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Bowlers: Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dale Steyn and Glenn McGrath
Saw a magician on a cricket pitch? Yes, a magician whose magic tricks were only with the ball? Yes, you are guessing it right. There was, is and will only be one magician in test cricket with the ball. His name is Shane Keith Warne.
An all-time test XI would be incomplete without Warne. Such is the impact and influence of this man. With an impeccable accuracy on his spin, Shane Warne became one of a kind. The amount of spin he got, bamboozled many great batters of his time. It was only apt that he was the one who bowled the ball of the century in his first ever Ashes series to Mike Gatting in 1993.
Warne picked up a total of 708 test wickets at a mesmerizing average and strike-rate of 25.42 and 57.49 respectively. He picked up 5 wickets in an innings 37 times and 10wickets in a test match 10 times.
Warne was named as one of the 5 cricketers of the 20th century along with Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Jack Hobbs, and Garry Sobers. Though Warne's career has sometimes been on a spotlight for some wrong reasons, there is absolutely no doubt that the Spin King's contribution to test cricket is etched in his fans memories.
Brian Lara once said, "He always made me feel stupid," and he was referring to was none other than Wasim Akram. You must understand how big a compliment it is considering the fact that Lara is considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
Wasim Akram is widely regarded as the greatest left-arm fast bowler of all time. The Pakistani born cricketer was considered to be the most skillful bowler of his time.
Akram became a household name after his one magical over in the night of the 1992 CWC final. He was declared man of the match for his performance which helped Pakistan list their first ever World Cup trophy.
Wasim blossomed under the leadership of Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. Akram himself went onto to become a great skipper later on. In his magical career, he took 414 Test wickets from 104 games at a mind-boggling average and strike-rate of 23.62 and 54.72 respectively. He picked 5 wickets in an innings 25 times and 10 wickets in a test match 5 times.
He may be the youngest one in this team but Dale Steyn is no less in skills than anyone when it comes to fast bowling. A man of whom Michael Holding is a fan of is certainly the greatest of his generation.
The Protea is considered to be the best amongst his generation of fast bowlers which includes some greats like Jimmy Anderson, Mitchell Johnson, Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee etc. With predator's eyes and pace like wildfire, he has intimidated every batsman he has ever bowled to.
Watching Steyn's rhythmic action is equivalent to sheer poetry in motion. In his entire career that is still going strong, Steyn has picked up 431 wickets at an unbelievable average and strike-rate of 22.66 and 41.95 respectively. He probably has the best bowling strike-rate for a fast bowler over 400 test wickets.
Steyn has 5 ten-wicket hauls and 25 five-wicket hauls. His ability to take wickets in the subcontinent conditions has to lead to widespread appreciation from yesteryear legends.
Glenn McGrath's bowling records are unquestionable. He along with Warne formed the deadliest combination of spin and pace bowling.
McGrath wasn't as skillful as Akram but he had a deadly weapon in his armory and that was pinpoint accuracy with a fiery consistent pace. How many fast bowlers can bowl the same ball at the same length on the same line six times an over? There might have been a few but none like 'Pigeon'.
McGrath picked up 563 test wickets in his illustrious career in 124 test matches he played for Australia. He maintained an alienesque bowling average and a strike-rate of 21.64 and 51.95 in his career. He has 29 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls to his name.
To sum up McGrath's career without mentioning his few rare stats would be a crime. He dismissed most no of openers in test history. He dismissed the most number of batsmen for ducks in test history. He got a wicket off his last ball in the world cup. He has been an important part of 3 World Cup winning teams.
