Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. The two greatest spinners of all time top the list of the world’s leading wicketkeepers with 709 and 800 respectively. For the longest time, breaking that mark seemed unlikely. Honestly, it still works to some extent. With 640 wickets and the third-highest wicket, Jimmy Anderson is in the final leg of a storied international career. Stuart Broad followed. The only two active players in the top 15 are spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon with 430 and 415 wickets respectively, and while both are in their 30s, the duo are the only ones who have a chance to come close Generous player feats by Warne and Murali.
The battle of two modern superstars is a phrase that is often used to describe many rivalries, but mostly refers to the batsmen. In the 1990s, it was Tendulkar vs Lara. In the 2000s, it was Sehwag vs Hayden. Today, however, individual battles have gone beyond batsmen. Moving on from the Five Tigers. Ashwin vs Lyon is full play. Just look at Ash’s footwork against Gazza in the famous Sydney Test last year and you’ll see that neither of them likes to give each other a cent.
Off the field, however, things are quite different. Both spinners were full of praise for their rivals. That being said, no amount of mutual respect can extinguish the fire of competition in their stomachs. It’s because of this intensity that fans can’t help but argue time and time again as to which of the two will be the first to surpass Warne or Muralitharan. The Ashwin-Lyon comparison is certainly low-key and doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and in the same vein, legend Vaughn says he has nothing to compare to other than seeing both behemoths at their peak This is more wanted.
Complete News Source : Hindustan Times
