Bowling actions are something that makes each bowler unique. It is something that comes naturally to everyone else and then is worked upon by coaches and players themselves in order to become world-beaters. However, some bowlers in the history of the game had bowling actions that became legendary.

Australia’s Jeff Thomson had one of the most unique actions which gave him immense speed, while Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga’s slinging action put batsmen in trouble for over 15 years now. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/current-game-changers-xi-in-world-cricket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dennis Lillie</a> and Sir Richard Hadlee’s actions are considered to be picture perfect and most picturesque to see, while on the other spectrum we had Paul Adams, the ‘frog in a blender’ action that made the world sit up and notice.

However, children are often influenced by someone’s action and many young guns were highly impressed with the action of some of the best bowlers in the world. Many children would often be seen copying them while walking on the road or waiting on the platform for a train.

Keeping those childhood memories alive, here are five bowlers, whose actions we tried to copy in our childhood:

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-27249" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Brett-Lee-ODI.jpg" alt="Brett Lee" width="594" height="396" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27249" class="wp-caption-text">Brett Lee. (© Getty Images)</figcaption>

Brett Lee was the only contender in long run to Pakistani Shoaib Akhtar’s claim to the world’s fastest bowler throne. Australia’s Lee debuted in 2000 against India and picked a fifer in his first Test. He then had an amazing career for Kangaroos. One of the noticeable things about him was his bowling action.

Lee had a long, but perfect runup which led to a loaded leap and then the front foot thudding on the crease, letting the ball go at the speed of lightning. This high impact landing led to him getting injured after successful few years at the start of his career, as age caught up with him, leading to him getting multiple surgeries on his tibia and ankle on the right foot.

However, despite this, Lee managed to win the 2003 World Cup with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ms-dhoni-is-a-master-at-finishing-matches-says-australia-head-coach-justin-langer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, picking a hat-trick in the tournament as well. He retired from cricket in 2012 with 310 wickets in 76 Tests and 380 scalps in 221 ODI matches. He also took 28 wickets in 25 T20I matches for Australia and even featured in the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League for a number of years.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-199992" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Andrew-Symonds-and-Harbhajan-Singh.jpg" alt="Andrew Symonds of Australia watches Harbhajan Singh" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-199992" class="wp-caption-text">Harbhajan Singh. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption>

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had made his debut at the age of 17 in a Test against Australia in 1998 in Bengaluru. He was embroiled in a huge controversy early on in his career due to the legality of his bowling action coming under scrutiny. He had to get his action rectified before he was cleared to bowl in international cricket.

His breakthrough series came in 2001 against Australia at home where he picked 32 wickets in 3 Test matches, including the first-ever hat-trick for India in Tests and important contribution in that historic win in Kolkata Test, which is more famous for VVS Laxman and<a href="https://www.crictracker.com/rahul-dravid-must-take-responsibility-for-all-mishandlings-at-the-nca-bcci-official-after-ishant-sharmas-re-injury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Rahul Dravid</a>. As Anil Kumble’s career started to wind up in the late 2000s, Harbhajan became the lynchpin of the Indian spin attack, mentoring youngsters like Piyush Chawla, Murali Kartik, and others.

His action began with a skip, jump, and twisting of arms in a way to get maximum momentum into spinning his ball. Recently, even Virat Kohli copied Harbhajan’s action in front of the man himself before the start of a match, much to the bowlers’ amusement. Harbhajan picked 417 Test, 25 T20I and 269 ODI wickets for India from 1998-2016.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-378864" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-378864" class="wp-caption-text">Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Zaheer Khan burst onto the international cricket scene as part of new captain Sourav Ganguly’s young Indian team. He played his first international match against Kenya in Nairobi in 2000’s ICC Knockout Trophy. He impressed with his pace and ability to bowl amazing yorkers at high speed.

The left-armer from Maharashtra quickly rose through ranks especially as the spearhead of Indian bowling attack after the retirement of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/foundation-of-indian-pace-attack-was-laid-by-kapil-dev-javagal-srinath-and-zaheer-khan-ian-bishop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Javagal Srinath </a>and injury-riddled career of Ashish Nehra. Zaheer was one of the best bowlers for India in the ICC World Cup 2003 where the Men in Blue made it to the finals.

