Tests Decades - Best Spin Bowlers In 2010s Featured

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

by

Kindly switch to Landscape Mode for better viewing experience

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 Test Cricket in the 2010s.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2024-06-09

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. WKTS/INN
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. 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, Wkts/Inn, 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 25

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 NM Lyon AUS 182 380 200.00
1 NM Lyon AUS 182 380 200.00
2 HMRKB Herath SL 133 363 191.05
3 R Ashwin IND 131 362 190.53
4 RA Jadeja IND 92 211 111.05
5 Yasir Shah PAK 71 209 110.00
6 GP Swann ENG 84 193 101.58
7 MM Ali ENG 105 181 95.26
8 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 74 162 85.26
9 Saeed Ajmal PAK 57 160 84.21
10 KA Maharaj SA 52 102 53.68

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 50

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS KA Maharaj 52 3243 102 31.79 24.86 200.00
1 KA Maharaj 52 3243 102 31.79 24.86 200.00
2 RA Jadeja 92 5200 211 24.64 25.64 193.91
3 R Ashwin 131 9183 362 25.37 25.75 193.06
4 HMRKB Herath 133 9589 363 26.42 26.23 189.50
5 GP Swann 84 5818 193 30.15 26.31 188.94
6 Saeed Ajmal 57 4242 160 26.51 27.38 181.61
7 NM Lyon 182 12202 380 32.11 28.03 177.35
8 Yasir Shah 71 6361 209 30.44 29.18 170.39
9 Shakib Al Hasan 74 5180 162 31.98 33.37 148.99
10 MM Ali 105 6624 181 36.60 33.44 148.68

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS RA Jadeja 68 4242 169 25.10 26.11 200.00
1 RA Jadeja 68 4242 169 25.10 26.11 200.00
2 KA Maharaj 37 2633 78 33.76 26.39 197.88
3 R Ashwin 91 6727 236 28.50 28.94 180.49
4 NM Lyon 144 9832 295 33.33 29.10 179.49
5 GP Swann 59 4370 131 33.36 29.12 179.35
6 HMRKB Herath 100 7256 246 29.50 29.29 178.28
7 Saeed Ajmal 43 3301 114 28.96 29.90 174.68
8 MM Ali 68 4695 128 36.68 33.52 155.83
9 Yasir Shah 44 3853 109 35.35 33.89 154.11
10 Shakib Al Hasan 43 3373 91 37.07 38.68 135.02

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 50
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS KA Maharaj 52 5910 102 57.94 57.98 300.00
1 KA Maharaj 52 5910 102 57.94 57.98 300.00
2 R Ashwin 131 19407 362 53.61 63.57 273.62
3 Yasir Shah 71 11975 209 57.30 64.80 268.42
4 GP Swann 84 11638 193 60.30 65.72 264.66
5 HMRKB Herath 133 20880 363 57.52 67.63 257.20
6 MM Ali 105 10972 181 60.62 67.92 256.08
7 NM Lyon 182 24283 380 63.90 68.22 254.98
8 RA Jadeja 92 12822 211 60.77 72.33 240.49
9 Saeed Ajmal 57 9968 160 62.30 73.34 237.16
10 Shakib Al Hasan 74 10029 162 61.91 76.61 227.03

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 HMRKB Herath 9/127 8/63 7/48 7/64 7/89 7/157 6/43 7.29 100.00
1 HMRKB Herath 9/127 8/63 7/48 7/64 7/89 7/157 6/43 7.29 100.00
2 NM Lyon 8/50 7/94 7/94 7/152 6/49 6/60 6/82 6.71 92.16
2 R Ashwin 7/59 7/66 7/83 7/103 7/145 6/31 6/41 6.71 92.16
4 Yasir Shah 8/41 7/76 7/94 6/63 6/72 6/96 6/124 6.57 90.20
5 Saeed Ajmal 7/55 7/95 6/42 6/96 6/151 5/68 5/69 6.00 82.35
6 GP Swann 6/65 6/82 6/90 6/106 6/106 5/44 5/62 5.71 78.43
7 RA Jadeja 7/48 6/63 6/138 5/21 5/30 5/58 5/73 5.57 76.47
8 Shakib Al Hasan 6/33 6/59 6/82 5/44 5/62 5/63 5/68 5.43 74.51
8 KA Maharaj 9/129 6/40 5/59 5/94 5/123 4/25 4/58 5.43 74.51
10 MM Ali 6/53 6/67 5/57 5/63 5/69 4/36 4/39 5.00 68.63

