Is Shane Warne a Better Bowler Than Murali?

Shane Warne and Muttia Muralitharan are both legendMurali has almost single handedly carried the Sri
cricket spin bowlers. Both have taken hundred ofLankan bowling attack for the past 17 years and
test wickets, but who is the best?many batsman rate him as the best bowler they
Shane Warne was the bowler who made wrist spinhave ever faced.
bowling popular again. At the beginning of the 90'sSo who is the best? Both took plenty of wickets and
wrist spin bowling was almost a completely lost art.both are innovative. Shane Warne made the flipper
There were just no good young leg spin bowlersfamous and Murali made the doosra famous. And
around. The scene was completely dominated by theboth bowlers are rated as being legends of the game
quick bowlers - especially the west indian quickby many international batsmen.
bowlers of the 80's.In my opinion Shane Warne is the greater of the
Shane Warne changed all that in a heart beat whentwo. Shane has played many more tests against
he bowled Mike Gatting in the '93 Ashes. The ball wasquality opposition (England and South Africa) than
so spectacular that it was labeled the ball of theMurali. However, I think the fact that Shane Warne
century. Since then he dominate the test scene untilhas the great Glenn McGrath as his team mate is the
his recent retirement, taking 708 test wickets andultimate proof at how great he is. There were only
ensuring that Australia remains the best team in theso many wickets to take with Glenn McGrath bowling
world for more than a decade.from the other end. If McGrath did not play with
Murali on the other hand was shrouded inWarne then he would have easily picked up more
controversy from the start of his career, being calledthan a 1000 test wickets.
for chucking a few times playing tests in Australia.Shane Warne has also proved that he is the man for
Later bio-medical testing confirmed that he does notthe big moment and on countless occasions come to
throw the ball but only creates the illusion ofthe rescue of Australia.
throwing.So, although both bowlers are true legends, I think
Murali has become the most prolific wicket takerShane Warne is a better bowler than Muttiah
ever in test cricket and experts predict he will reachMuralitharan. What do you think?
a 1000 test wickets before the end of his career.