He possessed a brilliant and beautiful bowling action that didn’t put much pressure on joints and the leap and ability to hide the ball during run-up made him dangerous to the max. He developed a lethal version of his action from a short runup as he came to the end of his career, but it remained one of the most copied actions from young fans’ childhood.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-289773" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Shane-Warne-2.jpg" alt="Shane Warne" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289773" class="wp-caption-text">Shane Warne. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Perhaps the greatest leg-spinners to ever play the game, Australia’s Shane Warne was the first bowler to 600 and 700 Test wickets, while also being credited with reviving the art of leg-spin in limited-overs cricket, during a time when the emphasis was given on off-spinners and medium pacers.

Discovered in Sydney by former Australia leggie Terry Jenner, Warne made his debut in 1992 against India in Tests at Perth and was butchered by Ravi Shastri who made a double ton and a young <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/virender-sehwag-not-happy-with-sachin-tendulkar-electing-to-bowl-first-yet-again-in-road-safety-world-series/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sachin Tendulkar</a> on his first tour down under. But Warne’s silky-smooth action gave him longevity in his career.

The Australian walked up to the crease with the ball in hand and gained a bit of momentum before twisting his hips at the point of releasing the ball, giving a maximum turn to the ball in the process, in addition to a flick of his wrist.

Warne was named as one of the five cricketers of the 20th Century by Wisden. The leggie picked 708 Test wickets in 145 matches and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs. He also won the ICC World Cup in 1999 with Australia, coming up with Man of the Match performances in the semi-final and final of the tournament. His simple action has been called an inspiration by many of the current leg-spinners as a source of inspiration.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-352895" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_357612.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-352895" class="wp-caption-text">Muttiah Muralitharan (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Perhaps one of the most controversial cricketers ever thanks to his ultra-unique action, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka divided cricket fraternity into two after he was no-balled in Australia for his bowling action in 1995.

A huge controversy led to him being tested by biomechanics’ expert in Australia itself. He was made to bowl wearing a steel-reinforced plaster cast to show that his elbow didn’t bend beyond the permissible limit. It was just that he was born with a limited ability to bend his elbow and had an extra rubbery wrist. He bowled mostly from his shoulder, giving the ball a flick with his extra flexible wrist, which seen with the naked eye gave the impression that he chucked the ball.

Murali, as he was better known, won the ICC World Cup in 1996 with the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/a-drunken-sri-lankan-fan-verbally-harasses-a-foreign-couple-during-the-first-slvwi-t20i/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sri Lankan</a> team, had an action that was extremely difficult to copy, but yet, many of us in our childhood tried to copy it, with varying degrees of success. Murali ended his career, which began in 1992 in 2008 with 800 Test wickets in 133 matches, 534 scalps in 350 ODIs- both of which are world-records and even picked 13 T20I matches in 12 matches.

Bowling actions are something that makes each bowler unique. It is something that comes naturally to everyone else and then is worked upon by coaches and players themselves in order to become world-beaters. However, some bowlers in the history of the game had bowling actions that became legendary.
Australia’s Jeff Thomson had one of the most unique actions which gave him immense speed, while Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga’s slinging action put batsmen in trouble for over 15 years now. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/current-game-changers-xi-in-world-cricket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dennis Lillie</a> and Sir Richard Hadlee’s actions are considered to be picture perfect and most picturesque to see, while on the other spectrum we had Paul Adams, the ‘frog in a blender’ action that made the world sit up and notice.
However, children are often influenced by someone’s action and many young guns were highly impressed with the action of some of the best bowlers in the world. Many children would often be seen copying them while walking on the road or waiting on the platform for a train.
Keeping those childhood memories alive, here are five bowlers, whose actions we tried to copy in our childhood:
<h3>1. Brett Lee</h3>
<figure id="attachment_27249" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27249" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-27249" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Brett-Lee-ODI.jpg" alt="Brett Lee" width="594" height="396" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27249" class="wp-caption-text">Brett Lee. (© Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Brett Lee was the only contender in long run to Pakistani Shoaib Akhtar’s claim to the world’s fastest bowler throne. Australia’s Lee debuted in 2000 against India and picked a fifer in his first Test. He then had an amazing career for Kangaroos. One of the noticeable things about him was his bowling action.
Lee had a long, but perfect runup which led to a loaded leap and then the front foot thudding on the crease, letting the ball go at the speed of lightning. This high impact landing led to him getting injured after successful few years at the start of his career, as age caught up with him, leading to him getting multiple surgeries on his tibia and ankle on the right foot.
However, despite this, Lee managed to win the 2003 World Cup with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ms-dhoni-is-a-master-at-finishing-matches-says-australia-head-coach-justin-langer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, picking a hat-trick in the tournament as well. He retired from cricket in 2012 with 310 wickets in 76 Tests and 380 scalps in 221 ODI matches. He also took 28 wickets in 25 T20I matches for Australia and even featured in the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League for a number of years.