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 half of the DECADES Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 R Ashwin 190.53 373.54 273.62 92.16 929.84 464.92
2 HMRKB Herath 191.05 367.79 257.20 100.00 916.04 458.02
3 NM Lyon 200.00 356.84 254.98 92.16 903.97 451.99
4 KA Maharaj 53.68 397.88 300.00 74.51 826.08 413.04
5 RA Jadeja 111.05 393.91 240.49 76.47 821.93 410.96
6 GP Swann 101.58 368.29 264.66 78.43 812.96 406.48
7 Yasir Shah 110.00 324.50 268.42 90.20 793.12 396.56
8 Saeed Ajmal 84.21 356.28 237.16 82.35 760.01 380.00
9 MM Ali 95.26 304.51 256.08 68.63 724.47 362.24
10 Shakib Al Hasan 85.26 284.00 227.03 74.51 670.81 335.41

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 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Favourable Conditions 250.00
Unfavourable Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY 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: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 HMRKB Herath 69 234 22.21 48.94 902.20 225.55
2 R Ashwin 83 254 22.80 49.43 884.03 221.01
3 RA Jadeja 65 157 21.06 56.20 818.71 204.68
4 NM Lyon 90 181 33.04 66.30 804.83 201.21
5 Yasir Shah 35 118 25.22 52.04 773.85 193.46
6 KA Maharaj 29 44 30.95 54.11 758.18 189.55
7 MM Ali 57 98 32.48 51.04 750.22 187.56
8 GP Swann 45 99 28.15 56.36 725.05 181.26
9 Saeed Ajmal 23 67 26.46 64.97 669.88 167.47
10 Shakib Al Hasan 50 120 30.26 58.47 638.55 159.64

Away From Home

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 NM Lyon 92 199 31.26 61.72 897.74 897.74
2 GP Swann 39 94 32.24 64.45 836.14 836.14
3 R Ashwin 48 108 31.40 63.44 831.74 831.74
4 KA Maharaj 23 58 32.43 60.84 814.26 814.26
5 Saeed Ajmal 34 93 26.55 60.38 774.79 774.79
6 HMRKB Herath 64 129 34.04 73.09 765.02 765.02
7 Yasir Shah 36 91 37.20 64.11 740.90 740.90
8 RA Jadeja 27 54 35.06 74.06 676.39 676.39
9 MM Ali 48 83 41.46 71.93 635.89 635.89
10 Shakib Al Hasan 24 42 36.88 71.74 607.18 607.18

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: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 NM Lyon 37 95 31.24 58.99 892.09 223.02
2 GP Swann 20 65 24.31 52.29 852.35 213.09
3 MM Ali 24 48 37.08 61.79 630.15 157.54
4 KA Maharaj 7 22 41.09 66.86 515.33 128.83

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 97 297 22.58 48.16 891.28 222.82
2 HMRKB Herath 94 287 23.92 52.64 882.62 220.65
3 Yasir Shah 45 152 24.87 51.10 797.67 199.42
4 RA Jadeja 69 170 21.65 55.72 795.07 198.77
5 Saeed Ajmal 37 100 28.16 66.91 647.37 161.84
6 Shakib Al Hasan 56 131 31.63 60.86 607.50 151.88

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 NM Lyon 145 285 32.40 65.54 871.15 871.15
2 KA Maharaj 45 80 29.24 55.49 842.35 842.35
3 GP Swann 64 128 33.11 64.37 723.04 723.04
4 MM Ali 81 133 36.42 60.20 713.11 713.11

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Saeed Ajmal 20 60 23.77 54.62 796.69 796.69
2 HMRKB Herath 39 76 35.83 75.93 764.29 764.29
3 R Ashwin 34 65 38.09 78.49 706.24 706.24
4 Yasir Shah 26 57 45.28 73.82 683.18 683.18
5 RA Jadeja 23 41 37.05 81.68 561.50 561.50
6 Shakib Al Hasan 18 31 33.45 66.32 554.57 554.57

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 NM Lyon 897.74 201.21 871.15 223.02 2,193.13 219.31
2 R Ashwin 831.74 221.01 706.24 222.82 1,981.80 198.18
3 HMRKB Herath 765.02 225.55 764.29 220.65 1,975.52 197.55
4 KA Maharaj 814.26 189.55 842.35 128.83 1,974.99 197.50
5 GP Swann 836.14 181.26 723.04 213.09 1,953.53 195.35
6 Saeed Ajmal 774.79 167.47 796.69 161.84 1,900.79 190.08
7 Yasir Shah 740.90 193.46 683.18 199.42 1,816.96 181.70
8 MM Ali 635.89 187.56 713.11 157.54 1,694.09 169.41
9 RA Jadeja 676.39 204.68 561.50 198.77 1,641.34 164.13
10 Shakib Al Hasan 607.18 159.64 554.57 151.88 1,473.26 147.33

