Indian Fast bowlers (qualification 40 or more wickets in tests or Odis )

[maniac]

Tests

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
N Kapil Dev	1978-1994	131	227	27740	12867	434	9/83	11/146	29.64	2.78	63.9	23	2
Z Khan	2000-2014	92	165	18785	10247	311	7/87	10/149	32.94	3.27	60.4	11	1
J Srinath	1991-2002	67	121	15104	7196	236	8/86	13/132	30.49	2.85	64.0	10	1
I Sharma	2007-2016	72	126	13923	7674	209	7/74	10/108	36.71	3.30	66.6	7	1
KD Ghavri	1974-1981	39	69	7036	3656	109	5/33	7/120	33.54	3.11	64.5	4	0
IK Pathan	2003-2008	29	54	5884	3226	100	7/59	12/126	32.26	3.28	58.8	7	2
M Prabhakar	1984-1995	39	68	7475	3581	96	6/132	6/92	37.30	2.87	77.8	3	0
BKV Prasad	1996-2001	33	58	7041	3360	96	6/33	10/153	35.00	2.86	73.3	7	1
S Sreesanth	2006-2011	27	50	5419	3271	87	5/40	8/99	37.59	3.62	62.2	3	0
Mohammed Shami	2013-2016	22	42	4306	2478	76	5/47	9/118	32.60	3.45	56.6	2	0
RB Desai	1959-1968	28	45	5597	2761	74	6/56	8/190	37.31	2.95	75.6	2	0
S Madan Lal	1974-1986	39	63	5997	2846	71	5/23	6/47	40.08	2.84	84.4	4	0
UT Yadav	2011-2016	24	46	3965	2491	65	5/93	7/103	38.32	3.76	61.0	1	0
C Sharma	1984-1989	23	39	3470	2163	61	6/58	10/188	35.45	3.74	56.8	4	1
AB Agarkar	1998-2006	26	46	4857	2745	58	6/41	8/160	47.32	3.39	83.7	1	0
S Abid Ali	1967-1974	29	49	4164	1980	47	6/55	7/116	42.12	2.85	88.5	1	0
RMH Binny	1979-1987	27	38	2870	1534	47	6/56	8/101	32.63	3.20	61.0	2	0
L Amarnath	1933-1952	24	35	4241	1481	45	5/96	8/167	32.91	2.09	94.2	2	0
A Nehra	1999-2004	17	29	3447	1866	44	4/72	6/117	42.40	3.24	78.3	0	0
RF Surti	1960-1969	26	45	3870	1962	42	5/74	6/161	46.71	3.04	92.1	1	0
B Kumar	2013-2016	15	25	2325	1150	41	6/82	6/46	28.04	2.96	56.7	4	0
GS Ramchand	1952-1960	33	56	4976	1899	41	6/49	7/76	46.31	2.28	121.3	1	0
RP Singh	2006-2011	14	25	2534	1682	40	5/59	7/117	42.05	3.98	63.3	1	0

 

ODI's

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5
J Srinath	1991-2003	229	227	11935	8847	315	5/23	28.08	4.44	37.8	7	3
AB Agarkar	1998-2007	191	188	9484	8021	288	6/42	27.85	5.07	32.9	10	2
Z Khan	2000-2012	194	191	9815	8102	269	5/42	30.11	4.95	36.4	7	1
N Kapil Dev	1978-1994	225	221	11202	6945	253	5/43	27.45	3.71	44.2	3	1
BKV Prasad	1994-2001	161	160	8129	6332	196	5/27	32.30	4.67	41.4	3	1
IK Pathan	2004-2012	120	118	5855	5142	173	5/27	29.72	5.26	33.8	5	2
M Prabhakar	1984-1996	130	127	6360	4534	157	5/33	28.87	4.27	40.5	4	2
A Nehra	2001-2011	117	117	5637	4899	155	6/23	31.60	5.21	36.3	5	2
I Sharma	2007-2016	80	78	3733	3563	115	4/34	30.98	5.72	32.4	6	0
SC Ganguly	1992-2007	308	170	4543	3835	100	5/16	38.35	5.06	45.4	1	2
Mohammed Shami	2013-2015	47	46	2345	2166	87	4/35	24.89	5.54	26.9	5	0
UT Yadav	2010-2016	62	61	2915	2902	87	4/31	33.35	5.97	33.5	3	0
MM Patel	2006-2011	70	67	3154	2603	86	4/29	30.26	4.95	36.6	3	0
RMH Binny	1980-1987	72	67	2957	2260	77	4/29	29.35	4.58	38.4	3	0
P Kumar	2007-2012	68	67	3242	2774	77	4/31	36.02	5.13	42.1	3	0
S Sreesanth	2005-2011	53	52	2476	2508	75	6/55	33.44	6.07	33.0	2	1
S Madan Lal	1974-1987	67	64	3164	2137	73	4/20	29.27	4.05	43.3	2	0
RP Singh	2005-2011	58	57	2565	2343	69	4/35	33.95	5.48	37.1	2	0
RR Singh	1989-2001	136	117	3734	2985	69	5/22	43.26	4.79	54.1	0	2
C Sharma	1983-1994	65	63	2835	2336	67	3/22	34.86	4.94	42.3	0	0
B Kumar	2012-2016	57	57	2819	2298	60	4/8	38.30	4.89	46.9	2	0
DS Mohanty	1997-2001	45	44	1996	1662	57	4/56	29.15	4.99	35.0	1	0
M Amarnath	1975-1989	85	64	2730	1971	46	3/12	42.84	4.33	59.3	0	0

