Ravi Ashwin vs Shane Warne – Stats comparison after 101 Test Matches

In the rich history of cricket, Shane Warne will be considered one of the best spinners the game has ever witnessed. While Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane are considered Modern-day greats, Ravichandran Ashwin is slowly making his mark as an all-time great in the game too.

Ravichandran Ashwin is arguably one of the best spinners in the world today. His performance and form with the ball and occasionally with the bat make him a serious contender to have legendary status in the game once he retires.

At age 38, Ashwin has a good 4-5 years of cricket in him and with his current form, he may come very close to breaking many bowling records.

This article will discuss on if Ravi Ashwin should already be on his way to cricket greatness.

Both Shane Warne and Ravichandran Ashwin contributed with the bat lower down the order which makes it easy to do an apple-to-apple comparison

Here is a quick comparison of Ravi Ashwin with Shane Warne after they completed 101 Test Matches

It must be noted that Shane ended his career with a staggering 708 wickets (a record then) in 145 Test matches and it is still a long way from the Chennai boy to reach those milestones.

A quick Comparison with the King of Spin and the Indian Spinner after 101 Test Matches

No of wickets

Shane Warne picked up 450 wickets
Ravi Ashwin has 522 wickets

No of Five Wicket Haul

Warne had 21 Five wicket haul
Ashwin has 37 Five wicket haul

Ten Wicket in a Test Match

Warne had 5 Ten wicket haul
Ashwin has 8 Ten wicket haul

Bowling Average

Warne Bowling average was 26.52
Ashwin Bowling average till now is 23.7

Batting Average

Warne scored 2091 Runs at a batting average of 16.59.
Ashwin has scored 3422 Runs at a batting average of 26.94

Fifties and Centuries

Warne scored 7 Fifties and No Centuries
Ashwin has scored 14 Fifties and 6 Centuries

SuperSport fan reaction

We tried to get feedback from our loyal reader base and these were their reactions

Dipen Babla – Businessman

“Both are big names and excellent players, but Warne use to create a different level of interest for cricket fans and everyone was in awe of his bowling skills. There was a glamour attached with Wane.”

Vivek Gaidhani – Corporate Executive

“We can always compare both of them with stats.

But look at spin talent aspirants available in India vs. Australia. Warne had relatively less competition. So he did have space to fail and still not be replaced when he started. Ashwin on the other hand, had to be on top of his game from day one as an international with the pressure of a lot of domestic players waiting for a chance to be in the Indian Team.

Ashwin is in the top 11 from a 1450m population and Warne from 27m.

See the odds Aswin faced and rose”.

Nilesh Dadpe- Sr VP at PayMate

“Warne for me anytime. Has bowled against much better batting attacks across the world, and also played less in subcontinent spinning pitches. Leg spin as an art to master is very difficult as compared to off-spin. Warne had great game sense and knack of thinking ahead of the batsmen.

A true showman who gave the world a lot to cheer & most importantly ‘A Big match player’ who won ICC crunch World Cup games.

His Rajasthan Royals captaincy story to lift the Inaugural IPL trophy is legendary stuff 👍”

Preyas Kulkarni- Sr. corporate executive

“Ashwin has these stats even after the team has more than 1-2 equally good spinner in the side.

Somehow, Indian media should have supported Ashwin more, as was done by the Australian media for Warne.”

He added, “There were times when Kohli and Ashwin had troubled times. Ashwin was no more the first-choice spinner under Kohli but Ashwin continued to perform.”

SuperSports view

If we compare the overseas performance of both the players, Shane Warne was way ahead. Both the players possessed extreme intelligence and mastery over their skills.

Shane Warne was called the captain Australia never had. Similarly, when he retires Ravichandran Ashwin may be called the same …. the captain India never had.

Ashwin had DRS. Warne had umpires🤣

Ashwin played in an age of DRS and this was an advantage as compared to Shane Warne’s era.

Shane Warne was a darling for all umpires and had the charm to influence umpires to rule the appeal in his favor. Remember the wicket of Atherton (WI) padding to a ball that was pitched way outside off-stump. The Umpire felt ball would have hit the stumps and had enough turn. No bowler would have got a wicket for such an appeal then except for the great Shane Warne.

Warne had a terrific team of bowlers to support him. But this was his disadvantage too. McGrath, Lee, and Gillespie were his competitors in picking wickets. So, Warne had to fight for his wickets.

Ravichandran now is the second leading wicket taker in Asian soil and he may end up becoming India’s highest wicket taker if he can maintain his form and fitness.

While it is likely that Ravi Ashwin may beat Anil Kumble but it is highly unlikely for the off spinner to go past Murali or Shane Warne.

As a bowler Shane Warne is way ahead in the pecking order but the contributions with the bat makes Ashwin a captain’s delight to have in the team.