Best Indian Spin Bowlers In Tests Featured

Top 10 Indian Spin Bowlers In Tests Since 1950

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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). So, here are the Top 10 Indian Spin bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

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. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. 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. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

The Nations Rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from India.

  • The Rating of the players from India remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from India.

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 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

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 148 309 140.00
1 BS Bedi IND 1966 1979 1972.5 118 266 120.52
2 BS Chandrasekhar IND 1964 1979 1971.5 97 242 109.64
3 EAS Prasanna IND 1962 1978 1970 86 189 85.63
4 S Venkataraghavan IND 1965 1983 1974 96 156 70.68
5 SP Gupte IND 1951 1961 1956 61 149 67.51
6 DR Doshi IND 1979 1983 1981 55 114 51.65
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS M Muralitharan SL 1992 2010 2001 230 800 200.00
1 A Kumble IND 1990 2008 1999 236 619 154.75
2 Harbhajan Singh IND 1998 2015 2006.5 190 417 104.25
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 253 553 170.00
1 R Ashwin IND 2011 2024 2017.5 200 537 165.08
2 RA Jadeja IND 2012 2025 2018.5 150 323 99.29

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 100

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS M Muralitharan 230 18180 800 22.73 23.77 200.00
1 R Ashwin 200 12891 537 24.01 25.18 188.87
2 RA Jadeja 150 7798 323 24.14 25.75 184.65
3 A Kumble 236 18355 619 29.65 29.09 163.47
4 DR Doshi 55 3502 114 30.72 29.39 161.82
5 BS Bedi 118 7637 266 28.71 29.44 161.53
6 BS Chandrasekhar 97 7199 242 29.75 30.08 158.06
7 SP Gupte 61 4403 149 29.55 31.14 152.71
8 EAS Prasanna 86 5742 189 30.38 32.18 147.77
9 Harbhajan Singh 190 13537 417 32.46 32.75 145.20
10 S Venkataraghavan 96 5634 156 36.12 35.50 133.95

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS SK Warne 242 15927 638 24.96 23.99 200.00
1 R Ashwin 146 9535 388 24.57 25.77 186.16
2 RA Jadeja 112 6155 237 25.97 27.70 173.20
3 BS Chandrasekhar 87 6514 214 30.44 30.78 155.86
4 BS Bedi 110 7225 240 30.10 30.87 155.44
5 A Kumble 183 14763 464 31.82 31.21 153.73
6 DR Doshi 41 2640 79 33.42 31.97 150.09
7 EAS Prasanna 82 5519 178 31.01 32.84 146.09
8 SP Gupte 51 3734 115 32.47 34.21 140.23
9 Harbhajan Singh 132 10082 293 34.41 34.71 138.22
10 S Venkataraghavan 82 4927 138 35.70 35.09 136.72

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 100
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS SCG MacGill 85 11237 208 54.02 57.31 300.00
1 BS Chandrasekhar 97 15963 242 65.96 59.35 289.73
2 R Ashwin 200 27241 537 50.73 62.87 273.48
3 A Kumble 236 40852 619 66.00 68.20 252.11
4 SP Gupte 61 11284 149 75.73 68.42 251.30
5 EAS Prasanna 86 14353 189 75.94 70.35 244.43
6 DR Doshi 55 9322 114 81.77 71.89 239.18
7 RA Jadeja 150 18473 323 57.19 71.90 239.13
8 BS Bedi 118 21364 266 80.32 72.95 235.70
9 Harbhajan Singh 190 28580 417 68.54 76.31 225.31
10 S Venkataraghavan 96 14877 156 95.37 84.49 203.51

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 9/65 8/46 8/70 8/87 7/46 7/84 8.00 100.00
1 A Kumble 10/74 8/141 7/48 7/59 7/63 7/115 6/53 7.43 92.86
2 Harbhajan Singh 8/84 7/48 7/62 7/87 7/120 7/123 7/133 7.14 89.29
3 R Ashwin 7/59 7/66 7/71 7/83 7/103 7/145 6/31 6.86 85.71
4 BS Chandrasekhar 8/79 7/157 6/38 6/52 6/52 6/76 6/90 6.43 80.36
5 SP Gupte 9/102 7/128 7/162 6/90 5/18 5/45 5/63 6.29 78.57
6 EAS Prasanna 8/76 6/74 6/94 6/104 6/141 5/32 5/42 6.00 75.00
7 RA Jadeja 7/42 7/48 6/63 6/138 5/21 5/30 5/41 5.86 73.21
7 BS Bedi 7/98 6/42 6/71 6/127 6/226 5/27 5/37 5.86 73.21
9 DR Doshi 6/102 6/103 5/39 5/43 5/85 5/90 4/69 5.14 64.29
10 S Venkataraghavan 8/72 6/74 5/95 4/43 4/52 4/55 4/71 5.00 62.50

