Shane Warne is rated by many as the greatest leg spinner the world has ever seen. They point out that Warne took 708 test wickets and second only to Murlitharan as far as the total number of test wickets is concerned. But though Warne has over 700 test wickets in his kitty, a critical evaluation of his performance is still required. It is worth comparing how he stands in comparison to Charlie Grimmet and Subhas Gupte, also leg spinners, but with fewer test wickets. Grimmet took 216 and Gupte only 149, but they played by far lesser test matches. Gupte in particular deserves mention as a master craftsman who could bowl on any wicket, even a hard glass top one, like he faced in the West Indies and ended up by taming the famed 3 Ws, Walcott, weeks and worrell. Among other spinners there is Abdul Qadir of Pakistan who also achieved good results.
Warne had good flight and at times turned the ball prodigiously on helpful wickets. But it is an enigma that sometimes on even helpful wickets he would come a cropper.
The hallmark of a great spinner is that he should be a potent force on all types of wickets. In this Warne was found wanting. In particular his record against India and his efforts on Indian wickets is nothing to rave about. In fact it is hard to reconcile to the fact that on tailor made spinning wickets in India, he was nothing short of an abject failure. During the same period on Indian wickets the record of Kumble was a lot better.
On two tours of India, Warne was taken care off by the Indian batsmen notably Navjot Singh Sidhu and SachinTendulkar and over all he returned poor figures. This is hard to explain as other spinner in India have excelled. In fact while bowling to Tendulkar he appeared a shadow of a great bowler and appeared shell shocked as Tendulkar belted him all over the ground. Warne also on hard wickets in West Indies could have done better.
Thus there is certainly a question mark about Warne and his place as the greatest leg spinner of all time. One factor in Warne's success was the Australian fast Bowler Glen McGrath who earlier on softened the opposing batting, leaving Warne to do the follow up. Warne was certainly an above average spinner, but to rate him as the best for all time is an overstatement.
Can a ball spin any more? by arynews
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