<h3>2. Harbhajan Singh</h3>
<figure id="attachment_199992" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-199992" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-199992" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Andrew-Symonds-and-Harbhajan-Singh.jpg" alt="Andrew Symonds of Australia watches Harbhajan Singh" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-199992" class="wp-caption-text">Harbhajan Singh. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had made his debut at the age of 17 in a Test against Australia in 1998 in Bengaluru. He was embroiled in a huge controversy early on in his career due to the legality of his bowling action coming under scrutiny. He had to get his action rectified before he was cleared to bowl in international cricket.
His breakthrough series came in 2001 against Australia at home where he picked 32 wickets in 3 Test matches, including the first-ever hat-trick for India in Tests and important contribution in that historic win in Kolkata Test, which is more famous for VVS Laxman and<a href="https://www.crictracker.com/rahul-dravid-must-take-responsibility-for-all-mishandlings-at-the-nca-bcci-official-after-ishant-sharmas-re-injury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Rahul Dravid</a>. As Anil Kumble’s career started to wind up in the late 2000s, Harbhajan became the lynchpin of the Indian spin attack, mentoring youngsters like Piyush Chawla, Murali Kartik, and others.
His action began with a skip, jump, and twisting of arms in a way to get maximum momentum into spinning his ball. Recently, even Virat Kohli copied Harbhajan’s action in front of the man himself before the start of a match, much to the bowlers’ amusement. Harbhajan picked 417 Test, 25 T20I and 269 ODI wickets for India from 1998-2016.

<h3>3. Zaheer Khan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_378864" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-378864" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-378864" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-378864" class="wp-caption-text">Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Zaheer Khan burst onto the international cricket scene as part of new captain Sourav Ganguly’s young Indian team. He played his first international match against Kenya in Nairobi in 2000’s ICC Knockout Trophy. He impressed with his pace and ability to bowl amazing yorkers at high speed.
The left-armer from Maharashtra quickly rose through ranks especially as the spearhead of Indian bowling attack after the retirement of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/foundation-of-indian-pace-attack-was-laid-by-kapil-dev-javagal-srinath-and-zaheer-khan-ian-bishop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Javagal Srinath </a>and injury-riddled career of Ashish Nehra. Zaheer was one of the best bowlers for India in the ICC World Cup 2003 where the Men in Blue made it to the finals.
He possessed a brilliant and beautiful bowling action that didn’t put much pressure on joints and the leap and ability to hide the ball during run-up made him dangerous to the max. He developed a lethal version of his action from a short runup as he came to the end of his career, but it remained one of the most copied actions from young fans’ childhood.

<h3>4. Shane Warne</h3>
<figure id="attachment_289773" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289773" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-289773" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Shane-Warne-2.jpg" alt="Shane Warne" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289773" class="wp-caption-text">Shane Warne. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps the greatest leg-spinners to ever play the game, Australia’s Shane Warne was the first bowler to 600 and 700 Test wickets, while also being credited with reviving the art of leg-spin in limited-overs cricket, during a time when the emphasis was given on off-spinners and medium pacers.
Discovered in Sydney by former Australia leggie Terry Jenner, Warne made his debut in 1992 against India in Tests at Perth and was butchered by Ravi Shastri who made a double ton and a young <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/virender-sehwag-not-happy-with-sachin-tendulkar-electing-to-bowl-first-yet-again-in-road-safety-world-series/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sachin Tendulkar</a> on his first tour down under. But Warne’s silky-smooth action gave him longevity in his career.
The Australian walked up to the crease with the ball in hand and gained a bit of momentum before twisting his hips at the point of releasing the ball, giving a maximum turn to the ball in the process, in addition to a flick of his wrist.
Warne was named as one of the five cricketers of the 20th Century by Wisden. The leggie picked 708 Test wickets in 145 matches and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs. He also won the ICC World Cup in 1999 with Australia, coming up with Man of the Match performances in the semi-final and final of the tournament. His simple action has been called an inspiration by many of the current leg-spinners as a source of inspiration.