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 R Ashwin 165.08 375.03 273.48 85.71 899.31 449.65
2 A Kumble 154.75 317.20 252.11 92.86 816.92 408.46
3 BS Chandrasekhar 109.64 313.92 289.73 80.36 793.65 396.82
4 RA Jadeja 99.29 357.85 239.13 73.21 769.49 384.74
5 BS Bedi 120.52 316.97 235.70 73.21 746.40 373.20
6 Harbhajan Singh 104.25 283.41 225.31 89.29 702.26 351.13
7 EAS Prasanna 85.63 293.86 244.43 75.00 698.92 349.46
8 SP Gupte 67.51 292.95 251.30 78.57 690.32 345.16
9 DR Doshi 51.65 311.91 239.18 64.29 667.02 333.51
10 S Venkataraghavan 70.68 270.66 203.51 62.50 607.35 303.68

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. Click on the Ratings to see how they were calculated.

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: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 127 383 21.57 46.03 891.39 222.85
2 A Kumble 115 350 24.89 59.41 842.83 210.71
3 RA Jadeja 97 238 20.71 51.22 797.37 199.34
4 BS Chandrasekhar 55 142 27.70 64.68 767.43 191.86
5 Harbhajan Singh 103 265 28.77 64.11 733.48 183.37
6 DR Doshi 37 77 25.39 73.38 726.47 181.62
7 BS Bedi 54 137 23.99 75.85 725.23 181.31
8 EAS Prasanna 41 95 26.95 70.45 676.56 169.14
9 SP Gupte 36 84 30.35 76.76 654.02 163.50
10 S Venkataraghavan 55 94 30.65 88.03 611.03 152.76

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 73 154 30.05 62.42 765.58 765.58
2 BS Chandrasekhar 42 100 32.66 67.78 745.96 745.96
3 A Kumble 121 269 35.86 74.57 712.81 712.81
4 BS Bedi 64 129 33.72 85.06 691.89 691.89
5 SP Gupte 25 65 28.52 74.40 663.56 663.56
6 EAS Prasanna 45 94 33.85 81.49 656.48 656.48
7 RA Jadeja 53 85 33.75 73.91 604.05 604.05
8 Harbhajan Singh 87 152 38.90 76.26 575.37 575.37
9 S Venkataraghavan 41 62 44.40 106.48 540.12 540.12
10 DR Doshi 18 37 41.81 99.24 500.00 500.00

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

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 145 433 21.76 45.87 884.47 221.12
2 A Kumble 144 419 27.00 61.37 796.95 199.24
3 RA Jadeja 101 251 21.13 51.16 777.26 194.31
4 BS Chandrasekhar 59 150 28.79 65.07 756.38 189.09
5 BS Bedi 60 143 26.13 78.45 701.53 175.38
6 DR Doshi 42 85 28.74 76.06 674.10 168.53
7 Harbhajan Singh 130 300 32.02 68.61 672.12 168.03
8 SP Gupte 45 105 28.81 77.23 664.80 166.20
9 EAS Prasanna 44 97 28.98 74.01 648.86 162.22
10 S Venkataraghavan 55 94 30.65 88.03 603.82 150.95

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 A Kumble 92 200 35.20 75.70 831.37 831.37
2 R Ashwin 55 104 33.34 70.94 804.33 804.33
3 BS Bedi 58 123 31.72 82.48 785.34 785.34
4 BS Chandrasekhar 38 92 31.32 67.41 778.01 778.01
5 EAS Prasanna 42 92 31.86 77.98 733.93 733.93
6 Harbhajan Singh 60 117 33.61 68.34 693.49 693.49
7 SP Gupte 16 44 31.32 72.16 625.83 625.83
8 RA Jadeja 49 72 34.65 78.22 625.71 625.71
9 S Venkataraghavan 41 62 44.40 106.48 542.25 542.25
10 DR Doshi 13 29 36.52 98.52 521.38 521.38

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 R Ashwin 765.58 222.85 804.33 221.12 2,013.88 201.39
2 A Kumble 712.81 210.71 831.37 199.24 1,954.13 195.41
3 BS Chandrasekhar 745.96 191.86 778.01 189.09 1,904.91 190.49
4 BS Bedi 691.89 181.31 785.34 175.38 1,833.92 183.39
5 EAS Prasanna 656.48 169.14 733.93 162.22 1,721.76 172.18
6 RA Jadeja 604.05 199.34 625.71 194.31 1,623.42 162.34
7 Harbhajan Singh 575.37 183.37 693.49 168.03 1,620.26 162.03
8 SP Gupte 663.56 163.50 625.83 166.20 1,619.10 161.91
9 S Venkataraghavan 540.12 152.76 542.25 150.95 1,386.08 138.61
10 DR Doshi 500.00 181.62 521.38 168.53 1,371.52 137.15

