Best Pakistani Spin Bowlers In Tests Featured

Top 10 Pakistani 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 Pakistani 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 Pakistan.

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

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 Abdul Qadir PAK 1977 1990 1983.5 111 236 106.93
2 Iqbal Qasim PAK 1976 1988 1982 86 171 77.48
3 Intikhab Alam PAK 1959 1977 1968 78 125 56.63
4 Tauseef Ahmed PAK 1980 1993 1986.5 58 93 42.14
5 Mushtaq Mohammad PAK 1959 1979 1969 70 79 35.79
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS M Muralitharan SL 1992 2010 2001 230 800 200.00
1 Danish Kaneria PAK 2000 2010 2005 112 261 65.25
2 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 1995 2004 1999.5 86 208 52.00
3 Mushtaq Ahmed PAK 1990 2003 1996.5 89 185 46.25
4 Saeed Ajmal PAK 2009 2014 2011.5 67 178 44.50
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS NM Lyon AUS 2011 2025 2018 253 553 170.00
1 Yasir Shah PAK 2014 2022 2018 89 244 75.01

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 Iqbal Qasim 86 4807 171 28.11 27.73 171.49
2 Mushtaq Mohammad 70 2309 79 29.23 28.77 165.29
3 Saeed Ajmal 67 5003 178 28.11 29.07 163.59
4 Yasir Shah 89 7657 244 31.38 30.44 156.18
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 86 6206 208 29.84 30.48 156.03
6 Abdul Qadir 111 7742 236 32.81 31.46 151.13
7 Tauseef Ahmed 58 2950 93 31.72 31.91 149.04
8 Mushtaq Ahmed 89 6100 185 32.97 32.29 147.26
9 Danish Kaneria 112 9082 261 34.80 32.32 147.12
10 Intikhab Alam 78 4494 125 35.95 38.01 125.11

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 Iqbal Qasim 66 3597 120 29.98 29.57 162.28
2 Saqlain Mushtaq 55 4637 151 30.71 31.37 152.96
3 Saeed Ajmal 53 4062 132 30.77 31.82 150.76
4 Abdul Qadir 87 6295 185 34.03 32.63 147.02
5 Mushtaq Mohammad 57 1862 56 33.25 32.73 146.61
6 Yasir Shah 59 5315 156 34.07 33.05 145.15
7 Mushtaq Ahmed 73 5150 151 34.11 33.40 143.65
8 Danish Kaneria 87 7389 193 38.28 35.56 134.92
9 Tauseef Ahmed 31 1723 43 40.07 40.30 119.04
10 Intikhab Alam 67 3838 92 41.72 44.10 108.79

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 Mushtaq Mohammad 70 5260 79 66.58 57.59 298.57
2 Abdul Qadir 111 17126 236 72.57 66.16 259.89
3 Mushtaq Ahmed 89 12532 185 67.74 66.57 258.27
4 Yasir Shah 89 14255 244 58.42 67.15 256.04
5 Iqbal Qasim 86 13019 171 76.13 70.23 244.83
6 Danish Kaneria 112 17697 261 67.80 71.81 239.46
7 Saqlain Mushtaq 86 14070 208 67.64 73.04 235.40
8 Intikhab Alam 78 10474 125 83.79 75.71 227.11
9 Saeed Ajmal 67 11592 178 65.12 76.41 225.03
10 Tauseef Ahmed 58 7778 93 83.63 79.73 215.67

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 Danish Kaneria 7/77 7/118 7/168 7/188 6/42 6/52 6/150 6.57 82.14
1 Abdul Qadir 9/56 7/96 7/142 6/16 6/44 6/160 5/44 6.57 82.14
1 Yasir Shah 8/41 7/76 7/94 6/63 6/72 6/96 6/124 6.57 82.14
4 Saeed Ajmal 7/55 7/95 6/42 6/96 6/151 5/68 5/69 6.00 75.00
5 Mushtaq Ahmed 7/56 6/78 6/78 6/84 6/87 5/35 5/57 5.86 73.21
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 8/164 7/66 6/46 5/32 5/35 5/54 5/89 5.86 73.21
7 Iqbal Qasim 7/49 6/40 6/89 6/141 5/35 5/48 5/78 5.71 71.43
8 Intikhab Alam 7/52 6/127 5/91 5/91 5/116 4/35 4/39 5.14 64.29
9 Tauseef Ahmed 6/45 5/54 5/54 4/58 4/64 4/85 3/18 4.43 55.36
9 Mushtaq Mohammad 5/28 5/49 5/59 4/50 4/55 4/58 4/60 4.43 55.36