<h3>5. Muttiah Muralitharan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_352895" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-352895" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-352895" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_357612.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-352895" class="wp-caption-text">Muttiah Muralitharan (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps one of the most controversial cricketers ever thanks to his ultra-unique action, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka divided cricket fraternity into two after he was no-balled in Australia for his bowling action in 1995.
A huge controversy led to him being tested by biomechanics’ expert in Australia itself. He was made to bowl wearing a steel-reinforced plaster cast to show that his elbow didn’t bend beyond the permissible limit. It was just that he was born with a limited ability to bend his elbow and had an extra rubbery wrist. He bowled mostly from his shoulder, giving the ball a flick with his extra flexible wrist, which seen with the naked eye gave the impression that he chucked the ball.
Murali, as he was better known, won the ICC World Cup in 1996 with the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/a-drunken-sri-lankan-fan-verbally-harasses-a-foreign-couple-during-the-first-slvwi-t20i/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sri Lankan</a> team, had an action that was extremely difficult to copy, but yet, many of us in our childhood tried to copy it, with varying degrees of success. Murali ended his career, which began in 1992 in 2008 with 800 Test wickets in 133 matches, 534 scalps in 350 ODIs- both of which are world-records and even picked 13 T20I matches in 12 matches.

Bowling actions are something that makes each bowler unique. It is something that comes naturally to everyone else and then is worked upon by coaches and players themselves in order to become world-beaters. However, some bowlers in the history of the game had bowling actions that became legendary.
Australia’s Jeff Thomson had one of the most unique actions which gave him immense speed, while Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga’s slinging action put batsmen in trouble for over 15 years now. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/current-game-changers-xi-in-world-cricket/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dennis Lillie</a> and Sir Richard Hadlee’s actions are considered to be picture perfect and most picturesque to see, while on the other spectrum we had Paul Adams, the ‘frog in a blender’ action that made the world sit up and notice.
However, children are often influenced by someone’s action and many young guns were highly impressed with the action of some of the best bowlers in the world. Many children would often be seen copying them while walking on the road or waiting on the platform for a train.
Keeping those childhood memories alive, here are five bowlers, whose actions we tried to copy in our childhood:
<h3>1. Brett Lee</h3>
<figure id="attachment_27249" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27249" style="width: 594px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-27249" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Brett-Lee-ODI.jpg" alt="Brett Lee" width="594" height="396" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27249" class="wp-caption-text">Brett Lee. (© Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Brett Lee was the only contender in long run to Pakistani Shoaib Akhtar’s claim to the world’s fastest bowler throne. Australia’s Lee debuted in 2000 against India and picked a fifer in his first Test. He then had an amazing career for Kangaroos. One of the noticeable things about him was his bowling action.
Lee had a long, but perfect runup which led to a loaded leap and then the front foot thudding on the crease, letting the ball go at the speed of lightning. This high impact landing led to him getting injured after successful few years at the start of his career, as age caught up with him, leading to him getting multiple surgeries on his tibia and ankle on the right foot.
However, despite this, Lee managed to win the 2003 World Cup with <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ms-dhoni-is-a-master-at-finishing-matches-says-australia-head-coach-justin-langer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australia</a>, picking a hat-trick in the tournament as well. He retired from cricket in 2012 with 310 wickets in 76 Tests and 380 scalps in 221 ODI matches. He also took 28 wickets in 25 T20I matches for Australia and even featured in the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League for a number of years.

<h3>2. Harbhajan Singh</h3>
<figure id="attachment_199992" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-199992" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-199992" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Andrew-Symonds-and-Harbhajan-Singh.jpg" alt="Andrew Symonds of Australia watches Harbhajan Singh" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-199992" class="wp-caption-text">Harbhajan Singh. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had made his debut at the age of 17 in a Test against Australia in 1998 in Bengaluru. He was embroiled in a huge controversy early on in his career due to the legality of his bowling action coming under scrutiny. He had to get his action rectified before he was cleared to bowl in international cricket.
His breakthrough series came in 2001 against Australia at home where he picked 32 wickets in 3 Test matches, including the first-ever hat-trick for India in Tests and important contribution in that historic win in Kolkata Test, which is more famous for VVS Laxman and<a href="https://www.crictracker.com/rahul-dravid-must-take-responsibility-for-all-mishandlings-at-the-nca-bcci-official-after-ishant-sharmas-re-injury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Rahul Dravid</a>. As Anil Kumble’s career started to wind up in the late 2000s, Harbhajan became the lynchpin of the Indian spin attack, mentoring youngsters like Piyush Chawla, Murali Kartik, and others.
His action began with a skip, jump, and twisting of arms in a way to get maximum momentum into spinning his ball. Recently, even Virat Kohli copied Harbhajan’s action in front of the man himself before the start of a match, much to the bowlers’ amusement. Harbhajan picked 417 Test, 25 T20I and 269 ODI wickets for India from 1998-2016.

