Top 20 Spin Bowlers With Best Averages In ODIs

Our One Day International (ODI) ratings take into account all matches from the first ODI match on January 5, 1971 till the below mentioned last update date.To qualify for the rating, a player must have played at least 25 innings against the Top Teams (TT). TT may be found in the last section of the rating.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2023-01-08

Best Averages

The first list simply gives you the bowlers with best averages in ODI Cricket. The second list gives you the bowlers with best Relative Averages (R Ave). How it is calculated is explained in the highlighted sections. Only bowlers with more than 100 wickets are considered for both lists.

TOP 20 ODI Spinners With Best Averages


RANK BOWLER NAT FP LP INNS RUNS WKTS AVE
1 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 1995 2003 165 6275 288 21.79
2 Ajantha Mendis SL 2008 2015 84 3324 152 21.87
3 Saeed Ajmal PAK 2008 2015 112 4182 184 22.73
4 M Muralitharan SL 1993 2011 341 12326 534 23.08
5 Imran Tahir SA 2011 2019 104 4297 173 24.84
6 SK Warne AUS 1993 2005 191 7541 293 25.74
7 Abdul Qadir PAK 1983 1993 100 3442 132 26.08
8 GB Hogg AUS 1996 2008 113 4188 156 26.85
9 YS Chahal IND 2016 2022 67 3182 118 26.97
10 GP Swann ENG 2000 2013 76 2888 104 27.77
11 Kuldeep Yadav IND 2017 2022 71 3366 119 28.29
12 A Zampa AUS 2016 2022 76 3641 127 28.67
13 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 2006 2022 221 8544 294 29.06
14 Abdur Razzak BAN 2004 2014 152 6065 207 29.30
15 AG Cremer ZIM 2009 2018 95 3597 119 30.23
16 A Kumble IND 1990 2007 265 10412 337 30.90
17 DL Vettori NZ 1997 2015 277 9674 305 31.72
18 UDU Chandana SL 1994 2007 136 4810 151 31.85
19 Mohammad Nabi AFG 2009 2022 131 4628 144 32.14
20 AU Rashid ENG 2009 2022 113 5586 169 33.05
C Ave

The Comparative Average (C Ave) for bowlers is calculated by taken into account two factors:-

  • First is the average of batsmen in the decades the bowler played.
  • Second is the average of the opposition batsmen at Home, in Asia or outside Asia; whichever is applicable.
  • The average of the opposing team’s batsmen is also calculated by decades.
  • Higher C Ave suggest that more runs were scored by the batsmen in the above mentioned factors.
  • Thus it was difficult to get Wkts and the bowler will benefit from this.
  • Lower C Ave means the opposite.
R Ave

The Relative Average (R Ave) is calculated using the C Ave. Its formula is (Bowler Ave/C Ave)*A Constant Factor. This constant doesn’t affect the rating as it is the same for everone. If your C Ave is comparatively high, your R Ave will be low; which is better for bowlers. Broadly speaking, the following bowlers will benefit from this system:-

  • Bowlers who have played more in unfavourable conditions.
  • Asian fast bowlers and Non-Asian spin bowlers whereever applicable.
  • Bowlers who have played in an era where the batsmen dominated, like the present era
  • Bowlers who have played more against top opposition than weaker teams.

TOP 20 ODI Spinners With Best R Ave


RANK BOWLER NAT FP LP INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE
1 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 1995 2003 165 6275 288 21.79 21.83
2 Ajantha Mendis SL 2008 2015 84 3324 152 21.87 22.31
3 Saeed Ajmal PAK 2008 2015 112 4182 184 22.73 22.41
4 Imran Tahir SA 2011 2019 104 4297 173 24.84 22.87
5 M Muralitharan SL 1993 2011 341 12326 534 23.08 22.99
6 Kuldeep Yadav IND 2017 2022 71 3366 119 28.29 25.62
7 GP Swann ENG 2000 2013 76 2888 104 27.77 26.24
8 SK Warne AUS 1993 2005 191 7541 293 25.74 26.26
9 YS Chahal IND 2016 2022 67 3182 118 26.97 26.31
10 Abdul Qadir PAK 1983 1993 100 3442 132 26.08 26.83
11 A Zampa AUS 2016 2022 76 3641 127 28.67 27.04
12 GB Hogg AUS 1996 2008 113 4188 156 26.85 27.08
13 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 2006 2022 221 8544 294 29.06 30.79
14 A Kumble IND 1990 2007 265 10412 337 30.90 31.20
15 AG Cremer ZIM 2009 2018 95 3597 119 30.23 31.22
16 AU Rashid ENG 2009 2022 113 5586 169 33.05 31.35
17 DL Vettori NZ 1997 2015 277 9674 305 31.72 31.45
18 Abdur Razzak BAN 2004 2014 152 6065 207 29.30 31.95
19 UDU Chandana SL 1994 2007 136 4810 151 31.85 31.96
20 R Ashwin IND 2010 2022 111 5058 151 33.50 32.90

TOP TEAMS


DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK NZ IND SL
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND ENG SL NZ
2000s AUS SA PAK SL IND NZ ENG WI
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ SL PAK BAN
2020s BAN PAK AUS NZ IND SA SL ENG


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