The 10 Legendary Leg Spinners in Cricket

Leg spinners are always a great addition to any team, as they bring a much-needed variety to the bowling attack. Bowling leg spin is one of the toughest arts in cricket, as it requires a lot of control, precision, patience, and discipline to master. Once doing so, a leggie can challenge even the most accomplished batters.

These types of bowlers are generally considered attacking options by the teams as they can fetch a truckload of wickets with their variations like leg-break, flipper, googly, or topspin. At the same time, they can also go for a lot of runs.

Over the years and decades, many legends have graced the game of cricket across formats, and we will list down the top 10 legendary leg-spinners, the game has ever seen.

Shane Warne

This Aussie great is undoubtedly the best leg-spinner of the modern era. Shane Warne’s record speaks for itself, and it is a no-brainer to place the second-highest wicket-taker of all-time in Tests (708) at the top.

Warne, on any given day, troubled the best of the best batters across the globe with his wily spin and left an ever-lasting impact on the game. He picked up a whopping 1001 wickets in international cricket in 339 games across ODIs and Tests and remains the second-highest wicket-taker at the highest level.

Anil Kumble

Despite playing in the same era as Warne, the Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble emerged as a top name in international cricket. He was quite attacking as a leg-spinner and rarely gave an inch to the batters.

Kumble is just the second player in international cricket history to pick up all 10 wickets in a Test innings and is currently the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the format with 619 scalps. Overall, the former India skipper had claimed 956 wickets in 403 games across formats in international cricket.

Shahid Afridi

While the above-mentioned bowlers dominated the red-ball arena for close to 2 decades, this former Pakistani skipper was a force to be reckoned with in white-ball cricket. Shahid Afridi had the immense ability to change the course of the game with both bat and ball and emerged as one of the biggest match-winners for Pakistan.

Though he didn’t play many Tests, Afridi ended his ODI career with a whopping 395 wickets and is currently the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the format. He was also prolific in the T20I format, as he picked up 98 wickets in 99 games.

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Abdul Qadir

Before the likes of Warne and Kumble entered the scene, Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir had created a legend of his own right. He is regarded as someone who kept the art of wrist/leg spin alive in the 1970s and 1980s.

With his craft and guile, he was able to bamboozle the best of his generation, and in just 67 Tests, Qadir picked up 236 wickets. To go with that, he had also picked up 132 wickets in the ODI format.

Richie Benaud

An iconic commentator, but before that, Richie Benaud was a legendary cricketer who excelled in the art of leg spin. For any spinner, bowling to the subcontinent batters in their own conditions is a challenge, but Benaud defied that as he picked up 72 wickets in 12 Tests across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The former Aussie skipper had a tremendous career as a leg-break bowler, having picked up 248 wickets at 27.03 in 63 Tests and a staggering 945 wickets in the first-class arena.

Clarence Grimmett

Though the Aussie legend made his Test debut at the age of 34 (1925), Clarrie Grimmett created a significant impact as a leg-break bowler. He became the first bowler in the history of Tests to scalp the 200-wicket landmark. He finished with 216 wickets in a mere 37 games at an average of 24.71 and picked up a ten-wicket haul in what would be his final Test in 1936.

In the first-class arena, Grimmett picked up a whopping 1424 wickets in a career that spanned close to 30 years. He can be regarded in many ways as a pioneer of leg-spin in the game of cricket.

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Bill O’Reilly

Another flagbearer of the art known as wrist spin was William Joseph O’Reilly, commonly called Bill O’Reilly. He can be considered as one of the greatest spin bowlers of all time and this Aussie legend made a mark in his own unique way.

He was a tall figure standing at 6ft 2in and could impart pace as well as spin on the ball. His deliveries would unsettle batters and even the keeper as his release points were pretty tall for a spinner. O’Reilly was a true master when it came to the art of leg spin, and he picked up an astounding 144 wickets in just 27 Tests.

Subash Gupte

During his time in the 50s, Subash Gupte was considered one of the best leg-spinners going around and had the ability to run through a side. He has India’s fourth-best figures in Tests (9/102) and ended with a wicket shy of 150 in 36 Tests.

Though he didn’t play much, history suggests Subash Gupte was a big spinner of the ball and one who could be unplayable on many occasions.

Mushtaq Ahmed

One of the few bowlers who found success and longevity as a leg-spinner was Pakistan’s Mushtaq Ahmed. While he may have picked only 185 wickets in Tests in 52 games, his first-class prowess is second to none as he managed to rack up 1407 wickets to his name.

Apart from that, he had a successful career for Pakistan in white-ball cricket picking up 161 wickets, including playing a crucial role in their 1992 World Cup triumph.

Stuart MacGill

Despite playing in the same era as Shane Warne, Stuart MacGill was able to carve a name for himself in Test cricket. He only played when Warne was not available, or Australia toured the subcontinent.

Either way, he performed for the team at the top draw, picking up 208 wickets in 44 Tests he played in over 10 years.

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