Fastest bowlers from India, Top 10 list

[gator]

Average speed of 150 with a top of 155 ? Gats' date=' are you really sure ? The times I have seen Srinath, which is from 1996 onwards, I have never seen him bowl that fast. And speed guns came in at much much later than that.[/quote'] i have seen him terrorise batters all over the world and u cant terrorise batters at 140kph.... speed guns have been around since 1970s, mars.... i have seen marshall, kapil all being clocked in 1980s... Here is an article from cricinfo, which might help u... Javagal Srinath: One in a billion Eddie Smith August 7, 2002 It was November 23, 1996 when Javagal Srinath ripped the heart out of the visiting South African batting line-up, taking six for 21 in the first Test. It was a world-class display of express pace and this fact was not lost on the then Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar who said: "It was one of the greatest exhibitions of fast bowling I have seen from an Indian for a long time." It is a long way back even to try and find an Indian bowler of the pace of Srinath, the 'Karnataka Express'. In a country of more than a billion people, Srinath has been a rare jewel. Perhaps the value that he held can only truly be appreciated now that he has departed the test arena. Stories have emerged of genuinely fast Indian bowlers of the past, but I was not around to see the likes of Mohammad Nissar play his six tests in the 1930s. And I don't think anyone alive could truly testify to the pace of Mehallasha Pavri back in the 1890s. Of the Indian pacers in modern times, none could seriously be considered anywhere near the pace of Srinath. Even Srinath's predecessor, Kapil Dev, was considered by astute judges as merely a medium pacer who took plenty of wickets due to his guile and lateral movement. Srinath was a genuinely fast bowler and in the period between about 1995 and March 1997 Srinath's pace was at times frightening. He was right up there with the fastest men in the game. Perhaps at times Srinath was even No 1 in the pace stakes but just how fast he was at his peak we will never know. What we do know is that following South Africa's tour of India late in 1996, India travelled to South Africa where speed guns were in operation. Between December '96 and February '97 Srinath's speeds were timed in excess of 150kph and were comparable to those of both Allan Donald and South Africa's 'new' pace sensation Lance Klusener. Whilst Klusener's fastest ball came in at 154kph and he proved at the time to be faster than Donald, it has been brought to my attention on numerous occasions that Srinath pipped them both with one particular delivery measured at 156kph. This particular delivery was reported by a major Indian News service although the exact date and the match in question has not been confirmed. Some six years on, and all three of these men now struggle to reach 140kph on a good day. In March 1997, when Srinath should have been at the peak of his powers, the rotator cuff problem which he had been carrying since September '96 flared and shoulder surgery became inevitable. Some questioned whether Srinath would ever bowl again, let alone rank along side the quickest men in the game. In 1998, Australia toured India and for the first time on Indian soil the speed guns were to be a fixture. The Indian press chose to give the speed battle between Glenn McGrath and Srinath top billing but most so-called 'experts' at the time found this to be bordering on the insane. After all, Glenn McGrath was up there with Donald as the world's fastest bowlers, and that Srinath was never anything more than a 'military medium' bowler, right? Wrong. In their first encounter with the new speed guns, Srinath clocked 148kph while McGrath, although the fastest of the rest, was a whopping seven kph behind Srinath at 141kph. At the time, many people found these figures inconceivable and chose to dismiss them in error, but with the advantage of hindsight, we understand these speeds to be correct. Later on in that series, Srinath bowled a fastest ball of 149.6kph and was not far from his top pace before the shoulder operation. Bowling speeds also received huge publicity in the lead-up to the 1999 World Cup when all eyes were on Shoaib Akhtar. The question was not 'who was the fastest' but 'who could come close to the Rawlpindi Express'? Not much was known about bowling speeds at the time and some still rated McGrath and Donald fast enough to challenge Shoaib. At the tournament's first match Srinath and McGrath went head to head once more. This time it was evident for all the world to see that Javagal Srinath was no medium pacer, but was a genuine speedster clocking up 149.6kph once again and bettering McGrath's best speed by some 9kph. Srinath proved to be the second fastest bowler of the tournament next to Shoaib (154.5kph) while surprise pacemen Geoff Allott of New Zealand (146.5kph) and Jacques Kallis (146.4kph) left the pace of McGrath and Donald looking decidedly bland. Javagal Srinath could now lay claim to being the second fastest bowler in the world. During the three years following the 1999 World Cup, Srinath's pace has waned and nowadays he struggles to exceed 140kph. It is ironic that the time which he has chosen to leave the Test arena is the time when he would have received the most help. If Srinath had been given some quality assistance in the pace department over the past 10 years then perhaps he would not have been so sorely over-used and he would still have another three or so years at 140kph left in him. His recent speeds in the mid-130s(kph) gave proof that shouldering the burden of responsibility for so long at the head of the Indian attack had finally taken its toll on his body. The current crop of Indian 'quicks' bowl at a lively pace with Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar all able to bowl above 140kph, the latter two able to crank it up to 145kph on occasion. But over the past three years, the rest of the world has gotten faster whilst India has lost it's spearhead. If the World Cup were to be held tomorrow then India would realistically not have one bowler featuring amongst the world's 10 fastest. Srinath is almost definitely the fastest bowler India has ever produced. He was a rare jewel to be treasured while at the peak of his powers and all Indian cricket fans wait with bated breath for their next 'one in a billion' express paceman to emerge. © Cricinfo http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/111878.html

