My XI Cricketers pick their favourites

@Charindra . Do yourself a favour and look up the 2003/04 series in Sri Lanka, Warne got to bowl on turning wickets, not wickets prepared for pace bowling & had a better average than Murali! And compare their averages in Australia when they bowled on the same pitch. Warne didn't need spinner's pitches. Murali was like Hadlee in that , due to the fact they didn't have world class bowlers at the other ned, tended to bowl more and got lots more wickets, Warne, had the likes of McGrath, Lee, McDermott, Hughes, Magill, Kasprowicz, Gillespie at the other end taking bags of wickets as well! All, (except Kasper) took over 200 wickets.

I can't help but smile thinking about Warne. To those who doubt his skill, I just see that perfect trajectory with the drift in ball after ball. I've never seen that in another leg-spinner who could get that drift and turn and pitch it consistently. But the showmanship was hilarious - mid-pitch conferences with Ian Healy discussing dinner plans. Batsmen getting psyched out. Listen to his commentary and you can tell he knows how to read a game and the opposition. He still psychs England out from the commentary box! I'm impressed by how positive he is as a commentator - he always has good things to say about (most) players, especially spinners. Of course he had flaws - vanity, aggression over the top sometimes - but wouldn't life be duller if people didn't have flaws.

@Charindra you have got to be kidding! Murali had wickets prepared for him at home. Warne never had this luxury. Another luxury that Warne was denied was plenty of tests against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh where Murali milked 176 wickets at and average of 15. Take out these advantages, and Warne is the next level up.

Shane Warne,well I find him as the best analyzer of cricket.He is a smart cricketer and can make out what the batsman is thinking.I love his attitude and mainly his analysis.He didn't get 708 wickets just like that without doing much.

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Warne got most of his wickets against Eng, which was honestly worse than Bangladesh at playing spin. Plus he had a great supporting cast that maintained pressure and helped him. Murali was a lone warrior most of the time and if he was out of form he still had to bowl about 40 overs and get hit around the park because there was nobody else.

Shane Warne is a great cricketer and the best Captain Australia never had. For a man to overcome a disasterous debut again India to become one of the greatest is an achievement in itself He had one bad tour to India and was man enough to admit that Sachin Tendulkar had the better of him on that tour.

It was after Shane warne damaged his shoulder that his career stagnated. He lost the ability to bowl his flipper , over wise I am sure that he would have has more wickets than murali. The flipper was his best weapon by far. That is why his bowling average went from 21to 29. He became a more desperate bowler after that and that's why he became more aggressive.

I can't believe the negative comments on Warne. Revisionist history at best. People forget that Cullinan was regarded as a specialist player of spin before Warne destroyed him. Gatting was a great player of spin. He destroyed attacks and did so on pitches where most spinners would never even be picked like the Gabba and the WACA. Add to that he was also a very handy lower order bat and a good slips fieldsman and he's arguably the best cricketer of his generation across all disciplines with the probable exception of Kallis.

Warne played when the ICC was dominated by Australians & all marginal ( & sometimes not so marginal) decisions were in favour of Australia. The number of debatable LBW decisions i his favour is a testimony to the sad state of umpiring in his hey days. If a batsman is worried about being umpired out, the bowler is going to be twice as dangerous as he would normally be.

Warne never prospered against batsmen who played spin well ...

Even tail enders treated Warne with disdain ....

Ian Bishop, played Warne with ease ....

Steve Waugh, marshaled his bowlers well; keeping Warne completely out of the attack vs Lara, Hooper, Bishop, and any batsman who could play him well ...

Walsh once hit Warne for 3 sixes in a over ! (this was most likely a fluke - but not Bishop, Bish could play spin better than any top order English batsman) ..

I expect, Waugh used Warne the same way against other teams as well... Making him bowl mainly at people who were obviously weak against the turning ball.