As Rangana Herath became only the second Sri Lankan bowler to take nine wickets in a Test innings, Abhishek Mukherjee takes a look at the man and his exploits.
They called David Steele “the bank clerk who went to war” because he looked like a bank clerk. Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath, on the other hand, is a bank clerk who went to war — that too after Muttiah Muralitharan, the Commander of the Sri Lankan Bowling, had retired from the sport.
Unlike his debonair counterparts, Herath has seldom looked impressive: he has been impressive — and we all know which matters more. He is certainly not the tallest, and neither is he the fittest; he does not have a mystery ball that every club spinner seems to have these days; he sticks to the basics, tosses the ball up, varies his length, flight, and guile; he has the stamina to bowl long, very long spells; and runs through sides.
Herath became the eighth left-arm bowler and the fourth left-arm spinner to reach the 250-wicket landmark:
Bowler
Type
M
I
B
W
Ave
SR
5WIs
10WMs
W/I
W/M
B/I
Wasim Akram
Pace
104
181
22,627
414
23.62
54.6
25
5
2.29
3.98
125
Daniel Vettori
Spin
112
185
28,670
360
34.42
79.6
20
3
1.95
3.21
155
Chaminda Vaas
Pace
111
194
23,438
355
29.58
66.0
12
2
1.83
3.20
121
Zaheer Khan
Pace
92
165
18,785
311
32.94
60.4
11
1
1.88
3.38
114
Derek Underwood
Spin
86
151
21,862
297
25.83
73.6
17
6
1.97
3.45
145
Bishan Bedi
Spin
67
118
21,364
266
28.71
80.3
14
1
2.25
3.97
181
Mitchell Johnson
Pace
59
113
13,227
264
27.42
50.1
12
3
2.34
4.47
117
Rangana Herath
Spin
57
102
16,339
255
29.40
64.0
20
3
2.50
4.47
160
His sub-30 average and is impressive, while his sub-65 strike rate is outstanding for a spinner (only the seamers on the list have better strike rates). His 2.50 wickets per innings is phenomenal (the most on the list), as is his 4.47 wickets per Test (at par with Mitchell Johnson). He has also bowled more balls per innings than anyone barring Bishan Bedi.
Herath has been especially prolific over the last three years — a period over which he has taken 26 more wickets than the next man (Dale Steyn, no less) on the list. He has excellent numbers to show as well.
Bowler
Type
M
I
B
W
Ave
SR
5WIs
10WMs
W/I
W/M
B/I
Rangana Herath
Spin
30
56
10,099
171
25.61
54.6
16
3
3.05
5.70
180
Dale Steyn
Pace
29
57
6,460
145
21.50
79.6
8
1
2.54
5.00
113
James Anderson
Pace
37
70
8,719
141
28.68
66.0
5
1
2.01
3.81
125
Stuart Broad
Pace
34
61
7,386
135
27.71
60.4
8
2
2.21
3.97
121
Saeed Ajmal
Spin
24
45
7,869
125
26.85
73.6
7
3
2.78
5.21
175
Over the last three years, Herath also has
1. Bowled the most balls (his 10,099 balls is 2,280 balls, or 380 overs more than James Anderson, the next on the list)
2. Taken the most five-fors (his 16 is almost double that of nine by Ravichandran Ashwin and Vernon Philander)
3. Taken the most ten-fors (along with Saeed Ajmal)
However, there are a few other records that Herath holds — joint-fastest to 250 wickets for a left-arm bowler, for example.
Bowler
Type
M
Mitchell Johnson
Pace
57
Rangana Herath
Spin
57
Bishan Bedi
Spin
60
Wasim Akram
Pace
60
Derek Underwood
Spin
69
Likewise for all spinners, he ranks only behind the legends and Danish Kaneria:
Bowler
Type
M
Muttiah Muralitahran
Right-arm off-break
51
Shane Warne
Right-arm leg-break
55
Anil Kumble
Right-arm leg-break
55
Danish Kaneria
Right-arm leg-break
57
Rangana Herath
Left-arm orthodox
57
Today, at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Herath also registered the best bowling figures by a left-arm bowler in history:
Bowler
Type
Figures
Rangana Herath
Spin
9/127
Johnny Briggs
Spin
8/11
Hedley Verity
Spin
8/43
Derek Underwood
Spin
8/51
Vinoo Mankad
Spin
8/52
[Note: The best figures by a left-arm seamer are Mitchell Johnson’s 8/61.]
Herath also became the 16th bowler (on the 18th occasion) to take nine wickets in a Test innings. Unfortunately, he has the worst figures among all Test nine-fors.
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