 

 

Anyone who has underachieved or overachieved....any surprising names or omissions?

 

Some observations

 

For me Venkatesh Prasad having nearly 200 ODI wickets is a surprise...I always thought he was  comparatively a better Test bowler than a ODI bowler based on a few spells I saw of his in Eng and South Africa in 1996. Apart from that famous Sohail incident and the 1999 WC, my memories of Venky as a ODI bowler was to see him get smacked around by Jayasuriya or Anwar in the 90's.

 

Not surprising to see Agarkar as the 2nd best ODI fast bowler statistically that we have produced...may surprise newer followers of the game who are not familiar with the legend of Sir Aggy...how can someone who has pace, good seam do so well in one format and totally suck in the other?

 

Irfan Pathan has a good average,S/r and 100+ wickets in both formats. He might have been the only beneficiary in history of Indian cricket where selectors dropped someone when they are in decline...usually if someone had stats like that,the selectors usually ensure that keeps on playing till his stats look unbelievably bad.

 

Nehra despite having a senior player and legendary status,has pretty underwhelming stats...looks like he has been around forever but still he has lesser ODI wickets than Prasad and Prabhakar...in tests he has hardly eked out 40 wickets.

 

Karsan Ghavri,first left arm medium pacer from India might be the least famous name in the top 5 in the test list...109 wickets in tests...I think should have had more mainstream recognition than he got.

 

Chetan Sharma has a test 10 wicket haul,a ODI hattrick and also to add a ODI 100 but still will always be remembered for that Miandad 6.

 

RP Singh just about makes it because the criteria was at least 40 wickets in tests...In ODI's too I expected his stats to be way better.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by maniac

[singhprakash72]

Not a single Test fast bowler in India below 50 SR ...that tells tale why India was never a force outside SC. No fast bowler or bowling pair ran through the opposition with few exception like Lords 2014,SA 2006, Perth 2008, Oval 2007..the present group is good but they are yet to show class that allows team like SA to keep winning in Aus

[Mosher]

Sir Aggy 

[philcric]

@maniac good post.

 

Only 3 world class long career pacers from India .. Kapil, Srinath and Zak.

 

Agarkar was a good wicket taking ODI bowler.

 

Irfan Pathan's test stats are highly inflated coz of his many wkts against crap bangladesh teams.

 

India never had pack of good pacers bowling together for a fair period of time.

 

Present pack of pacers of Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Ishant, Aaron and other hopefuls probably has the most potential as a group in the history of Indian cricket.

 

[Sidhoni]

In tests Shami has best SR and Bhuvi has best avg.

Shami also has best SR and avg in ODIs, wow! Didn't realize he was this good.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Sidhoni

[velu]

thanks maniac..

 

ishAAnth sharma is the worst bowler this universe has ever seen and will ever see  

even his name change didnt help 

[maniac]

1 hour ago, philcric said:

@maniac good post.

 

Only 3 world class long career pacers from India .. Kapil, Srinath and Zak.

 

Agarkar was a good wicket taking ODI bowler.

 

Irfan Pathan's test stats are highly inflated coz of his many wkts against crap bangladesh teams.

 

India never had pack of good pacers bowling together for a fair period of time.

 

Present pack of pacers of Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Ishant, Aaron and other hopefuls probably has the most potential as a group in the history of Indian cricket.