[vishalvirsingh]

sreesanth and ishant are the fastest we have ishant beeeing lil faster than sree but these 2 guys r good

[ViruRulez]

Thats a surprise' date=' I thought either Agarkar or Nehra would have been the fastest. Good to see Srinath at the top. [b']He is probably among the top three quickies India has ever produced.

Srinath was undoubtedly our best fast bowler till date .. Kapil was great but he was regarded more of a medium pacer than a genuine fast bowler. BTW why did anyone bump a year old thread. :hmmm:

[Sachinism]

Interesting bump Thats a good article above on Srinath, not many people would name him when talking about quickies, but he was definitely up there.

It is ironic that the time which he has chosen to leave the Test arena is the time when he would have received the most help. If Srinath had been given some quality assistance in the pace department over the past 10 years then perhaps he would not have been so sorely over-used and he would still have another three or so years at 140kph left in him.

:((

[king2be98]

Srinath clocked 156kph? It must be the same speed gun that clocked Balaji at 97mph and Sami at 102mph. You are more likely to see a baby climb mount everest on his own than Srinath bowling so fast. Nehra is probably the quickest over a spell, Srinath was a medium fast bowler at best.

[champ]

I was a hard core cricket fan and would never missed a single delivery, I am watching regular cricket since 1986, and here are the mileage of the indian bowlers I notices, 1, J Srinath - 156Kmph (99, Africa tour) 2, A Nehra - 149 Kmph (2003 World cup) 3, S Sreesanth - 149 Kmph (Kuwalmpur tri series 2006) 4, RP Singh - 147 Kmph ( Recent Aus series) 5, A Agarkar - 146 Kmph (when he made his debut around 2001-2002) 6, Z Khan - 146 Kmph ( 2003 world cup) 7, A Bhandari - 145 Kmph (2004 Aus tour-this guy was really good strong bowler with good action in his early days, but unfortunate one) 8, VRV Singh - 145 Kmph (2006 Africa tour) 9, Munaf Patel - 143 Kmph (early 2006) 10, L Balaji - 140 Kmph (2004 Pakistan tour) All the above bowler have legal bowling action not like Shoaib or Bret who have suspect action, Apart from these recorded speed I guess Salil Ankola was also very quick, Kapil dev was quick in 79-82 era, If you know some one who was missed from this list you can suggest here,

that was a nice statistic ..not sure how authentic it is... but the most surprising was srinath hitting 156 kph .. :omg:

[champ]

Ishant Sharma clocks in at 147.2

i remember ishanth had bowled close to 150 kph in a match against australia.. 149.5 to be precise..

[Sachinism]

Srinath clocked 156kph? It must be the same speed gun that clocked Balaji at 97mph and Sami at 102mph. You are more likely to see a baby climb mount everest on his own than Srinath bowling so fast. Nehra is probably the quickest over a spell, Srinath was a medium fast bowler at best.

:haha::haha::haha: Go back to the cave mate [ame=

- Javagal Srinath's fiery spell of bowling[/ame]

[yoda]

:haha::haha::haha: Go back to the cave mate

Wow, nice one. Thanks for posting! :icflove:

[satishg]

Peope underrate Srinaths fast bowling ability, well partly because he dint achieve what he could have, but i am pretty sure that till date he has been the fastest bowler that we have produced and man he can bowl. the above youtube clip is an example for that.

[Celeste]

Srinath was a very good bowler with very easy action. He learned the outswing too late in his career otherwise he could had more wickets and more reputation in the cricket world.

[jusarrived]

Ishant Sharma clocks in at 147.2

152.8 in ODI home series vs Aus anyone remember David Johnson ? played just test matches for India ...he was much faster than Srinath playing alongside him for Karnataka .

[jusarrived]

Srinath was a very good bowler with very easy action. He learned the outswing too late in his career otherwise he could had more wickets and more reputation in the cricket world.

actually he learnt to pitch the ball up very late in his career

[Gambit]

:haha::haha::haha: Go back to the cave mate

He's the best Indian fast bowler I've seen. His best spells were - 6 for 76 v RSA 6 for 45 v NZ 5 for 45 and 8 for 86 v Pak AND HIS GREATEST SPELL EVER - 6 for 21 v RSA This clip that you posted was of his bowling on our '96 English tour. He was simply outstanding on the tour, breathing fire game after game. He was unplayable in the ODIs as well. I was a fan of Sri's bowling but not of his attitude. Should have been more mean. His career can be summed up by one delivery which he bowled to Ponting during the 99-00 tour. Srinath banged it in short and Ponting got floored bad. Srinath went upto him and said Sorry. Ponting told him to **** off and Srinath just turned back and went up to his bowling mark. Srinath with Zak's attitude could have been one of the most feared bowlers of all time.

