Cricket fast bowlers are usually entertaining to watch. If they employ their wit and abilities, they are someone who can be productive wherever. Batsmen have very little time to play strokes against raw pace bowling, so it is especially dangerous to face fastest bowlers in the world who have extra pace in their arsenal. There haven’t been many bowlers who could consistently ball quickly.
Here’s a list of Top 10 fastest bowlers in the world –
1. Shoaib Akhtar – 161.3 km/hr
Shoaib akhtar is the fastest bowler in the world and is popularly known as ‘Rawalpindi Express’. He often regarded as possibly the best of all super fast bowlers. Shoaib akhtar produced the sort of devastating bowling spells that change a match and thrill a crowd. However, his bowling was more than just fast pace. Shoaib’s temperament had always been fiery in cricket. Apparently he was fascinating to watch, especially when running to bowl in. Numerous fast bowling speed records belong to Shoaib Akhtar. His 159 km/h, 159.3 km/h, 158.4 km/h, and 161 km/h fast bowling speeds.
One of the most dangerous fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar used to cause mayhem on the field. Shoaib Akhtar used to intimidate the opposing batter with his incredible speed and ferocious bouners. In 2003 World Cup match against England, Akhtar bowled a 161.3 kmph (100.2 mph) delivery to Nick Knight, breaking the 100 mph barrier for the first time in cricket history.
He played 46 Tests and took fabulous 178 wickets with a bowling average of 25.69, a strike rate of 45.7, a couple of ten-wicket hauls, and ten five-wicket hauls to his name. His six wickets for 11 runs performance against New Zealand in 2002 is his greatest test bowling performance. Shoaib played in 163 ODI games throughout the course of his career, taking magnificent 247 wickets with an average and strike rate of 24.97 and 31,4 respectively. His greatest bowling performance in an ODI match came against New Zealand in 2002, 6/16.
2. Shaun Tait – 161.1 km/hr
Shaun tait is one of the incredible fastest bowlers in the world, known as “The Wild Thing.” A muscular and brutal bowler with a shoulder-strong action Tait had all the prerequisites to be one of the most feared fast bowlers of all time. He has a reputation as one of the quickest bowlers in the world because of his consistent ability to bowl at speeds of up to 155 kilometres per hour. Tait often bowls the ball at up to 155 km/h and even faster.
The fastest ball ever recorded in Australia was bowled by Tait 160.7 against Pakistan on February 5, 2010, during a T20 international. Tait bowled even more faster at the MCG in 2010, clocking 161.1 kph in a one day match against England at Lord’s. It is the second fastest ball that has ever recorded in the history of the cricket.
He charged in full force and sent thunderbolts at the batsman that thudded furiously. He took 23 wickets at just 20.30 an average at the 2007 World Cup, making him practically unplayable. Along with Muttiah Muralitharan, he ended up with the joint second highest number of wickets during the competition.
3. Brett lee – 161.1 km/hr
Brett Lee is arguably the finest fastest bowler in the world who has dominated cricket world till his last match. Brett lee was remarkable and had the ability of being able to bowl at 160 km/h, or 100 mph. He was exceptional in the world of cricket because of his raw, unadulterated pace. Over the course of two decades, ‘Lethal’ Brett Lee terrorised many batsmen. Many batsmen were unable to handle his devastating speed. Brett Lee is a great illustration of a raw and intense pace bowler ever.
Brett lee was more than just a short pitched, express fast bowler who enjoyed rattling the batsmen. Lee was ranked as the No. 1 ODI fast bowler by the ICC in January 2006 and has held that position since 2003, making him one of the best and most feared fast bowlers in the world. In an ODI match in Napier in 2005, Brett Lee bowled the quickest delivery of his career against Craig Cumming of New Zealand. The delivery was made at a speed of 161.1 kmph (100.1mph).
In the 2003 World Cup, when the Australians dominated every opposition they faced, Brett Lee was at his most lethal form regularly clocking in at 150 km/h. In the end, Lee had 22 wickets in the tournament. He ultimately played in 221 ODIs and 76 Tests. He is one of the select few bowlers with over 300 wickets in both formats, with 310 in test cricket and 380 in one-day internationals. He is Australia’s third-highest wicket-taker in test cricket history.
4. Jeff Thomson – 160.6 km/hr
Jeff Thomson is the world’s fastest bowler ever to play test cricket. He was mind bogglingly, earth scorchingly quick. Thomson had an excellent physique, simply jogged up to the wicket before spreading his enormous chest and shoulders and launching the ball down at a speed that was not far from 100 mph.
“Tommo” was portrayed as the stereotypical Australian bowler who was nasty and bloodthirsty and sought to harm batsmen. There would not be a dispute today over who will be the first bowler to breach the 100 mph threshold if speed guns had been available in the 1970s. Jeff Thomson would have reached Mach as the speedy does.