SECONDARY CRITERIA

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

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

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Wkts Per Inn 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form 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: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 20 79 15.71 35.22 993.18 198.64
2 HMRKB Herath 20 79 17.73 38.10 958.41 191.68
3 Yasir Shah 20 74 23.39 50.78 835.94 167.19
4 RA Jadeja 20 59 15.83 44.97 832.53 166.51
5 MM Ali 20 44 21.52 38.91 778.79 155.76
6 GP Swann 20 44 22.34 42.61 754.98 151.00
7 Saeed Ajmal 20 62 24.52 61.79 731.53 146.31
8 NM Lyon 20 48 29.85 53.06 717.45 143.49
9 KA Maharaj 20 37 29.05 51.59 695.94 139.19
10 Shakib Al Hasan 20 53 26.89 49.72 684.09 136.82

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 5

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 20 57 21.67 41.98 946.43 757.14
2 NM Lyon 20 63 23.16 47.35 924.59 739.67
3 GP Swann 20 54 25.00 54.00 855.32 684.26
4 KA Maharaj 20 52 26.29 53.21 839.77 671.82
5 HMRKB Herath 20 51 25.04 52.55 821.12 656.90
6 Saeed Ajmal 20 58 24.36 55.79 795.51 636.40
7 Yasir Shah 20 53 30.26 58.60 785.95 628.76
8 RA Jadeja 20 45 31.16 64.02 662.53 530.02
9 Shakib Al Hasan 20 38 33.13 64.29 618.66 494.93
10 MM Ali 20 37 38.08 65.41 593.60 474.88

WKTS/INN

WKTS/INN RATING

Points to note:-

  • This rating gives points for wkts taken per inn.
  • All Teams, Top Teams and Top 7 Batsmen are the criteria used.

Min Innings: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS WKTS/INN RAT WTG
1 Saeed Ajmal 57 160 2.81 966.62 483.31
2 Yasir Shah 71 209 2.94 954.82 477.41
3 R Ashwin 131 362 2.76 942.22 471.11
4 HMRKB Herath 133 363 2.73 932.20 466.10
5 RA Jadeja 92 211 2.29 860.70 430.35
6 GP Swann 84 193 2.30 826.93 413.46
7 Shakib Al Hasan 74 162 2.19 783.26 391.63
8 NM Lyon 182 380 2.09 733.74 366.87
9 KA Maharaj 52 102 1.96 731.82 365.91
10 MM Ali 105 181 1.72 631.42 315.71

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 3 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: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 HMRKB Herath 133 47 35.34 861.51 861.51
2 GP Swann 84 28 33.33 806.98 806.98
3 Yasir Shah 71 25 35.21 779.19 779.19
4 Saeed Ajmal 57 17 29.82 764.99 764.99
5 RA Jadeja 92 28 30.43 754.83 754.83
6 R Ashwin 131 39 29.77 731.60 731.60
7 Shakib Al Hasan 74 22 29.73 711.25 711.25
8 NM Lyon 182 41 22.53 658.52 658.52
9 KA Maharaj 52 9 17.31 506.93 506.93
10 MM Ali 105 16 15.24 435.42 435.42

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above three criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 HMRKB Herath 191.68 656.90 466.10 861.51 2,176.19 217.62
2 R Ashwin 198.64 757.14 471.11 731.60 2,158.49 215.85
3 GP Swann 151.00 684.26 413.46 806.98 2,055.69 205.57
4 Yasir Shah 167.19 628.76 477.41 779.19 2,052.55 205.25
5 Saeed Ajmal 146.31 636.40 483.31 764.99 2,031.01 203.10
6 NM Lyon 143.49 739.67 366.87 658.52 1,908.55 190.86
7 RA Jadeja 166.51 530.02 430.35 754.83 1,881.71 188.17
8 Shakib Al Hasan 136.82 494.93 391.63 711.25 1,734.63 173.46
9 KA Maharaj 139.19 671.82 365.91 506.93 1,683.85 168.39
10 MM Ali 155.76 474.88 315.71 435.42 1,381.77 138.18

DECADES RATING

DECADES Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 R Ashwin IND 464.92 198.18 215.85 878.95
2 HMRKB Herath SL 458.02 197.55 217.62 873.19
3 NM Lyon AUS 451.99 219.31 190.86 862.15
4 GP Swann ENG 406.48 195.35 205.57 807.40
5 Yasir Shah PAK 396.56 181.70 205.25 783.51
6 KA Maharaj SA 413.04 197.50 168.39 778.92
7 Saeed Ajmal PAK 380.00 190.08 203.10 773.19
8 RA Jadeja IND 410.96 164.13 188.17 763.27
9 MM Ali ENG 362.24 169.41 138.18 669.82
10 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 335.41 147.33 173.46 656.19

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 SL IND PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND PAK AUS ENG NZ

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 SA ENG IND NZ
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND
2020s AUS NZ ENG SA IND

Leave a Comment