 

Agree,but among the 3 Kapil is definitely a notch above the other 2 on an individual level as a bowler but here is why Srinath and Zak need to given more due from an Indian perspective,they both were way better bowling leaders than Kapil ever was.

 

Agarkar was a good ODI bowler but then again, you see a lot of part timers having a lot more success in the ODI format than they do in tests....Ganguly and even Kris Srikkanth of all people have 2 5 wicket hauls in ODI's..but Agarkar was a genuine wicket taking fast bowler....here is what is bewildering with Agarkar...the guy had natural pace...even towards the last phase of his career he was bowling 140+ consistently in IPL and Champions league...he would produce a ripper every other over even though also produce the mandatory hit me ball every over....but despite having all the tools he had a miserable test career...cannot even qualify as mediocre to half-decent  like some of the others on the list.

 

Sure Pathan has done some minnow bashing but also the guy was man of the match at Perth and has a test hattrick against a top side in their home ground....but yeah regardless he did blow hot and cold and was dropped at the right time....I mean thankfully it didn't become a case of he has decent stats so let us keep playing him even though he is totally out of form...something that happens to a lot of players-batsmen or bowlers.

 

Hopefully the new pack does well together...fingers crossed...never been more hopeful.

Edited December 2, 2016 by maniac

[express bowling]

41 minutes ago, Sidhoni said:

In tests Shami has best SR 

Shami also has best SR and avg in ODIs, wow! Didn't realize he was this good.

Also, check Shami's  wickets per match in ODIs....87  from 47 ODIs  or   1.85 ...real top class.

 

He is also the only Indian pacer to average less than 25 in any of the 2 longer formats.

[Samcric]

On test matches, this tells a very interesting pattern about Indian pace-bowling attack. It is more or less represented by a lone wolf who is close to being world-class. And this bowler would pass on the baton to the next one towards the fag end of their careers. Kapil was the one till 1994, then Srinath who started in 91 and ended in 2002. Then Zaheer (2000 to 2014). And now, arguably Shami (2013 to now). If only India had two fast bowlers at the same time who can average 30, India will be able to compete with the best.

 

To me, there were two instances when this happened for brief periods of time. When Zaheer was bowling with Irfan (2004-07). And then again, Zaheer with the version of Ishant when he arrived on international scene (1st 2-3 years). I remember the two bowled very well against Australia in India in 2008 and that had Kiwis worried about preparing green pitches when India toured New Zealand in 2009.

 

India face the same problem now. As of today, Umesh averages 48 for the year 2016 and does not look to be in the same league as Shami. Even accounting for flat pitches and dropped catches (which, mind you, Shami was also not immune to), his average does not come close to Shami's. Shami averages 27 for the year. I only hope it does not take 70 tests of calling someone unlucky and persisting with him to realize you are nowhere close to being a world-beater and then you start looking for more options. Either Umesh needs to improve on these numbers or India needs to find another one to complete the wolf-pack. It is hard to hunt alone when you go up against the best in their dens.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Samcric

[express bowling]

1 hour ago, philcric said:

 

Irfan Pathan's test stats are highly inflated coz of his many wkts against crap bangladesh teams.

 

 True....Irfan Pathan has good averages only in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh....between 41 and 50 everywhere else

 

                                                                                                                 Averages

in Australia	2003-2008	4	7	137.0	13	495	12	3/54	5/117	41.25	3.61	68.5	0	0
in Bangladesh	2004-2004	2	4	63.0	19	214	18	6/51	11/96	11.88	3.39	21.0	3	1
in India	2004-2008	14	26	440.2	101	1359	27	3/34	5/140	50.33	3.08	97.8	0	0
in Pakistan	2004-2006	6	11	249.1	61	828	20	5/61	6/126	41.40	3.32	74.7	1	0
in West Indies	2006-2006	1	2	26.0	4	93	2	1/43	2/93	46.50	3.57	78.0	0	0
in Zimbabwe	2005-2005	2	4	65.1	14	237	21	7/59	12/126	11.28	3.63	18.6	3	1

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/32685.html?class=1;template=results;type=bowling

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by express bowling

[maniac]

Moderators can you change the title to Indian fast bowlers(Qualification more than 40 Test or ODI wickets)

[chewy]

i know Ganguly use to bowl regularly the odd overs in ODI, but surprise to see him pick up 100 wickets with his dibbley dobblers!, well done, and with an under 40 bowling average I would call him a batting all-rounder. 

 

would have been a good t20 player in his prime, especially on Indian pitches

[Vilander]

Umesh has 4 drops in a test. You qould think reading comments here that he is scum bowler. 