<h3>3. Zaheer Khan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_378864" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-378864" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-378864" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Zaheer-Khan.jpg" alt="Zaheer Khan" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-378864" class="wp-caption-text">Zaheer Khan. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Zaheer Khan burst onto the international cricket scene as part of new captain Sourav Ganguly’s young Indian team. He played his first international match against Kenya in Nairobi in 2000’s ICC Knockout Trophy. He impressed with his pace and ability to bowl amazing yorkers at high speed.
The left-armer from Maharashtra quickly rose through ranks especially as the spearhead of Indian bowling attack after the retirement of <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/foundation-of-indian-pace-attack-was-laid-by-kapil-dev-javagal-srinath-and-zaheer-khan-ian-bishop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Javagal Srinath </a>and injury-riddled career of Ashish Nehra. Zaheer was one of the best bowlers for India in the ICC World Cup 2003 where the Men in Blue made it to the finals.
He possessed a brilliant and beautiful bowling action that didn’t put much pressure on joints and the leap and ability to hide the ball during run-up made him dangerous to the max. He developed a lethal version of his action from a short runup as he came to the end of his career, but it remained one of the most copied actions from young fans’ childhood.

<h3>4. Shane Warne</h3>
<figure id="attachment_289773" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289773" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-289773" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Shane-Warne-2.jpg" alt="Shane Warne" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-289773" class="wp-caption-text">Shane Warne. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps the greatest leg-spinners to ever play the game, Australia’s Shane Warne was the first bowler to 600 and 700 Test wickets, while also being credited with reviving the art of leg-spin in limited-overs cricket, during a time when the emphasis was given on off-spinners and medium pacers.
Discovered in Sydney by former Australia leggie Terry Jenner, Warne made his debut in 1992 against India in Tests at Perth and was butchered by Ravi Shastri who made a double ton and a young <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/virender-sehwag-not-happy-with-sachin-tendulkar-electing-to-bowl-first-yet-again-in-road-safety-world-series/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sachin Tendulkar</a> on his first tour down under. But Warne’s silky-smooth action gave him longevity in his career.
The Australian walked up to the crease with the ball in hand and gained a bit of momentum before twisting his hips at the point of releasing the ball, giving a maximum turn to the ball in the process, in addition to a flick of his wrist.
Warne was named as one of the five cricketers of the 20th Century by Wisden. The leggie picked 708 Test wickets in 145 matches and 293 wickets in 194 ODIs. He also won the ICC World Cup in 1999 with Australia, coming up with Man of the Match performances in the semi-final and final of the tournament. His simple action has been called an inspiration by many of the current leg-spinners as a source of inspiration.

<h3>5. Muttiah Muralitharan</h3>
<figure id="attachment_352895" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-352895" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-352895" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_357612.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-352895" class="wp-caption-text">Muttiah Muralitharan (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Perhaps one of the most controversial cricketers ever thanks to his ultra-unique action, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka divided cricket fraternity into two after he was no-balled in Australia for his bowling action in 1995.
A huge controversy led to him being tested by biomechanics’ expert in Australia itself. He was made to bowl wearing a steel-reinforced plaster cast to show that his elbow didn’t bend beyond the permissible limit. It was just that he was born with a limited ability to bend his elbow and had an extra rubbery wrist. He bowled mostly from his shoulder, giving the ball a flick with his extra flexible wrist, which seen with the naked eye gave the impression that he chucked the ball.
Murali, as he was better known, won the ICC World Cup in 1996 with the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/a-drunken-sri-lankan-fan-verbally-harasses-a-foreign-couple-during-the-first-slvwi-t20i/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sri Lankan</a> team, had an action that was extremely difficult to copy, but yet, many of us in our childhood tried to copy it, with varying degrees of success. Murali ended his career, which began in 1992 in 2008 with 800 Test wickets in 133 matches, 534 scalps in 350 ODIs- both of which are world-records and even picked 13 T20I matches in 12 matches.

Many children would often be seen copying them while walking on the road or waiting on the platform for a train.

5 Bowling actions we tried in our childhood

Many children would often be seen copying their bowling action while walking on the road or waiting on the platform for a train.