165.03
5	A Kumble	58	4048	138	29.33	27.53	159.17
6	PR Adams	30	1633	55	29.69	28.24	155.15
7	Mushtaq Ahmed	51	3678	114	32.26	30.89	141.86
8	DL Vettori	27	1921	50	38.42	33.82	129.57
9	SLV Raju	25	1521	41	37.10	33.92	129.18
10	PCR Tufnell	43	2912	67	43.46	37.24	117.67

ATTACKING

R SR

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

Criteria: Points For R SR or Balls/Wkt

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets	20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BALLS	WKTS	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	SCG MacGill	21	2811	59	47.64	44.58	300.00
1	SCG MacGill	21	2811	59	47.64	44.58	300.00
2	Mushtaq Ahmed	73	10792	172	62.74	60.76	220.10
3	PR Adams	47	5698	86	66.26	61.28	218.27
4	SK Warne	146	22575	351	64.32	61.28	218.24
5	M Muralitharan	74	14882	227	65.56	63.75	209.80
6	A Kumble	103	18203	264	68.95	66.83	200.13
7	Saqlain Mushtaq	42	6958	107	65.03	67.01	199.58
8	DL Vettori	47	7485	91	82.25	72.73	183.88
9	SLV Raju	49	7392	92	80.35	78.56	170.25
10	PCR Tufnell	68	10816	119	90.89	81.97	163.16

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 7 Inns

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	AVE WT	RAT
TS	A Kumble	10/74	7/59	6/53	6/64	6/67	6/70	6/98	6.71	100.00
1	A Kumble	10/74	7/59	6/53	6/64	6/67	6/70	6/98	6.71	100.00
1	SK Warne	8/71	7/23	7/52	7/56	6/31	6/34	6/48	6.71	100.00
3	M Muralitharan	9/65	7/94	7/155	6/98	5/23	5/30	5/33	6.29	93.62
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	7/56	6/78	6/78	6/84	6/87	5/35	5/57	5.86	87.23
5	PCR Tufnell	7/47	7/66	6/25	5/61	5/94	4/27	4/61	5.43	80.85
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	6/46	5/32	5/54	5/89	5/93	5/94	5/94	5.14	76.60
7	SLV Raju	6/12	6/87	5/38	5/60	5/127	4/103	3/11	4.86	72.34
8	DL Vettori	6/64	6/127	5/84	4/46	4/83	4/88	4/97	4.71	70.21
9	SCG MacGill	7/50	5/57	5/66	4/47	4/53	4/61	3/22	4.57	68.09
10	PR Adams	6/55	4/31	4/63	4/63	4/64	3/30	3/36	4.00	59.57

PRIMARY RATING

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

RANK	BOWLER	PRO	CON	ATT	BBW	RAT	PRI PTS
1	SK Warne	200.00	352.62	218.24	100.00	870.86	348.34
2	SCG MacGill	33.62	400.00	300.00	68.09	801.70	320.68
3	A Kumble	150.43	317.08	200.13	100.00	767.63	307.05
4	M Muralitharan	129.34	328.96	209.80	93.62	761.72	304.69
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	98.01	291.15	220.10	87.23	696.49	278.60
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	60.97	336.41	199.58	76.60	673.56	269.42
7	PR Adams	49.00	312.69	218.27	59.57	639.54	255.81
8	DL Vettori	51.85	272.27	183.88	70.21	578.22	231.29
9	SLV Raju	52.42	276.59	170.25	72.34	571.60	228.64
10	PCR Tufnell	67.81	251.46	163.16	80.85	563.28	225.31

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent 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	30.00
Away	120.00
Favourable Conditions	30.00
Unfavourable Conditions	120.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

