Ranked by our ratings

Greatest Test Spinners

The top 50 spinners from the 582 Test players in the Beat My 11 database, ranked by our ratings. The best 10 have a short profile each, then the table runs to No. 50.

Spinners are rated on bowling only (bowling average, wickets per bowler-match, five-wicket-haul rate, ten-wicket-match rate).

Career Test totals from the Beat My 11 database, as of 22 October 2026.

The best 10, and why

1 Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka

Muralitharan took 800 Test wickets, more than any bowler in history, at an average of 22.7, with 67 five-wicket hauls in 133 Tests. He bowled off-spin with a very supple wrist and invented the "doosra", the delivery that turns the other way. His action was examined and cleared by the ICC after controversy in the 1990s and 2000s. He took his 800th wicket in his final Test, at Galle in 2010, when he dismissed Pragyan Ojha. He took wickets on every continent, though his best returns were in Sri Lanka. He played a major role in Sri Lanka's rise from new Test nation to a team that could win anywhere. He is first among spinners because no spinner has taken so many wickets, and he did it at a very low cost per wicket.

2 Shane Warne Australia

Warne turned leg-spin from a dying art into a spectacle. He took 708 wickets at 25.4 in 145 Tests, with 37 five-wicket hauls, and was the first bowler to reach 700 Test wickets. His first ball in an Ashes Test, in 1993 at Old Trafford, drifted and turned sharply to bowl Mike Gatting, and it is still called the "Ball of the Century". He took a hat-trick at Melbourne in 1994. In the 2005 Ashes, he took 40 wickets in the series, even though Australia lost. He retired in 2007 after a 5-0 Ashes win. He was also an astute reader of batters and a fine slip fielder. He is second among spinners only because Muralitharan took more wickets, and many people still rank Warne the better bowler.

3 Rangana Herath Sri Lanka

Herath was a left-arm orthodox spinner who spent years as Muralitharan's understudy and then led the attack after Murali retired in 2010. He took 433 wickets at 28.1 in 93 Tests, with 34 five-wicket hauls, and was the first left-arm spinner to reach 400 Test wickets. His best figures were 9 for 127. He bowled with accuracy and patience, with a flight that fooled even good players of spin, and he took most of his wickets after the age of 30. At 40, he retired in 2018 with 433 wickets, the most by a left-arm spinner in Test history. He is third among spinners because his average and wickets total are the best of a left-arm spinner. His success came when Sri Lanka needed him most, after Murali had gone.

4 Anil Kumble India

Kumble was a leg-spinner who relied on bounce, pace and accuracy more than big turn. He took 619 wickets at 29.6 in 132 Tests with 35 five-wicket hauls, the most by any Indian and third-highest in Test history when he retired. In 1999 at Delhi he took all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan, 10 for 74, only the second man to do so. In 2002 at Antigua he bowled with a broken jaw, wrapped in a bandage, and got the wicket of Brian Lara. He captained India in the late 2000s. He ranks fourth among spinners because his total of 619 wickets is the highest of any Indian and he got them on all kinds of pitches, not only dry turners at home.

5 Nathan Lyon Australia

Lyon is a patient off-spinner who has been Australia's main spinner for more than a decade. He has taken 571 wickets at 30.2 in 143 Tests, with 24 five-wicket hauls, the most by any Australian off-spinner and the second most by an Australian after Warne. He made his debut in 2011 at Galle, and his first Test wicket was Kumar Sangakkara. Unlike many spinners in Australia, he has taken wickets in Australian conditions as well as in Asia. He has played over 140 Tests, almost all of them as the first-choice spinner. He bowls with great consistency and has produced several match-winning spells on the final day. He is fifth among spinners because his average is higher than the four above him, but his total and his durability stand out.

