Zaheer Khan – The best left arm swing bowler that has come out of Indian soil is Zaheer Khan. His ability to swing the ball both ways made him an asset for India. He had the knack of picking up early wickets. He played 92 test matches in which he picked up 311 wickets.His international career spanned for over 14 years. Despite being the most complete bowler, Zaheer managed to pick up only one 5 wicket haul in the 200 ODIs that he played for India. It came against Srilanka in the 2007 India tour of Srilanka. It was a match winning performance from him. He remained unlucky in ODIs as he got 7 four wicket hauls but only one 5 wicket haul.
Kapil Dev – An all rounder of his caliber can’t be found again. He is still the best all-rounder that India has ever produced. The World Cup winning captain has the record of being the Indian pacer with the most number of test wickets(432). His batting was underrated but he played many brilliant innings the most brilliant of which was 175 against Zimbabwe in the 83′ World Cup. Though it is hard to find a flaw in a player of his stature, Kapil has only 1 five-wicket haul in his ODI career of 225 matches which came against Australia in 1983. He picked up 3 four-wicket hauls also. But the thing which is most remarkable about his ODI career is his economy rate of just 3.72 which is now almost impossible to achieve for any bowler.
Imran Khan – Another Legend in the World cricket, Imran is one of the greatest cricketers Pakistan has ever produced. The position from which Pakistan won the 1992 World Cup is one of the greatest comeback stories and the credit for which goes to Imran Khan. He was an all rounder of the elite class. He used to bowl extremely fast and was an express fast bowler who also had the ability to score runs with the bat. He has 6 centuries in tests which shows that he had the technique to bat at the highest level. However in the 175 ODIs that he played he took one 5 wicket haul which came against India in 1985 at Sharjah. He finished the match with figures of 6/14 in 10 overs.
Courtney Walsh – Probably one of the last fast bowlers that came out of the West Indies who had so much success around the globe. The duo of Walsh and Ambrose was dreaded by the teams. Both of them were tall and bowled at a very good pace. Walsh’s test career was extremely illustrious as he claimed 519 wickets which included 22 five wicket hauls and 32 four wicket hauls. His spirit is still unmatched. He picked up only one 5 wicket haul in 205 ODIs that he played for West Indies. It came in a match against Srilanka in 1986 and finished the match with figures of 5/1. But this stat won’t define the greatness of him as he was one of the best bowlers ever to have played this game.
Shane Warne – The greatest spinner after Muttiah Muralitharan whom most batters found extremely hard to play is Shane Warne , Shane’s leg break skills are still unmatched. With over 700 wickets in Test Matches in 145 test matches, he bamboozled the batsmen with his googly and big leg breaks. He is still the greatest leg spinner to have played this game. In 194 ODI matches that he played he claimed 293 wickets which included 12 four wicket hauls and just one 5 wicket haul which came against West Indies in 1996 at Sydney.Nevertheless the kind of courage and aggression he displayed by giving so much flight to the ball made him so unique. In current times where leg spinners are neglected in the longer formats, he still believes that good leg spinners should be given a chance in tests as it is still the most attacking option.
