Shane Warne: A deeper look into the Legend's numbers

Shane Warne (PC: Twitter)

Shane Warne, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, would have turned 53 on this day. He is undoubtedly the best leg spinner the game of cricket has ever seen. 1001 international wickets are enough to speak for the man. But there has always been a comparison between Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, regarding who is the best? 

The Numbers

Let us look at the raw number of the two spin maestros in Tests.

General Test record of the two legends

So the plain numbers practically suggest that Murali was quite a way ahead of Warne. But do they reveal the whole truth? 

Home Conditions

The first thing we need to understand as cricket fans is the home conditions the two players played in. Murali being a Sri Lankan player played most of his matches in slow and low tracks favouring spin bowling. 

On the other hand Shane Warne played the majority of his cricket in Australian pitches, which are famous for assisting pacers even more during the era the two players played. 

Keeping this thing in mind let us make the first comparison between the two as to how they have performed in the other’s home conditions.

Performance in Sri Lanka

Comparison of the two in Sri Lanka

Well Murali has a better average than Warne in Sri Lanka. While Warne conceded 20 runs for a wicket, Murali picked up a wicket every 19 runs in Sri Lanka. But if we look at the number of deliveries taken by the bowlers to pick up a wicket, Warne was way ahead. Warne took only about 40 balls to pick up a wicket while Murali had to bowl 51 balls on average for picking up a wicket. 

So the battle in Sri Lanka looks balanced. 

Performance in Australia

Performance comparison in Australia

In Australia, with the conditions not preferring spin too much, Warne is way ahead of his competitor. The stats clearly suggest that Warne had dominated the battle when it comes to performance in Australia. 

Now let us look at how the two have performed in different conditions.

In Pace favouring conditions

The conditions in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are generally considered to be favouring pace. Here we take a look at the performance of the two players in these countries. 

Comparison in pace favouring conditions

When the runs conceded and balls bowled to pick up a wicket in conditions not favouring spin so much is considered, Shane Warne is ahead of Muralitharan. 

In Spin favouring conditions

To compare the two greats in this parameter we will look into their records in the Asian continent.

Comparison in spin favouring conditions

So, as we see in conditions favouring spin, Murali conceded less runs to pick up a wicket, but Warne bowled less to do the same. Hence the battle here one again turns out to be equal. 

The Winner

In this study we have considered 4 parameters and the player dominating this competition is:

Comparison Results

Two of the parameters have been drawn and two belong to Shane Warne. So, the winner is clear.

Conclusion

So, the parameters that we have considered here gives us an idea that Warne was a multipurpose bowler. His numbers are not too much skewed in any condition and he maintained his standards all round the world. 

Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan (PC : Twitter)

In the case of Muralitharan he was a more lethal bowler in spin-friendly conditions. But a fact is definitely to be stated, Murali was more economical than Warne. 

Well they had different styles of bowling and excelled in their domain. While Murali was more of a conservative bowler, Shane Warne was all about flamboyance. This comparison is not to belittle any of the greats it's just a way of looking into a long standing argument in cricket .

Also Read: Beyond the leg break: Decoding the Shane Warne enigma