By IANS
Perth : In an era where there have been shorter boundaries, bigger bats and more attacking flare, it’s amazing to think Test cricket’s top three wicket-takers are spinners, the Herald Sun has reported.
Shane Warne, Muthiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble – the latest man to join the 600-wicket club – sits atop one of cricket’s most coveted individual categories.
It’s a startling feat when you consider only 20 years ago spin bowling was under major threat because of the raging success the West Indies had experienced with their four-man pace battery.
Skipper Clive Lloyd rolled out his fast bowlers like they were hired assassins, shooting down anyone who got in their way.
Other nations were desperate to copy this style, and spinners – either because they were ignored or just weren’t good enough – found themselves fading out of the game. That suddenly changed in the early 1990s when Warne, Murali and Kumble were given a go and began to make their mark.
In Warne, Murali and Kumble, cricket found the perfect trio.
Warne and Murali always had a chance of becoming dominant forces because their stock balls spun sharply and would always test the technique and wits of the game’s best batsmen.
But the rise of Kumble has perhaps been more of a remarkable story since he doesn’t appear to do that much with the ball.
What he relies on is a subtle change of pace and building pressure by repeatedly hitting the pads.
Kumble’s last 200 wickets have come in 40 Tests, at a time when his strike-rate has dropped by nearly 10 balls to 58.5, almost on par with Warne’s career rate.
He is by far India’s greatest match-winning bowler. His 279 wickets in 41 Indian victories – till the start of the Perth Test – have come at 18.41 apiece. In draws and defeats that average has leapt to more than 35.
He leads the collection of silverware among all Indians with 10 ‘man of the match’ awards and four ‘man of the series’ prizes.