Hyderabad: Cricket has gone through numerous modifications and now it favours batters heavily. It is a common sight for cricket fans to see the batters hitting the ball out of the park nowadays. Now, with the batters adopting a more aggressive approach than earlier, the occurrence of high-scoring matches in regular. However, bowlers are as important as batters as they restrict batters from taking runs apart from taking wickets. Sometimes, they bowl their overs without conceding a run. Today, we take a look at the bowlers who have bowled the most maiden overs in the history of international cricket across all formats.
Muttiah Muralitharan
Former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was known for the kind of turn he gets from his surface. Even the best of the batters would get troubled by the bowler. Muralitharan has bowled 1794 maiden overs in Tests and 198 maiden overs in ODIs showcasing his efficiency in both the formats. He has no maiden overs in T20 cricket despite playing 12 matches in the shortest format. He has bowled a total of 1992 maiden overs in 459 international matches.
Shane Warne
Australia's late leg spinner Shane Warne has bowled second-most maiden overs in world cricket across all formats. Warne has bowled 1716 maiden overs in 175 Tests and 110 maiden overs in 194 ODIs. The great Australian spinner has 1817 maiden overs in 329 international matches.
Glenn McGrath
The third bowler in the list of players with most maiden overs in international cricket is former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath. He has bowled 1414 maiden overs in 124 Tests and 279 maiden overs in 250 ODIs. He has also bowled 1 maiden over in 2 T20 matches. He has bowled a total of 1749 maiden overs in 376 international matches.
Anil Kumble
Former Indian cricket team's legendary spinner Anil Kumble is also included in the list of bowlers who have bowled the most maiden overs in international cricket. Kumble has bowled 1576 maiden overs in 132 Tests and 109 maiden overs in 271 ODIs. Kumble has bowled 1685 maiden overs in 403 international matches.
Shaun Pollock
South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock is the fifth bowler to bowl the most maiden overs in international cricket. He has bowled 1222 maiden overs in 108 Tests and 313 maiden overs in 303 ODIs. Also, he has bowled one maiden over in T20Is. He has a total of 1536 maiden overs in 423 international matches.
