“Shane Warne is an overrated bowler” : Ranatunga

Shane Warne’s comments :

The Australian leg-spinner said earlier this week that his world record tallies of 651 career wickets and 87 in a calender year will not last long because other bowlers got a lot of wickets against weaker opponents.

Without naming Sri Lankan Muralitharan, his nearest rival with 584 wickets, Warne said, “there’s a lot more cricket being played these days and you have teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in there, with some teams playing them a lot more (than others). I’ve never played a Test against Bangladesh and only one against Zimbabwe, but there are some teams out there that play them a lot".

"Some blokes bowl at one end all day against those sort of countries and take lots of wickets. I’m sure that whoever those people are, they might get the record,"



Arjuna Ranatunga’s comments :

“Warne takes a lot of wickets against England, South Africa and New Zealand who generally don’t play spin all that well,”

“But take a look at his record against the Indians who play spin best. I am not lying, check the statistics and judge for yourself and you would know who the better spinner is,”

“Warne also gets a lot of tail-end wickets and I have always said that he’s an overrated bowler,”

“Question marks will always hover around Warne’s performances. After all, he is the one and only Test cricketer banned from the game for taking drugs,”

“Can Warne be a role model for any youngster?” asked Ranatunga. “How many controversies he’s been part of. Warne can never be a role model and I don’t want any Sri Lankan youngsters to follow him as a role model,”


My Comments :

Muralitharan has 67 less wickets playing 34 tests less. So there is no doubt Muralitharan will take more wickets than Warne. Bowling average of Muralitharan is much better (22) than Warne’s (25). Also he is three years younger than the Australian.

• Ranatunga says Warne takes lots of wickets against England, South Africa and New Zealand, who according to him don’t play spin that well. This is true. Both Muralitharan and Warne average almost the same against these teams but Shane has more wickets against them as he has played more tests. Against England, Warne has taken 172 wickets compared to Muralitharan’s 69 (103 more). Against New Zealand, Warne has 103 wickets compared to Muralitharan’s 52 (51 more). Against South Africa, Warne has 107 wickets compared to Muralitharan’s 82 (25 more). So, Warne has 179 wickets more than Muralitharan against these teams. But Muralitharan has 87 and 34 wickets against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh compared to Warne’s 6(from  one test) and 0 (Warne hasn’t played a test against Bangladesh). So, according to Ranatunga, Warne has 64 ‘cheap wickets’ more than Muralitharan. But I don’t quite agree with him. England, New Zealand and South Africa may not be great players of spin but they are ranked much higher than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Getting a Zimbabwean or a Bangladeshi wicket is twice as easy as getting a wicket of any of the three teams Ranatunga mentioned.


• Two teams that play spin best are : India and Sri Lanka. Muralitharan has a mediocre record against India and Warne has a poor one. Sri Lankans play spin well too. Warne has 59 wickets against them at an average of 25. Muralitharan averages 31 against the Aussies picking up 55 wickets.


• Ranatunga then made an unnecessary comment on Warne’s ban and drugs. While its true that Warne was banned because of drugs, its also true that Muralitharan bowled with a suspect action for most of his career (till it was legalized by the weird 15 degree rule)


• The reason I think Warne has been a better bowler is because he has similar record both at home and away. Averages 26 at home and 25 away whereas Muralitharan averages 19 at home and 27 away. In Australia, Muralitharan averages 63. Warne averages 26!! And against the three teams who according to Ranatunga, cant play spin : In New Zealand, Muralitharan averages 29. Warne averages 21!! In South Africa, Muralitharan averages 26. Warne averages 23!!


• Shane Warne is a slightly better bowler but Muttiah Muralitharan is a much better sportsman! You wont spot him sledging or making unnecessary comments on his rivals.