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

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	73	188	24.22	60.15	834.56	25.04
2	A Kumble	53	163	21.36	54.61	807.15	24.21
3	SCG MacGill	10	32	19.13	41.50	795.74	23.87
4	M Muralitharan	39	121	24.01	60.24	683.65	20.51
5	SLV Raju	28	70	22.69	60.43	621.65	18.65
6	PCR Tufnell	19	47	25.96	60.64	621.20	18.64
7	Mushtaq Ahmed	31	64	30.69	63.25	539.88	16.20
8	PR Adams	24	43	31.81	67.81	525.44	15.76
9	Saqlain Mushtaq	21	49	27.22	61.00	500.00	15.00
10	DL Vettori	22	40	35.25	83.25	485.83	14.57

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	73	163	27.34	69.12	879.15	105.50
2	Mushtaq Ahmed	42	108	29.52	62.44	838.99	100.68
3	M Muralitharan	35	106	30.52	71.63	823.51	98.82
4	SCG MacGill	11	27	28.30	54.93	767.32	92.08
5	Saqlain Mushtaq	21	58	30.78	68.43	766.88	92.03
6	PR Adams	23	43	27.72	64.70	748.11	89.77
7	A Kumble	50	101	38.22	92.10	666.56	79.99
8	DL Vettori	25	51	34.33	81.47	653.63	78.44
9	PCR Tufnell	49	72	42.63	110.64	553.60	66.43
10	SLV Raju	21	22	52.41	143.73	388.49	46.62

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

Favourable/Unfavourable Conditions 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 All Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	19	39	33.77	68.15	792.01	23.76
2	PR Adams	8	16	22.69	40.69	783.00	23.49
3	DL Vettori	10	29	31.17	72.52	764.55	22.94
4	SCG MacGill	5	15	27.47	51.07	693.09	20.79
5	PCR Tufnell	4	7	59.43	103.86	500.00	15.00

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	A Kumble	61	185	23.89	58.83	997.43	29.92
2	M Muralitharan	49	151	26.79	64.25	870.47	26.11
3	Saqlain Mushtaq	33	91	27.15	61.91	822.96	24.69
4	SLV Raju	30	72	23.74	63.08	791.17	23.74
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	40	84	31.55	63.74	720.13	21.60

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	127	312	24.65	63.84	864.86	103.78
2	SCG MacGill	16	44	21.91	46.48	789.91	94.79
3	PR Adams	39	70	31.39	72.10	571.19	68.54
4	PCR Tufnell	64	112	34.58	90.08	561.10	67.33
5	DL Vettori	37	62	36.40	86.81	529.83	63.58

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Mushtaq Ahmed	33	88	28.43	61.80	980.12	117.61
2	M Muralitharan	25	76	27.55	68.17	938.81	112.66
3	A Kumble	42	79	36.97	92.66	778.28	93.39
4	Saqlain Mushtaq	9	16	40.50	82.75	558.05	66.97
5	SLV Raju	19	20	51.60	142.50	416.20	49.94

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK	BOWLER	AWAY	HOME	UC	FC	CON PTS
1	M Muralitharan	823.51	170.91	938.81	217.62	258.10
2	SK Warne	879.15	208.64	864.86	198.00	258.08
3	Mushtaq Ahmed	838.99	134.97	980.12	180.03	256.09
4	SCG MacGill	767.32	198.94	789.91	173.27	231.53
5	A Kumble	666.56	201.79	778.28	249.36	227.52
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	766.88	125.00	558.05	205.74	198.68
7	PR Adams	748.11	131.36	571.19	195.75	197.57
8	DL Vettori	653.63	121.46	529.83	191.14	179.53
9	PCR Tufnell	553.60	155.30	561.10	125.00	167.40
10	SLV Raju	388.49	155.41	416.20	197.79	138.95

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
Top Form Home	30.00
Top Form Away	120.00
Impact Innings	150.00

TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

Top Form (TF) is calculated by taking the best 20 consecutive innings of a bowler.
There are two TF Ratings used in our DECADES Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	SK Warne	20	70	15.56	47.89	939.62	28.19
2	A Kumble	20	69	19.75	52.33	808.39	24.25
3	M Muralitharan	20	75	19.59	53.47	804.27	24.13
4	SLV Raju	20	60	19.93	54.30	735.98	22.08
5	SCG MacGill	10	32	19.13	41.50	728.60	21.86
6	Mushtaq Ahmed	20	55	24.38	51.67	693.32	20.80
7	PCR Tufnell	19	47	25.96	60.64	648.67	19.46
8	Saqlain Mushtaq	20	49	26.14	58.41	603.02	18.09
9	PR Adams	20	36	31.58	61.17	544.17	16.33
10	DL Vettori	20	37	33.14	79.22	537.88	16.14

