Legendary Sri Lankan spinner, Rangana Herath, renowned for his impressive record of over 1,000 first-class wickets, 500 international wickets, and 400 Test wickets, has shared his thoughts on his favourite modern-day spinners.
Herath, who played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka's maiden T20 World Cup triumph in 2014 and showcased his prowess with a five-wicket haul against New Zealand in the tournament's playoffs, has named several contemporary spinners who have caught his eye.
“It’s got to be Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon if you take finger spinners. Another one I like is of course Keshav Maharaj from South Africa. I’m also always very keen on watching Kuldeep Yadav bowl I mean. As for Sri Lanka, of course, Prabath Jayasuriya, so yes, these are some of the names that come across my mind,” said Herath.
Regarding Sri Lanka’s spin bowling dominance, their bowlers excelled in the recent ODI series against India, claiming 27 wickets and applying significant pressure on India's formidable batting lineup. This total of 27 wickets is the highest achieved by any team in a bilateral series of fewer than four matches.
Among the bowlers with the most five-wicket hauls against India, Dunith Wellalage stands out as the first spinner in a list otherwise dominated by pacers. For the Indian spinners, they took 16 wickets across the three-match series, with Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav securing five and four wickets, respectively.