[newmanthepunter]

I was a hard core cricket fan and would never missed a single delivery, I am watching regular cricket since 1986, and here are the mileage of the indian bowlers I notices, 1, J Srinath - 156Kmph (99, Africa tour) 2, A Nehra - 149 Kmph (2003 World cup) 3, S Sreesanth - 149 Kmph (Kuwalmpur tri series 2006) 4, RP Singh - 147 Kmph ( Recent Aus series) 5, A Agarkar - 146 Kmph (when he made his debut around 2001-2002) 6, Z Khan - 146 Kmph ( 2003 world cup) 7, A Bhandari - 145 Kmph (2004 Aus tour-this guy was really good strong bowler with good action in his early days, but unfortunate one) 8, VRV Singh - 145 Kmph (2006 Africa tour) 9, Munaf Patel - 143 Kmph (early 2006) 10, L Balaji - 140 Kmph (2004 Pakistan tour) All the above bowler have legal bowling action not like Shoaib or Bret who have suspect action, Apart from these recorded speed I guess Salil Ankola was also very quick, Kapil dev was quick in 79-82 era, If you know some one who was missed from this list you can suggest here,

This seriously should be some sort of a joke man...R u kidding, when have brett been reported for suspect action?? In ur dreams?? Brett's action is way legal than any indian bowler. And coming to Srinath 156 kmph, I think even that was a bit of a Joke... Speed gun issues , eh :giggle: Man if India neva had a super fast bowler its nothin wrong in accepting the same rather than trying to make up for urselves...... Srinath , 156 ??? :finger:

[punjabi_khota]

This seriously should be some sort of a joke man...R u kidding' date= when have brett been reported for suspect action?? In ur dreams?? Brett's action is way legal than any indian bowler.

YOU WANNA SUCK ON THIS BIATCH ? :finger::finger::finger: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/australian-lee-defends-action-708478.html Date: Wednesday, 12 July 2000 The Australian pace bowler Brett Lee has been reported to the International Cricket Council for a suspect bowling action. The Australian Cricket Board said yesterday that Lee, named last week as Wisden's young player of the year, had been reported for throwing during Australia's tour of New Zealand in March.....

[Gambit]

This seriously should be some sort of a joke man...R u kidding, when have brett been reported for suspect action?? In ur dreams?? Brett's action is way legal than any indian bowler. And coming to Srinath 156 kmph, I think even that was a bit of a Joke... Speed gun issues , eh :giggle: Man if India neva had a super fast bowler its nothin wrong in accepting the same rather than trying to make up for urselves...... Srinath , 156 ??? :finger:

Between December '96 and February '97 Srinath's speeds were timed in excess of 150kph and were comparable to those of both Allan Donald and South Africa's 'new' pace sensation Lance Klusener. Whilst Klusener's fastest ball came in at 154kph and he proved at the time to be faster than Donald, it has been brought to my attention on numerous occasions that Srinath pipped them both with one particular delivery measured at 156kph. This particular delivery was reported by a major Indian News service although the exact date and the match in question has not been confirmed. Some six years on, and all three of these men now struggle to reach 140kph on a good day. In their first encounter with the new speed guns, Srinath clocked 148kph while McGrath, although the fastest of the rest, was a whopping seven kph behind Srinath at 141kph. At the time, many people found these figures inconceivable and chose to dismiss them in error, but with the advantage of hindsight, we understand these speeds to be correct. Later on in that series, Srinath bowled a fastest ball of 149.6kph and was not far from his top pace before the shoulder operation.

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/111878.html That article was written by an Aussie.

[Bradman99]

Lee with a suspect action ? Stop hating buddy..

[punjabi_khota]

Lee with a suspect action ? Stop hating buddy..

Did you read the article I posted ?

[newmanthepunter]

YOU WANNA SUCK ON THIS BIATCH ? :finger::finger::finger: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/australian-lee-defends-action-708478.html Date: Wednesday, 12 July 2000 The Australian pace bowler Brett Lee has been reported to the International Cricket Council for a suspect bowling action. The Australian Cricket Board said yesterday that Lee, named last week as Wisden's young player of the year, had been reported for throwing during Australia's tour of New Zealand in March.....

Shove this up ."The panel determined Lee did not have a problem with his bowling action," Malcolm Speed, ICC . States that LEE's action neva had an issue. Checkout this. http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2000/08/02/bretlee1.html Now U got OWNED :finger: