Decades Rating - Best Test Spin Bowlers In 2000s

Top Test Spin Bowler of the Decade (2000 – 2009)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 2000s. 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 2000s.

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

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. 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 M Muralitharan SL 154 565 200.00
1 M Muralitharan SL 154 565 200.00
2 SK Warne AUS 127 357 126.37
3 A Kumble IND 133 355 125.66
4 Harbhajan Singh IND 132 322 113.98
5 Danish Kaneria PAK 102 245 86.73
6 DL Vettori NZ 112 222 78.58
7 SCG MacGill AUS 64 149 52.74
8 MS Panesar ENG 65 126 44.60
9 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 44 101 35.75
10 PL Harris SA 43 79 27.96

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 M Muralitharan 154 11849 565 20.97 22.43 200.00
1 M Muralitharan 154 11849 565 20.97 22.43 200.00
2 SK Warne 127 8986 357 25.17 24.25 184.97
3 PL Harris 43 2635 79 33.35 28.71 156.26
4 A Kumble 133 11014 355 31.03 29.94 149.82
5 Harbhajan Singh 132 9763 322 30.32 30.18 148.66
6 MS Panesar 65 4331 126 34.37 30.94 144.98
7 DL Vettori 112 7359 222 33.15 31.51 142.37
8 SCG MacGill 64 4662 149 31.29 31.60 141.97
9 Saqlain Mushtaq 44 3087 101 30.56 31.62 141.89
10 Danish Kaneria 102 8291 245 33.84 31.70 141.51

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS M Muralitharan 97 8194 344 23.82 23.31 200.00
1 M Muralitharan 97 8194 344 23.82 23.31 200.00
2 SK Warne 106 7567 300 25.22 23.63 197.29
3 PL Harris 33 2301 66 34.86 29.50 157.98
4 A Kumble 101 8737 269 32.48 29.89 155.92
5 Harbhajan Singh 98 7656 241 31.77 30.28 153.95
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 23 2061 60 34.35 33.12 140.74
7 Danish Kaneria 77 6598 177 37.28 33.22 140.32
8 MS Panesar 42 2906 71 40.93 34.68 134.41
9 SCG MacGill 22 1807 44 41.07 35.91 129.81
10 DL Vettori 69 5103 116 43.99 38.07 122.44

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 SK Warne 127 18129 357 50.78 55.45 300.00
1 SK Warne 127 18129 357 50.78 55.45 300.00
2 M Muralitharan 154 28787 565 50.95 58.68 283.47
3 SCG MacGill 64 8426 149 56.55 64.53 257.80
4 A Kumble 133 22649 355 63.80 69.21 240.36
5 Harbhajan Singh 132 20707 322 64.31 70.26 236.76
6 Danish Kaneria 102 16517 245 67.42 71.06 234.09
7 PL Harris 43 5686 79 71.97 73.31 226.90
8 MS Panesar 65 9042 126 71.76 73.93 225.01
9 Saqlain Mushtaq 44 7112 101 70.42 77.13 215.68
10 DL Vettori 112 16552 222 74.56 80.59 206.42

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 M Muralitharan 9/51 8/46 8/70 8/87 7/46 7/84 7/97 7.71 100.00
1 M Muralitharan 9/51 8/46 8/70 8/87 7/46 7/84 7/97 7.71 100.00
2 Harbhajan Singh 8/84 7/48 7/62 7/87 7/123 7/133 6/62 7.00 90.74
3 A Kumble 8/141 7/48 7/63 7/115 6/72 6/72 6/78 6.71 87.04
4 Danish Kaneria 7/77 7/118 7/168 7/188 6/42 6/52 6/150 6.57 85.19
5 SK Warne 7/94 7/165 6/33 6/46 6/80 6/86 6/122 6.29 81.48
5 DL Vettori 7/87 7/130 6/28 6/56 6/70 6/87 6/100 6.29 81.48
7 SCG MacGill 8/108 7/104 5/43 5/56 5/65 5/75 5/77 5.71 74.07
8 MS Panesar 6/37 6/126 6/129 6/137 5/46 5/72 5/78 5.57 72.22
9 Saqlain Mushtaq 8/164 7/66 5/35 5/121 4/24 4/46 4/48 5.29 68.52
10 PL Harris 6/127 5/73 5/123 4/35 4/46 4/129 3/34 4.43 57.41