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

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 30 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 A Kumble 30 113 19.12 49.35 873.96 174.79
2 R Ashwin 30 113 18.06 41.08 831.87 166.37
3 Harbhajan Singh 30 104 21.53 51.83 810.69 162.14
4 BS Chandrasekhar 30 91 25.95 59.31 718.73 143.75
5 RA Jadeja 30 76 20.07 39.50 699.61 139.92
6 BS Bedi 30 88 21.44 70.28 686.50 137.30
7 SP Gupte 30 77 28.68 72.75 661.12 132.22
8 EAS Prasanna 30 77 25.64 64.19 630.94 126.19
9 DR Doshi 30 63 23.54 71.11 615.45 123.09
10 S Venkataraghavan 30 54 27.85 77.83 546.06 109.21

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 30 78 23.35 44.86 820.67 656.54
2 EAS Prasanna 30 83 27.18 64.24 761.80 609.44
3 BS Chandrasekhar 30 78 29.28 58.92 757.73 606.19
4 A Kumble 30 79 31.68 57.39 725.17 580.14
5 BS Bedi 30 77 29.75 73.94 690.82 552.66
6 Harbhajan Singh 30 70 34.53 68.16 639.23 511.38
7 SP Gupte 25 65 28.52 74.40 636.80 509.44
8 RA Jadeja 30 54 29.04 60.46 588.37 470.70
9 S Venkataraghavan 30 46 39.61 103.74 500.56 400.45
10 DR Doshi 18 37 41.81 99.24 479.14 383.31

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: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS WKTS/INN RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 200 537 2.69 768.24 384.12
2 A Kumble 236 619 2.62 739.13 369.56
3 BS Chandrasekhar 97 242 2.49 729.12 364.56
4 SP Gupte 61 149 2.44 682.76 341.38
5 BS Bedi 118 266 2.25 662.39 331.20
6 EAS Prasanna 86 189 2.20 631.78 315.89
7 Harbhajan Singh 190 417 2.19 617.42 308.71
8 DR Doshi 55 114 2.07 608.65 304.33
9 RA Jadeja 150 323 2.15 608.20 304.10
10 S Venkataraghavan 96 156 1.63 466.67 233.33

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 70% of the AVE of the better innings or
  • The SR should be less than 70% of the SR of the better innings.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 R Ashwin 200 88 44.00 795.49 795.49
2 A Kumble 236 104 44.07 725.33 725.33
3 BS Chandrasekhar 97 41 42.27 704.34 704.34
4 RA Jadeja 150 66 44.00 679.03 679.03
5 BS Bedi 118 45 38.14 653.15 653.15
6 EAS Prasanna 86 29 33.72 586.36 586.36
7 SP Gupte 61 22 36.07 582.09 582.09
8 Harbhajan Singh 190 61 32.11 529.99 529.99
9 DR Doshi 55 19 34.55 522.62 522.62
10 S Venkataraghavan 96 28 29.17 486.70 486.70

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 R Ashwin 166.37 656.54 384.12 795.49 2,002.53 200.25
2 A Kumble 174.79 580.14 369.56 725.33 1,849.82 184.98
3 BS Chandrasekhar 143.75 606.19 364.56 704.34 1,818.84 181.88
4 BS Bedi 137.30 552.66 331.20 653.15 1,674.30 167.43
5 EAS Prasanna 126.19 609.44 315.89 586.36 1,637.88 163.79
6 RA Jadeja 139.92 470.70 304.10 679.03 1,593.75 159.37
7 SP Gupte 132.22 509.44 341.38 582.09 1,565.14 156.51
8 Harbhajan Singh 162.14 511.38 308.71 529.99 1,512.23 151.22
9 DR Doshi 123.09 383.31 304.33 522.62 1,333.34 133.33
10 S Venkataraghavan 109.21 400.45 233.33 486.70 1,229.70 122.97

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL 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 OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 3 R Ashwin IND 449.65 201.39 200.25 851.29
2 5 A Kumble IND 408.46 195.41 184.98 788.85
3 7 BS Chandrasekhar IND 396.82 190.49 181.88 769.20
4 11 BS Bedi IND 373.20 183.39 167.43 724.02
5 16 RA Jadeja IND 384.74 162.34 159.37 706.46
6 18 EAS Prasanna IND 349.46 172.18 163.79 685.42
7 21 Harbhajan Singh IND 351.13 162.03 151.22 664.38
8 23 SP Gupte IND 345.16 161.91 156.51 663.58
9 38 DR Doshi IND 333.51 137.15 133.33 604.00
10 47 S Venkataraghavan IND 303.68 138.61 122.97 565.25

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 NZ ENG
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SL

Top Teams Outside Asia

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

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