[rkt.india]

6 hours ago, maniac said:

Agree,but among the 3 Kapil is definitely a notch above the other 2 on an individual level as a bowler but here is why Srinath and Zak need to given more due from an Indian perspective,they both were way better bowling leaders than Kapil ever was.

 

Agarkar was a good ODI bowler but then again, you see a lot of part timers having a lot more success in the ODI format than they do in tests....Ganguly and even Kris Srikkanth of all people have 2 5 wicket hauls in ODI's..but Agarkar was a genuine wicket taking fast bowler....here is what is bewildering with Agarkar...the guy had natural pace...even towards the last phase of his career he was bowling 140+ consistently in IPL and Champions league...he would produce a ripper every other over even though also produce the mandatory hit me ball every over....but despite having all the tools he had a miserable test career...cannot even qualify as mediocre to half-decent  like some of the others on the list.

 

Sure Pathan has done some minnow bashing but also the guy was man of the match at Perth and has a test hattrick against a top side in their home ground....but yeah regardless he did blow hot and cold and was dropped at the right time....I mean thankfully it didn't become a case of he has decent stats so let us keep playing him even though he is totally out of form...something that happens to a lot of players-batsmen or bowlers.

 

Hopefully the new pack does well together...fingers crossed...never been more hopeful.

Pathan was more a case of injuries than drop.

[BeautifulGame]

The thing with Nehra is he saved his best for world cups and was always injured almost any other time .Kinda reverse Agarkar in that regard .

He was sensational in 2003 world cup and had a decent couple of years before getting injured around 2006 (I think)and dropping out of the team .Yet came back and played a massive role in the 2011 triumph .

Would rank Nehra ahead of Agarkar definitely as far as our bowlers are concerned regardless of stats

[rkt.india]

55 minutes ago, BeautifulGame said:

The thing with Nehra is he saved his best for world cups and was always injured almost any other time .Kinda reverse Agarkar in that regard .

He was sensational in 2003 world cup and had a decent couple of years before getting injured around 2006 (I think)and dropping out of the team .Yet came back and played a massive role in the 2011 triumph .

Would rank Nehra ahead of Agarkar definitely as far as our bowlers are concerned regardless of stats

what did Nehra do in 2011 WC? He actually lost us the game against SA.

[BeautifulGame]

what did Nehra do in 2011 WC? He actually lost us the game against SA.

2 for 33 in the world cup semi final in world cup semi final .

It's meaningless what u do in the group stages , all that matters is the performances in knock outs

[Cricketics]

9 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

what did Nehra do in 2011 WC? He actually lost us the game against SA.

And what about his brilliant bowling in the game which mattered the most, against Pakistan where we were under pressure, the most intense game in the history of Indian cricket.

 

 

Nehra has won us many such games defending low scores in last few overs.  He was a pretty good ODI bowler for us. 

[Cricketics]

1 minute ago, BeautifulGame said:

2 for 33 in the world cup semi final in world cup semi final .

It's meaningless what u do in the group stages , all that matters is the performances in knock outs

There won't be a bigger game than India vs Pak semi finals. The pressure of

losing to Pak in front of your home and that being world cup is something which can't be bettered, only can be matched. Nehra bowling under pressure was brilliant and he was bowling with injury too. 

[maniac]

1 hour ago, BeautifulGame said:

The thing with Nehra is he saved his best for world cups and was always injured almost any other time .Kinda reverse Agarkar in that regard .

He was sensational in 2003 world cup and had a decent couple of years before getting injured around 2006 (I think)and dropping out of the team .Yet came back and played a massive role in the 2011 triumph .

Would rank Nehra ahead of Agarkar definitely as far as our bowlers are concerned regardless of stats

No way in hell nehra is ahead of agarkar.... as a cricketer agarkar as a fielder and batsman is leagues ahead of nehra but obviously this topic is about bowling so.......

 

as as I already mentioned in the op,nehra definitely has been around forever and that is the reason why I said his stats look a little underwhelming. Yes nehra did have some performances in important games which gives an illusion that he is ahead of agarkar. 

 

but if you have followed the game in the later 90s and early 2000s agarkar was the strike odi bowler....his stats are no way surprising because he was good in that format. Yeah he did not have outstanding world cups but calling nehra ahead of agarkar on the basis of stats or on the basis of just world cups is crazy.

 

Venkatesh prasad has more outstanding World Cup games than srinath ...so is he ahead of srinath?

 

Edited December 3, 2016 by maniac