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 M Muralitharan 200.00 400.00 283.47 100.00 983.47 393.39
2 SK Warne 126.37 382.26 300.00 81.48 890.11 356.04
3 A Kumble 125.66 305.74 240.36 87.04 758.80 303.52
4 Harbhajan Singh 113.98 302.61 236.76 90.74 744.09 297.64
5 Danish Kaneria 86.73 281.83 234.09 85.19 687.83 275.13
6 SCG MacGill 52.74 271.79 257.80 74.07 656.41 262.56
7 DL Vettori 78.58 264.81 206.42 81.48 631.29 252.52
8 PL Harris 27.96 314.23 226.90 57.41 626.51 250.60
9 MS Panesar 44.60 279.39 225.01 72.22 621.23 248.49
10 Saqlain Mushtaq 35.75 282.63 215.68 68.52 602.58 241.03

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 M Muralitharan 93 364 17.99 47.81 1,000.00 30.00
2 Harbhajan Singh 75 214 26.90 59.91 772.06 23.16
3 A Kumble 62 187 27.96 63.60 729.81 21.89
4 SK Warne 56 131 29.52 61.89 680.04 20.40
5 MS Panesar 38 81 28.77 63.20 674.51 20.24
6 SCG MacGill 44 103 30.35 56.97 652.49 19.57
7 PL Harris 23 41 30.59 65.80 640.37 19.21
8 Danish Kaneria 50 116 34.51 70.45 601.77 18.05
9 DL Vettori 59 97 35.95 80.05 542.05 16.26
10 Saqlain Mushtaq 19 41 33.56 77.73 535.23 16.06

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 71 226 22.65 44.34 997.78 119.73
2 M Muralitharan 61 201 26.36 56.64 845.76 101.49
3 A Kumble 71 168 34.43 64.02 721.34 86.56
4 Danish Kaneria 52 129 33.24 64.69 708.97 85.08
5 DL Vettori 53 125 30.98 70.30 663.12 79.57
6 Harbhajan Singh 57 108 37.09 73.02 599.08 71.89
7 Saqlain Mushtaq 25 60 28.52 65.42 594.31 71.32
8 PL Harris 20 38 36.34 78.63 546.39 65.57
9 SCG MacGill 20 46 33.39 55.61 500.00 60.00
10 MS Panesar 27 45 44.47 87.18 482.59 57.91

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 27 88 23.74 45.78 1,000.00 30.00
2 DL Vettori 18 53 25.74 62.02 777.05 23.31
3 SCG MacGill 8 21 25.38 41.76 671.38 20.14
4 PL Harris 8 20 32.80 72.60 584.60 17.54
5 MS Panesar 14 19 53.68 104.84 414.86 12.45

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 M Muralitharan 120 453 19.95 49.65 1,000.00 30.00
2 Harbhajan Singh 91 238 29.49 63.42 754.12 22.62
3 A Kumble 83 234 29.47 63.38 740.05 22.20
4 Danish Kaneria 71 175 33.29 66.17 677.81 20.33
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 25 56 29.55 67.23 603.10 18.09

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 100 269 25.64 52.42 996.87 119.62
2 MS Panesar 51 107 30.94 65.89 754.74 90.57
3 SCG MacGill 56 128 32.26 58.98 730.60 87.67
4 DL Vettori 94 169 35.47 78.49 704.21 84.51
5 PL Harris 35 59 33.54 71.76 676.78 81.21

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 M Muralitharan 34 112 25.09 56.21 981.40 117.77
2 A Kumble 50 121 34.04 64.62 889.37 106.72
3 Harbhajan Singh 41 84 32.67 66.83 769.50 92.34
4 Danish Kaneria 31 70 35.23 70.53 757.36 90.88
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 19 45 31.82 74.38 649.86 77.98