6 Jim Laker England

Laker is remembered for one Test. At Old Trafford in 1956, he took 9 for 37 and 10 for 53 against Australia, 19 wickets in the match, still the most in any first-class Test. In that series, he took 46 wickets at an average of less than 10. He was an off-spinner who bowled with great control and a strong action, from the Surrey side that won seven consecutive county titles. In his 46 Tests he took 193 wickets at 21.2, a very low average, with 9 five-wicket hauls. He was a quiet man who let the figures speak. He is sixth among spinners because the quality of his best performances is unmatched, but his career was shorter than the five above him.

7 Derek Underwood England

Underwood was a left-arm spinner who bowled at close to medium pace, with great accuracy and a very flat trajectory. On a wet pitch he was almost unplayable, and he was nicknamed "Deadly". He took 297 wickets at 25.8 in 86 Tests, with 17 five-wicket hauls. His best-known performance came at The Oval in 1968, when after rain flooded the ground he took 7 for 50 in the last hour to win the match against Australia and level the series. He played for Kent for more than twenty years. He is seventh among spinners because of his consistent record on the uncovered pitches that dominated English cricket in his era, rather than because of large totals.

8 Taijul Islam Bangladesh

Taijul is a left-arm spinner who became Bangladesh's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, passing Shakib Al Hasan in November 2025. He has taken 272 wickets at 30.3 in 62 Tests, with 19 five-wicket hauls. He was the first Bangladeshi to take eight wickets in a Test innings, and he has taken more Test five-wicket hauls than Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc or Jasprit Bumrah. He bowls a good line and length and gets most of his wickets on the turning pitches in Bangladesh, although his record away is thinner. He is quiet and lets the ball do the talking. He is eighth among spinners because his record in Bangladesh is excellent and because he has carried the Bangladesh attack for years.

9 Graeme Swann England

Swann was an off-spinner who took his chance late and made the most of it. He played 60 Tests for England from 2008 and took 255 wickets at 30, with 17 five-wicket hauls. He was a key part of the side that won the Ashes in 2009, in Australia in 2010-11 and again in 2013, and which reached No. 1 in the Test rankings in 2011. He was a good thinker about the game, cheerful and a clever bowler in English conditions as well as on turning pitches in Asia. He also made useful runs down the order. He retired in December 2013, in the middle of the Ashes series in Australia, saying he had no more to give. He is ninth among spinners because his career was short, but his average and strike rate were very good.

10 B.S. Chandrasekhar India

Chandrasekhar, who had a withered right arm after childhood polio, was a leg-spinner who bowled quicker than most and could produce a vicious googly. He took 242 wickets at 29.75 in 58 Tests, with 16 five-wicket hauls. At The Oval in 1971 he took 6 for 38 as England were bowled out for 101 in the second innings, giving India their first Test win in England and their first series win there. He was part of the Indian spin quartet of the 1960s and 1970s, with Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan. In 1977-78 he took 12 wickets in a Test at Melbourne. He was a poor batter, and a poor fielder, but he made up for it with bowling that could change a match in an hour. He is tenth among spinners because of his average and the quality of his best performances.

