Tests - Best Spin Bowlers Against Top Teams

Top 15 Test Spin Bowlers Against Top Teams

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 15 Spin bowlers against Top Teams in Test cricket.

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

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PROLIFIC
4. CONSISTENT
4.1. Against Top Teams
5. ATTACKING
6. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
7. TOP TEAMS RATING
8. TOP TEAMS
8.1. Top Teams In Asia
8.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
TT RATING

Points to note about TOP TEAMS Rating:-

  • 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.

THE CRITERIA

The TT Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 250.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Attacking Strike Rate 250.00
Best Bowling Top Bowling Performances 200.00
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 a simple 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.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 10
Min Career Wkts 50

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS LR Gibbs WI 1958 1976 1967 134 282 200.00
1 LR Gibbs WI 1958 1976 1967 134 282 200.00
2 R Benaud AUS 1952 1964 1958 116 248 175.89
3 DL Underwood ENG 1966 1982 1974 118 230 163.12
4 BS Bedi IND 1966 1979 1972.5 104 225 159.57
5 BS Chandrasekhar IND 1964 1979 1971.5 83 206 146.10
6 Abdul Qadir PAK 1977 1990 1983.5 79 193 136.88
7 B Yardley AUS 1978 1983 1980.5 50 111 78.72
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS SK Warne AUS 1992 2007 1999.5 211 559 250.00
1 SK Warne AUS 1992 2007 1999.5 211 559 250.00
2 M Muralitharan SL 1992 2010 2001 142 492 220.04
3 A Kumble IND 1990 2008 1999 159 407 182.02
4 HMRKB Herath SL 1999 2018 2008.5 123 299 133.72
5 Harbhajan Singh IND 1998 2015 2006.5 132 296 132.38
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 199 415 220.00
1 NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 199 415 220.00
2 R Ashwin IND 2011 2024 2017.5 144 366 194.02
3 RA Jadeja IND 2012 2025 2018.5 127 272 144.19

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 Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS SK Warne 211 14215 559 25.43 24.22 300.00
1 SK Warne 211 14215 559 25.43 24.22 300.00
2 M Muralitharan 142 12486 492 25.38 24.22 299.95
3 RA Jadeja 127 7166 272 26.35 26.24 276.87
4 DL Underwood 118 6298 230 27.38 26.40 275.19
5 R Ashwin 144 9571 366 26.15 26.66 272.54
6 NM Lyon 199 13170 415 31.73 27.01 269.03
7 LR Gibbs 134 8232 282 29.19 27.48 264.42
8 R Benaud 116 6704 248 27.03 27.61 263.21
9 B Yardley 50 3501 111 31.54 28.07 258.83
10 HMRKB Herath 123 9187 299 30.73 28.28 256.93
11 BS Chandrasekhar 83 6222 206 30.20 28.82 252.16
12 A Kumble 159 12785 407 31.41 29.12 249.55
13 Abdul Qadir 79 5959 193 30.88 29.45 246.74
14 BS Bedi 104 6917 225 30.74 30.23 240.40
15 Harbhajan Singh 132 10032 296 33.89 32.46 223.83

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 BLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS BS Chandrasekhar 83 13581 206 65.93 57.46 250.00
1 BS Chandrasekhar 83 13581 206 65.93 57.46 250.00
2 SK Warne 211 32068 559 57.37 57.57 249.53
3 B Yardley 50 7703 111 69.40 57.90 248.11
4 M Muralitharan 142 29234 492 59.42 61.26 234.49
5 Abdul Qadir 79 13686 193 70.91 62.50 229.83
6 DL Underwood 118 17574 230 76.41 67.10 214.07
7 A Kumble 159 27301 407 67.08 67.42 213.06
8 R Benaud 116 19108 248 77.05 67.54 212.69
9 R Ashwin 144 20511 366 56.04 67.70 212.18
10 NM Lyon 199 26913 415 64.85 67.94 211.44
11 HMRKB Herath 123 19517 299 65.27 71.16 201.86
12 LR Gibbs 134 24746 282 87.75 72.58 197.91
13 RA Jadeja 127 16605 272 61.05 72.75 197.45
14 BS Bedi 104 18538 225 82.39 73.42 195.64
15 Harbhajan Singh 132 20394 296 68.90 74.27 193.42

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler. 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 A Kumble 10/74 8/141 7/48 7/63 7/115 7.80 200.00
1 A Kumble 10/74 8/141 7/48 7/63 7/115 7.80 200.00
1 M Muralitharan 9/65 8/70 8/87 7/46 7/84 7.80 200.00
3 SK Warne 8/71 7/23 7/52 7/56 7/94 7.20 184.62
3 Harbhajan Singh 8/84 7/62 7/87 7/120 7/123 7.20 184.62
3 HMRKB Herath 9/127 7/48 7/64 7/157 6/43 7.20 184.62
3 NM Lyon 8/50 8/64 7/94 7/152 6/49 7.20 184.62
7 Abdul Qadir 9/56 7/96 7/142 6/16 6/44 7.00 179.49
8 BS Chandrasekhar 8/79 7/157 6/38 6/52 6/52 6.60 169.23
8 DL Underwood 7/32 7/50 7/113 6/41 6/45 6.60 169.23
8 R Ashwin 7/66 7/103 7/145 6/41 6/46 6.60 169.23
11 LR Gibbs 7/98 6/29 6/39 6/60 6/76 6.20 158.97
11 RA Jadeja 7/42 7/48 6/63 6/138 5/21 6.20 158.97
13 R Benaud 7/72 6/52 6/70 6/115 5/43 6.00 153.85
13 BS Bedi 7/98 6/71 6/127 6/226 5/37 6.00 153.85
13 B Yardley 7/98 7/187 6/84 5/107 5/132 6.00 153.85

TOP TEAMS RATING

The TOP TEAMS (TT) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW TT RAT
1 SK Warne 250.00 300.00 249.53 184.62 984.14
2 M Muralitharan 220.04 299.95 234.49 200.00 954.48
3 NM Lyon 220.00 269.03 211.44 184.62 885.09
4 R Ashwin 194.02 272.54 212.18 169.23 847.97
5 A Kumble 182.02 249.55 213.06 200.00 844.63
6 DL Underwood 163.12 275.19 214.07 169.23 821.61
7 LR Gibbs 200.00 264.42 197.91 158.97 821.31
8 BS Chandrasekhar 146.10 252.16 250.00 169.23 817.49
9 R Benaud 175.89 263.21 212.69 153.85 805.63
10 Abdul Qadir 136.88 246.74 229.83 179.49 792.94
11 RA Jadeja 144.19 276.87 197.45 158.97 777.49
12 HMRKB Herath 133.72 256.93 201.86 184.62 777.12
13 BS Bedi 159.57 240.40 195.64 153.85 749.46
14 B Yardley 78.72 258.83 248.11 153.85 739.51
15 Harbhajan Singh 132.38 223.83 193.42 184.62 734.24

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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