ICC Best-Ever Ratings: IMRAN KHAN 3rd best-ever in 132 years of Test Cricket

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Even Dennis Lillee and Shane Warne are not in the top 10 test bowlers list.

Agreed Wasim should have been a bit higher on the list but I disagree that Wasim was better than Imran. Wasim certainly had more variety in his armoury than Waqar but in his prime (from late 80s to early 90s) Waqar was more destructive, more lethal than Wasim…Waqar’s SR in tests was 34 or 35 and his bowling average 18 or 19. And I believe that Imran was better than both Wasim and Waqar

And remember these ratings don’t take into account your overall record but your best performances over a certain period…plus they look at the quality of opposition, quality of pitches, whether home or away games/series and your performance relative to other batters and bowlers in those games/series.

So brilliant displays with the ball in 2-3 successive series might earn you 900 points but 50 odd wickets in a calendar year might not not improve your rating as much. Likewise tons of runs/hundreds in successive games/series will improve your rating more than less spectacular displays spread out over a longer period

Examples:

  • Viv Richards scoring 891 in only 4 tests against England in 1976
  • Imran Khan taking 40 wickets in 6 tests against India on dead pitches. I don’t remember Wasim ever taking even 25 wickets in a test series
  • Waqar taking 29 wickets in 3 tests against NZ in 1989
  • Miandad scoring 9 successive half-centuries in ODIs (all away) in 1987

However extraspecial displays in a calendar year would.