Top 50 ranking

#	Player	Nation	Played in	Tests	Wkts	Bowl avg	5W	10W
1	Muttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka	Legends, 1990s, 2000s	133	800	22.7	67	22
2	Shane Warne	Australia	Legends, 1990s, 2000s	145	708	25.4	37	10
3	Rangana Herath	Sri Lanka	2000s, 2010s	93	433	28.1	34	9
4	Anil Kumble	India	Legends, 1990s, 2000s	132	619	29.6	35	8
5	Nathan Lyon	Australia	2010s, 2020s	143	571	30.2	24	5
6	Jim Laker	England	Legends	46	193	21.2	9	3
7	Derek Underwood	England	1970s	86	297	25.8	17	6
8	Taijul Islam	Bangladesh	2010s, 2020s	62	272	30.3	19	2
9	Graeme Swann	England	2010s	60	255	30	17	3
10	B.S. Chandrasekhar	India	1970s	58	242	29.75	16	2
11	Harbhajan Singh	India	2000s, 2010s	103	417	32.46	25	5
12	Saqlain Mushtaq	Pakistan	1990s, 2000s	49	208	29.8	13	3
13	Stuart MacGill	Australia	2000s	44	208	29	12	2
14	Bishan Bedi	India	1970s	67	266	28.7	14	1
15	Yasir Shah	Pakistan	2010s	48	244	31.4	16	3
16	Saeed Ajmal	Pakistan	2010s	35	178	28.1	10	4
17	Keshav Maharaj	South Africa	2010s, 2020s	62	218	29.2	12	1
18	Mehidy Hasan	Bangladesh	2010s, 2020s	60	225	31.7	15	3
19	Nauman Ali	Pakistan	2020s	22	101	25.1	9	3
20	Erapalli Prasanna	India	1970s	49	189	30.4	10	2
21	Danish Kaneria	Pakistan	2000s	61	261	34.8	15	2
22	Iqbal Qasim	Pakistan	1980s	50	171	28.1	8	2
23	Abdul Qadir	Pakistan	Legends, 1980s	67	236	32.8	15	5
24	Prabath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	2020s	25	134	32	12	2
25	Mushtaq Ahmed	Pakistan	1990s	52	185	33	10	3
26	Kuldeep Yadav	India	2020s	19	80	23.4	5	0
27	Pragyan Ojha	India	2010s	24	113	30.27	7	1
28	Ajaz Patel	New Zealand	2020s	22	91	28.8	7	2
29	Ashley Mallett	Australia	1970s	38	132	29.9	6	1
30	Simon Harmer	South Africa	2020s	14	68	21.8	2	0
31	Sajid Khan	Pakistan	2020s	16	77	28.8	4	2
32	Monty Panesar	England	2000s, 2010s	50	167	34.7	12	2
33	Bruce Yardley	Australia	1980s	33	126	31.6	6	1
34	Dilruwan Perera	Sri Lanka	2010s	43	161	35.9	8	2
35	Ramesh Mendis	Sri Lanka	2020s	16	71	31.1	5	1
36	Dilip Doshi	India	1980s	33	114	30.72	6	0
37	Jack Leach	England	2020s	39	142	34.1	5	1
38	Matthew Kuhnemann	Australia	2020s	5	25	22.2	2	0
39	Jomel Warrican	West Indies	2010s, 2020s	25	84	30	3	1
40	Nayeem Hasan	Bangladesh	2020s	14	48	28.6	4	0
41	Paul Adams	South Africa	1990s, 2000s	45	134	32.9	4	1
42	Ray Price	Zimbabwe	2000s, 2010s	22	80	36.1	5	1
43	Abrar Ahmed	Pakistan	2020s	10	46	34.4	2	1
44	Devendra Bishoo	West Indies	2010s	36	118	36.86	5	1
45	Nathan Hauritz	Australia	2010s	17	63	35	2	0
46	Sulieman Benn	West Indies	2000s	26	87	39.1	6	0
47	Wellington Masakadza	Zimbabwe	2020s	7	19	19	0	0
48	Phil Tufnell	England	1990s	42	121	37.7	5	2
49	Srinivas Venkataraghavan	India	1970s	57	156	36.1	3	1
50	Rahkeem Cornwall	West Indies	2020s	10	38	37.6	2	1

What stands out

The top 10 come from 5 nations. England has the most (3).
4 of the top 10 played in the Legends era, level with the 2000s.
Shane Warne played the most Tests of the top 10 (145); Jim Laker the fewest (46).
Of spinners with 20+ Tests, the lowest bowling average is Jim Laker's 21.2. He is No. 6 on this list.
Muttiah Muralitharan took the most wickets (800). He is No. 1.

Pick your own at this position: draft an XI across seven eras and see if it beats mine.

Start drafting