Three leggies, an offie and a leftie
Though spin has mostly played second fiddle to Pakistan's pace attack, in the hands of these masters it took a starring role
The contenders
The true father of modern legspin, Qadir had more tricks than - to paraphrase Almanack editor Scyld Berry - a truckload of monkeys. There were two kinds of googlies (from the wrist and fingers), a killer flipper, leggies of various breaks and speeds, and an over regularly threw up six different deliveries, all from a wonderfully wheelin', dealin' action. Qadir was a slave to his moods but when the mood took him - usually at the coaxing of Imran Khan - he was unplayable. Graham Gooch reckoned him to be more difficult to negotiate than Shane Warne.
A wonderfully innovative offspinner, who gave to the world the offie's wrong'un, the doosra. His basics were solid too, and his offbreak was a big-spinning and accurate staple, delivered from a fast, short-stepping action that has spawned numerous imitators in Pakistan. At his peak, from the mid-90s to the end of the decade, he was arguably the best of his kind in the world, even with Muttiah Muralitharan around; even India, those masters of spin, were regularly troubled by him. Over-use of the weapon that made him eventually eroded his effectiveness.
Though he began as a Qadir clone - the action was essentially a bouncier version - Mushy actually hastened the end of his career in the late 80s and early 90s, so impressive was his arrival. He had the variations, even if he relied too heavily on the googly, but on bouncy surfaces he was lethal and a perfect complement to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. His best years came in the early and mid-90s, and at his absolute peak he didn't come off poorly in comparisons with Warne.
Comfortably Pakistan's best left-arm spinner, Qasim wasn't one to lure batsmen into elaborate traps of flight and spin. His was a more pragmatic charm, relentlessly pegging away at one target, often pushing it through, drying up runs and playing on patience. The famous Bangalore win in 1987 was a case in point, where he smartly took Bishan Bedi's advice to not spin the ball too much and rely instead on the track to misbehave. But 50 Tests in a time when Qadir ruled the roost and Tauseef Ahmed was around speak highly of just how good he was.
No spinner has taken more Test wickets for Pakistan than Kaneria. He was the man who ended Mushy's Test career in the early years of this decade, and though not as explosive as his two predecessors, Kaneria has been a worthy successor in troubled times. Flight is not the weapon as much as bounce and accuracy, and the googly - again overused - is a well-disguised one. He has suffered from not having reliable pace-bowling support at the other end and can go for long spells where he doesn't look like getting a wicket. Unlucky also to have Kamran Akmal as a wicketkeeper, but on his day he can and has transformed Tests.
Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo