40 wickets in 5 Tests.
The bolded line is just a myth. Warne had probably the best series of his career in 2005. If you really did follow ashes 05 KP actually played better when mcgrath in the team. Mcgrath in lords is as much good as a quick bowler can get. During 06/07 warne still had a lot in him check out adelaide and melbourne games. Mcgrath did not past his best either infact 3 months later he was the bowler of the tournament in WC.
Murali has a fabulous record in ENG. Infact no english batsmen attacked him in england apart from KP. Playing murali in aus or ind is a different kettle. But playing him in eng or sl is not that much different as far as difficultu is considered. He had two big hundreds against him in england when murali ripping apart english batsmen. As far as his record in SL concerned that was the time when he had a dip in form of sorts, even struggled against NZ later although fought back with damn good hundred in napier. He didn't fail miserably against murali. Both had upperhands in their home conditions. Its called even stevens.
Same could be said of KP batted dreadfully in SA and steyn got better of him.
Sorry, Murali has been doing it for a life time. So was Hadlee. Doing it for one series is no big deal. Warne was clearly in his decline after 2001-3. He was intelligent enough to alter his game, but he was no where close to Warne who was sending leg breaks through Basit Ali's legs.
Really did u even see SL 04 ? Warne had his best series against srilankan batsmen in SL after he lost his form? really
That'll be why Warne put in a series performance he'd never come close to before?
Pietersen is not an arguable all time great. He hasn't achieved enough to be considered an all time great. With all the questions about his attitude, I seriously doubt if he will end up as a great player. Sehwag though has redefined batting. Tests have been played in India for many decades now but no one has ever scored at his rate and his consistency. Sehwag has more going for him than Pietersen right now.
You cannot judge whether a spinner is at top of the agme by playing against England. If he did better than what he did earlier againt India< i would have believed. Otherwise I am not buying that idea anyway.
Now the question is whether Warne in 2005/6 was as good as Warne in 1995 - 1999/2000 time? I would say Warne had declined by then
I would say thats OTR. But saying sanga is a class below KP is much worse than that.
That's because ENglish suck aainst spinwhether it's home or waway. but other nations have done better at home than playing in SL against Murali.
When Murali got rid of the initial shock, he was dictating terms. It was evident even in ODIs they played and even in WC match.
He came to SL with form behind him. But his continuous sledging inflamed SL bowlers, and he received plenty of verbal abuse from Lankans, with some snorters as well. He payed dearly by inflaming the most sedate set of cricketers playing test cricket, and was rendered form-less in the exercise by continuous pressure that he was put under.
Once again I disagree. Murali was all over him in ODIs
Yeah i agree. But its not like england batsmen treat him like rubbish like aus and indians do in their own backyard. KP is the only eng batsmen who attacked murali.
Warne played SL in 2003, when SL batting were in decline. (de Silva, Ranatunga, Gurusinghe retired, with young Jayawardane and Sangakkara as main batsmen, neither particularly attacking as de Silva and Ranatunga). In earlier tours Ranatunga and Gurusinghe were the ones who went after Warne in big time. There was no one to do it in 2003. I am not even mentioning about Tillekaratne's captaincy and selections as well. But once agains I say, SL is one of the best places to bowl for a class spinner, unlike India.Really did u even see SL 04 ? Warne had his best series against srilankan batsmen in SL after he lost his form? really
It seems to me that u did not watch warne enough after his ban. because every one is saying he is doing better than pre 98 warne. He bowled strauss with a ball that is as good as basit ali's. He never lost his spinning ability.
In fairness to english batsmen murali and warne are the only spinners who dominated them regularly. They are not as rubbish as you think.
We are discussing players, not matches.
Mushtaq Ahmed, Kumble and Harbhajan say Hi! hi!
Not in england mostly in their backyards..
True.
Nope. It all started with hayden's calibre. And while discussing players reaching their potentials everyone is talking about their test performances. Most people does't rate ODI performances while discussing player's merits.