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 Abdul Qadir 106.93 298.15 259.89 82.14 747.11 373.56
2 Iqbal Qasim 77.48 333.77 244.83 71.43 727.50 363.75
3 Yasir Shah 75.01 301.34 256.04 82.14 714.53 357.27
4 Mushtaq Mohammad 35.79 311.90 298.57 55.36 701.63 350.81
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 52.00 308.99 235.40 73.21 669.60 334.80
6 Danish Kaneria 65.25 282.05 239.46 82.14 668.90 334.45
7 Mushtaq Ahmed 46.25 290.91 258.27 73.21 668.65 334.32
8 Saeed Ajmal 44.50 314.35 225.03 75.00 658.88 329.44
9 Intikhab Alam 56.63 233.90 227.11 64.29 581.93 290.97
10 Tauseef Ahmed 42.14 268.08 215.67 55.36 581.24 290.62

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 Abdul Qadir 68 168 26.82 62.29 824.46 206.12
2 Yasir Shah 41 130 25.85 53.24 746.14 186.53
3 Iqbal Qasim 50 111 25.15 72.70 734.25 183.56
4 Saeed Ajmal 23 67 26.46 64.97 642.31 160.58
5 Intikhab Alam 37 71 30.99 77.42 611.37 152.84
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 40 90 30.11 68.62 609.54 152.39
7 Danish Kaneria 50 116 34.51 70.45 599.47 149.87
8 Mushtaq Mohammad 27 28 34.68 78.39 572.52 143.13
9 Mushtaq Ahmed 37 67 34.73 69.64 565.72 141.43
10 Tauseef Ahmed 38 57 29.51 81.82 553.26 138.31

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mushtaq Mohammad 43 51 26.24 60.10 741.09 741.09
2 Mushtaq Ahmed 52 118 31.97 66.66 700.87 700.87
3 Danish Kaneria 62 145 35.03 65.69 679.31 679.31
4 Saqlain Mushtaq 46 118 29.63 66.90 675.52 675.52
5 Iqbal Qasim 36 60 33.58 82.48 644.38 644.38
6 Yasir Shah 48 114 37.69 64.33 633.41 633.41
7 Saeed Ajmal 44 111 29.10 65.22 630.03 630.03
8 Tauseef Ahmed 20 36 35.22 86.50 579.92 579.92
9 Abdul Qadir 43 68 47.59 97.97 547.83 547.83
10 Intikhab Alam 41 54 42.48 92.17 493.35 493.35

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 Abdul Qadir 80 179 28.46 64.94 794.15 198.54
2 Yasir Shah 55 173 26.10 52.63 749.46 187.36
3 Iqbal Qasim 67 140 26.96 75.68 742.47 185.62
4 Saqlain Mushtaq 58 147 28.07 63.94 653.67 163.42
5 Danish Kaneria 71 175 33.29 66.17 636.52 159.13
6 Saeed Ajmal 43 114 28.39 66.41 625.46 156.37
7 Tauseef Ahmed 48 82 28.78 75.74 620.54 155.14
8 Intikhab Alam 41 76 31.37 79.43 597.30 149.32
9 Mushtaq Mohammad 30 28 35.11 79.68 558.80 139.70
10 Mushtaq Ahmed 49 88 35.98 70.66 557.78 139.44

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mushtaq Ahmed 40 97 30.25 65.09 719.29 719.29
2 Mushtaq Mohammad 40 51 26.00 59.39 709.25 709.25
3 Yasir Shah 34 71 44.25 72.54 651.66 651.66
4 Saeed Ajmal 24 64 27.59 62.83 650.78 650.78
5 Danish Kaneria 41 86 37.87 71.13 642.93 642.93
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 28 61 34.10 76.57 582.60 582.60
7 Abdul Qadir 31 57 46.44 96.51 578.20 578.20
8 Iqbal Qasim 19 31 33.32 78.19 536.74 536.74
9 Intikhab Alam 37 49 43.06 90.55 527.88 527.88
10 Tauseef Ahmed 10 11 53.64 142.45 310.46 310.46

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 Mushtaq Mohammad 741.09 143.13 709.25 139.70 1,733.18 173.32
2 Mushtaq Ahmed 700.87 141.43 719.29 139.44 1,701.04 170.10
3 Yasir Shah 633.41 186.53 651.66 187.36 1,658.97 165.90
4 Danish Kaneria 679.31 149.87 642.93 159.13 1,631.24 163.12
5 Saeed Ajmal 630.03 160.58 650.78 156.37 1,597.75 159.78
6 Saqlain Mushtaq 675.52 152.39 582.60 163.42 1,573.93 157.39
7 Iqbal Qasim 644.38 183.56 536.74 185.62 1,550.30 155.03
8 Abdul Qadir 547.83 206.12 578.20 198.54 1,530.69 153.07
9 Intikhab Alam 493.35 152.84 527.88 149.32 1,323.40 132.34
10 Tauseef Ahmed 579.92 138.31 310.46 155.14 1,183.83 118.38