He also developed incredible bounce, which made the idea of facing him even more terrifying. In 1974-1975 Ashes series, many of England’s batsmen were scared by Thomson and Dennis Lillee. Thomson took brilliant 33 wickets total at an average of 17.93, so he started one of the most feared fast bowling attacks with the new ball in cricket history. In 1975, at Perth, Thomson bowled his fastest delivery at 160.6 kph (99.8 mph) against the West Indies.
5. Mitchell Starc – 160.4 km/hr
Mitchell Starc has gained a lot of notoriety and admiration throughout the world for his relentless consistency in releasing lethal power with the ball. He swings the new ball, assaults the stumps, and creates pace up to about 150 km/h.
His arsenal includes both traditional and reverse swings, and the two of them together may be effective. On the third day of the second Test against New Zealand in 2015, Mitchell starc bowled his fastest delivery. It was a 160.4 kmph (99.7 mph) yorker to Ross Taylor.
6. Andy Roberts – 159.5 km/hr
Andy Roberts is the godfather to the all generation of West Indies fast bowlers. Andy roberts was a tough competitor and a greatest fast bowler who could swing the ball and bowl an ungainly skiddy bouncer. He hit several batsmen and had an excellent change of pace. During the second ‘Supertest’ of ‘World Series Cricket’ in December 1977, Andy Roberts hit bouncer to Australian batsman David Hookes in the face, breaking his jaw. Nobody bowled a sharper bouncer than Roberts that time, his West Indian teammates called him, than Hitman.
One of Roberts’ greatest tricks was to bowl bouncers at a tempo that made the batsman believe he could hook him without being hurried into the stroke, and the very next ball would be another one, two yards faster, that cleaned out the batsman. In 1975, he bowled at a speed of 159.5 kph (99.1 mph) against Australia.
He was the primary strike bowler for the West Indies starting in the middle of the 1970s. One of the greatest fast bowling legends, Roberts was the first West Indies fast bowler ever to take 200 Test wickets. He paved the way for a great number of others, including Holding, Garner, Marshall, Walsh, and Ambrose, who would follow in the following 25 years.
7. Fidel Edwards – 157.7 km/hr
Fidel Edwards was one of the most exciting bowlers the West Indies have produced in the modern era, with a slingshot movement that produced amazing speed. Despite having a long list of achievements, he is remembered for his fierce aggression and perfect pace.
His captains were able to deploy Edwards as the team’s strike bowler because of his excellent good pace and his ability to quickly swing the ball away from right handers. Fidel edwards, has the quickest arm quick baller, reaching a speed of 157.7 kmph (97.9 mph) in 2003 while playing against South Africa. At the time, it was the second-fastest delivery in international cricket.
8. Mitchell Johnson – 156.8 km/hr
Mitchell johnson is regarded to be one of the greatest fast bowlers of the modern generation. Mitchell Johnson terrorized several batsman in the early 2010s. He swings the ball nicely when he gets it properly and bowls at a speed of about 150 km/h. He bowled express pace; he swung the ball well; and he bowled with great control and aggression. Mitchell’s devastating pace on the cricket pitch made him one of the most feared fast bowlers of all time.
He terrorised England in the 2013–14 Ashes series was the leading wicket-taker with 37 wickets from five games and a average of 13.97 was exceptional, including three five wicket hauls. Throughout the entire series, he was at his most menacing, tormenting the English batsmen with his brutal pace and bouncer and made them feel extremely uneasy. Johnson was named Player of the Series for his tremendous performance. During the 2013 Ashes Series, he delivered the fastest ball of his career registering at 156.8 km/hr.
He continued his impressive bowling performance in an away test series against South Africa, taking 22 wickets at an average of 17.36 that Australia won 2-1. Players like Ryan McLaren, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith all suffered physical harm due to Johnson’s lethal bowling. Johnson took superb 313 test wickets becoming the fourth highest wicket-taker in Tests for Australia.
9. Shane Bond – 156.4 km/hr
Shane Bond, a right arm fast bowler from New Zealand, is frequently referred to as one of the world class fastest bowlers in the world. Shane bond burst into the international scene in the 2001 season, reaching between 145 and 150 km/h on the speed-gun radar. He was the team’s crowning achievement, giving them the actual strike strength they needed to win crucial one-day and test match wickets.
He began by having a devastatingly quick in-swinging yorker, and over time he was able to add a leg cutter and an outswinger. His quickest delivery was 156.4 kmph (97.1 mph) at the ICC World Cup 2003, making him one of the brilliant fast bowlers of all time.
10. Mohammad Sami – 156.4 km/hr
Mohammad Sami was one of the fastest bowlers with the capacity to frequently bowl over 150-155km/h. He had taken a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in his third Test match, and in 2002, he got his second career hat-trick against the West Indies in an ODIs.
He also became one of two Pakistan bowlers to have taken a hat-trick in both Test cricket and ODIs, the other being fast bowler Wasim Akram. Sami’s fastest delivery occurred on the first ball of his fifth over of an ODI match against Zimbabwe on April 3, 2003, at Sharjah, when he bowled a 156.4 kmph (97.1 mph) ball at Dougie Marillier.
Read also: Top 10 Best Spin Bowlers of All Time