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	SR	RAT	WTG
1	Mushtaq Ahmed	20	71	24.45	55.13	976.94	117.23
2	M Muralitharan	20	66	24.42	62.41	956.70	114.80
3	SK Warne	20	51	24.18	59.02	845.29	101.44
4	Saqlain Mushtaq	20	56	29.55	66.16	805.57	96.67
5	DL Vettori	20	47	30.89	77.89	743.78	89.25
6	SCG MacGill	11	27	28.30	54.93	721.22	86.55
7	PR Adams	20	37	28.30	68.81	710.66	85.28
8	A Kumble	20	50	35.42	79.04	704.17	84.50
9	PCR Tufnell	20	39	35.31	84.36	674.44	80.93
10	SLV Raju	20	21	51.29	138.29	405.96	48.72

IMPACT INNINGS

Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or strike 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 5.
A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
The AVE should be less than 80% of the AVE of the better innings or
The SR should be less than 80% of the SR of the better innings.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	SCG MacGill	21	13	61.90	828.00	124.20
2	SK Warne	146	70	47.95	803.76	120.56
3	M Muralitharan	74	41	55.41	793.35	119.00
4	A Kumble	103	54	52.43	766.47	114.97
5	Mushtaq Ahmed	73	33	45.21	666.81	100.02
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	42	19	45.24	661.21	99.18
7	PR Adams	47	17	36.17	510.07	76.51
8	PCR Tufnell	68	22	32.35	451.93	67.79
9	SLV Raju	49	17	34.69	412.81	61.92
10	DL Vettori	47	12	25.53	340.29	51.04

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK	BOWLER	TF HM	TF AW	II	SEC RAT
1	M Muralitharan	24.13	114.80	119.00	257.93
2	SK Warne	28.19	101.44	120.56	250.19
3	Mushtaq Ahmed	20.80	117.23	100.02	238.05
4	SCG MacGill	21.86	86.55	124.20	232.60
5	A Kumble	24.25	84.50	114.97	223.72
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	18.09	96.67	99.18	213.94
7	PR Adams	16.33	85.28	76.51	178.11
8	PCR Tufnell	19.46	80.93	67.79	168.18
9	DL Vettori	16.14	89.25	51.04	156.43
10	SLV Raju	22.08	48.72	61.92	132.72

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 RAT	CON RAT	SEC RAT	FIN RAT
1	SK Warne	AUS	348.34	258.08	250.19	856.61
2	M Muralitharan	SL	304.69	258.10	257.93	820.72
3	SCG MacGill	AUS	320.68	231.53	232.60	784.82
4	Mushtaq Ahmed	PAK	278.60	256.09	238.05	772.74
5	A Kumble	IND	307.05	227.52	223.72	758.29
6	Saqlain Mushtaq	PAK	269.42	198.68	213.94	682.05
7	PR Adams	SA	255.81	197.57	178.11	631.50
8	DL Vettori	NZ	231.29	179.53	156.43	567.24
9	PCR Tufnell	ENG	225.31	167.40	168.18	560.89
10	SLV Raju	IND	228.64	138.95	132.72	500.30

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT	1	2	3	4	5	6
1950s	AUS	WI	PAK	IND	ENG
1960s	WI	AUS	PAK	IND	ENG	SA
1970s	PAK	ENG	IND	WI	SA	AUS
1980s	PAK	WI	ENG	NZ	AUS
1990s	IND	PAK	SA	AUS	WI
2000s	AUS	IND	SL	PAK	SA	ENG
2010s	IND	PAK	SL	ENG	SA	AUS
2020s	IND	AUS	PAK	NZ	SA	ENG