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 Abdul Qadir 30 103 21.68 54.11 796.70 159.34
2 Yasir Shah 30 106 24.33 50.60 761.19 152.24
3 Iqbal Qasim 30 77 21.61 60.27 695.32 139.06
4 Danish Kaneria 30 74 28.64 60.96 647.53 129.51
5 Saqlain Mushtaq 30 69 26.23 64.07 615.70 123.14
6 Saeed Ajmal 23 67 26.46 64.97 594.00 118.80
7 Mushtaq Ahmed 30 64 30.48 62.88 589.17 117.83
8 Intikhab Alam 30 64 29.41 74.11 555.59 111.12
9 Tauseef Ahmed 30 51 27.71 76.98 498.39 99.68
10 Mushtaq Mohammad 27 28 34.68 78.39 415.13 83.03

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 Mushtaq Ahmed 30 89 25.06 56.55 796.57 637.25
2 Saeed Ajmal 30 84 25.10 56.55 740.26 592.21
3 Yasir Shah 30 83 32.23 58.19 733.34 586.67
4 Saqlain Mushtaq 30 78 24.96 61.41 726.24 580.99
5 Danish Kaneria 30 76 32.51 61.67 701.32 561.05
6 Mushtaq Mohammad 30 44 23.91 55.00 660.16 528.13
7 Iqbal Qasim 30 49 33.49 85.33 563.00 450.40
8 Abdul Qadir 30 51 45.65 94.76 538.28 430.62
9 Intikhab Alam 30 46 36.74 78.02 535.84 428.67
10 Tauseef Ahmed 20 36 35.22 86.50 511.33 409.06

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 Yasir Shah 89 244 2.74 781.60 390.80
2 Saqlain Mushtaq 86 208 2.42 738.88 369.44
3 Saeed Ajmal 67 178 2.66 734.93 367.46
4 Danish Kaneria 112 261 2.33 653.23 326.62
5 Mushtaq Ahmed 89 185 2.08 632.63 316.32
6 Abdul Qadir 111 236 2.13 613.50 306.75
7 Iqbal Qasim 86 171 1.99 579.73 289.87
8 Tauseef Ahmed 58 93 1.60 458.88 229.44
9 Intikhab Alam 78 125 1.60 456.49 228.24
10 Mushtaq Mohammad 70 79 1.13 274.64 137.32

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 Yasir Shah 89 43 48.31 695.25 695.25
2 Saqlain Mushtaq 86 31 36.05 648.37 648.37
3 Saeed Ajmal 67 28 41.79 634.08 634.08
4 Danish Kaneria 112 37 33.04 532.25 532.25
5 Mushtaq Ahmed 89 28 31.46 521.83 521.83
6 Iqbal Qasim 86 29 33.72 502.30 502.30
7 Abdul Qadir 111 33 29.73 460.19 460.19
8 Tauseef Ahmed 58 15 25.86 418.93 418.93
9 Intikhab Alam 78 21 26.92 377.25 377.25
10 Mushtaq Mohammad 70 16 22.86 368.55 368.55

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 Yasir Shah 152.24 586.67 390.80 695.25 1,824.95 182.50
2 Saqlain Mushtaq 123.14 580.99 369.44 648.37 1,721.94 172.19
3 Saeed Ajmal 118.80 592.21 367.46 634.08 1,712.55 171.26
4 Mushtaq Ahmed 117.83 637.25 316.32 521.83 1,593.24 159.32
5 Danish Kaneria 129.51 561.05 326.62 532.25 1,549.42 154.94
6 Iqbal Qasim 139.06 450.40 289.87 502.30 1,381.63 138.16
7 Abdul Qadir 159.34 430.62 306.75 460.19 1,356.90 135.69
8 Tauseef Ahmed 99.68 409.06 229.44 418.93 1,157.12 115.71
9 Intikhab Alam 111.12 428.67 228.24 377.25 1,145.28 114.53
10 Mushtaq Mohammad 83.03 528.13 137.32 368.55 1,117.03 111.70

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 17 Yasir Shah PAK 357.27 165.90 182.50 705.66
2 20 Saqlain Mushtaq PAK 334.80 157.39 172.19 664.39
3 22 Mushtaq Ahmed PAK 334.32 170.10 159.32 663.75
4 24 Abdul Qadir PAK 373.56 153.07 135.69 662.32
5 25 Saeed Ajmal PAK 329.44 159.78 171.26 660.47
6 26 Iqbal Qasim PAK 363.75 155.03 138.16 656.94
7 27 Danish Kaneria PAK 334.45 163.12 154.94 652.51
8 29 Mushtaq Mohammad PAK 350.81 173.32 111.70 635.83
9 51 Intikhab Alam PAK 290.97 132.34 114.53 537.83
10 58 Tauseef Ahmed PAK 290.62 118.38 115.71 524.71

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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