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 SK Warne 997.78 170.01 996.87 250.00 289.76
2 M Muralitharan 845.76 250.00 981.40 250.00 279.26
3 A Kumble 721.34 182.45 889.37 185.01 237.38
4 Danish Kaneria 708.97 150.44 757.36 169.45 214.35
5 Harbhajan Singh 599.08 193.01 769.50 188.53 210.01
6 DL Vettori 663.12 135.51 704.21 194.26 203.65
7 SCG MacGill 500.00 163.12 730.60 167.85 187.39
8 PL Harris 546.39 160.09 676.78 146.15 183.53
9 Saqlain Mushtaq 594.31 133.81 649.86 150.78 183.45
10 MS Panesar 482.59 168.63 754.74 103.71 181.16

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 M Muralitharan 20 87 13.05 32.40 988.57 29.66
2 Harbhajan Singh 20 73 18.00 46.81 837.61 25.13
3 A Kumble 20 76 23.71 55.38 740.07 22.20
4 MS Panesar 20 50 23.10 51.26 692.74 20.78
5 SCG MacGill 20 55 24.24 43.38 682.94 20.49
6 SK Warne 20 57 23.51 52.23 663.65 19.91
7 Danish Kaneria 20 50 25.70 53.58 632.03 18.96
8 DL Vettori 20 38 25.18 58.63 579.13 17.37
9 PL Harris 20 35 26.54 60.46 575.59 17.27
10 Saqlain Mushtaq 19 41 33.56 77.73 494.87 14.85

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SK Warne 20 80 17.21 36.64 987.88 118.55
2 M Muralitharan 20 78 19.96 42.23 915.52 109.86
3 A Kumble 20 60 26.98 52.53 741.25 88.95
4 DL Vettori 20 52 25.33 56.92 709.79 85.18
5 Danish Kaneria 20 59 32.37 59.54 688.15 82.58
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 20 52 24.10 57.60 650.54 78.06
7 Harbhajan Singh 20 51 31.84 64.37 625.62 75.07
8 SCG MacGill 20 46 33.39 55.61 590.83 70.90
9 PL Harris 20 38 36.34 78.63 509.05 61.09
10 MS Panesar 20 36 41.31 76.00 497.87 59.74

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 M Muralitharan 154 100 64.94 982.90 147.44
2 SK Warne 127 68 53.54 823.53 123.53
3 A Kumble 133 61 45.86 688.84 103.33
4 Danish Kaneria 102 44 43.14 641.11 96.17
5 Harbhajan Singh 132 51 38.64 572.55 85.88
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 44 17 38.64 514.55 77.18
7 DL Vettori 112 38 33.93 507.79 76.17
8 SCG MacGill 64 23 35.94 486.20 72.93
9 PL Harris 43 15 34.88 482.95 72.44
10 MS Panesar 65 22 33.85 417.39 62.61

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 29.66 109.86 147.44 286.96
2 SK Warne 19.91 118.55 123.53 261.98
3 A Kumble 22.20 88.95 103.33 214.48
4 Danish Kaneria 18.96 82.58 96.17 197.70
5 Harbhajan Singh 25.13 75.07 85.88 186.09
6 DL Vettori 17.37 85.18 76.17 178.72
7 Saqlain Mushtaq 14.85 78.06 77.18 170.09
8 SCG MacGill 20.49 70.90 72.93 164.32
9 PL Harris 17.27 61.09 72.44 150.80
10 MS Panesar 20.78 59.74 62.61 143.13

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 M Muralitharan SL 393.39 279.26 286.96 959.60
2 SK Warne AUS 356.04 289.76 261.98 907.79
3 A Kumble IND 303.52 237.38 214.48 755.38
4 Harbhajan Singh IND 297.64 210.01 186.09 693.74
5 Danish Kaneria PAK 275.13 214.35 197.70 687.18
6 DL Vettori NZ 252.52 203.65 178.72 634.89
7 SCG MacGill AUS 262.56 187.39 164.32 614.27
8 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 241.03 183.45 170.09 594.58
9 PL Harris SA 250.60 183.53 150.80 584.93
10 MS Panesar ENG 248.49 181.16 143.13 572.79

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

Top Teams Outside Asia

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

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