Muttiah Muralitharan
Wasim Akram
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Muttiah Muralitharan leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Muttiah Muralitharan at #4 and Wasim Akram at #10.
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The case for Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan is the most successful bowler in history, with 800 Test wickets and 534 in ODIs, 1,347 international wickets, a total no one else approaches. Bowling off-spin with a uniquely flexible wrist and a doosra that turned the other way, the Sri Lankan took five wickets in a Test innings 67 times and ten in a match 22 times, both records. He claimed his 800th and final Test wicket with his last delivery, against India at Galle in 2010. His action was scrutinized and twice cleared by biomechanical testing, controversy that shadowed but never diminished his output. For two decades he was Sri Lanka's match-winner, capable of running through sides on turning pitches and containing on flat ones. Sheer volume of wickets, across formats and conditions, makes him the benchmark against which all spin bowlers are measured.
The case for Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is regarded as the finest left-arm fast bowler in history and the master of swing, conventional and reverse. He took 414 Test wickets and 502 in ODIs, the second bowler to reach 500 one-day wickets, generating late, sharp movement from an explosive, whippy action. His two swinging deliveries in the space of three balls to dismiss Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis effectively won Pakistan the 1992 World Cup final. Akram could bowl the unplayable ball with either an old or new ball, and his reverse-swinging yorkers at the death set the template for a generation of quicks. A dangerous lower-order hitter who once made 257 not out in a Test, he was a genuine all-round talent. For skill, variety, and match-winning impact across formats, he stands at the peak of pace bowling.