6 bowlers who dropped pace and were still successful

From pacers to swingersThere is somewhat of an amazing feeling to see a fast bowler run at full speed towards the crease, take a leap and release the ball with all his might. If the bowler possesses silky curls or waves for hair, the ‘cool factor’ goes up by a notch or two.Let’s be honest here, there aren’t many – or any – people who haven’t felt a rush of adrenaline pumping through their veins as the bowler approaches the release point. I have been there. When Shoaib Akhtar started his run-up from the boundary line, with his hair flying against the wind, it gave me shrills and those emphatic waves within me killed a potential world-class Bangladeshi leg-spinner.Well, world class might be stretching it a bit, though I was a really good leg-spinner who could spin the tape tennis ball to gigantic angles on cement tracks, my desire to run a long way and bowl as quick as possible phased me out of the game eventually. But that’s what pace bowlers did – and still do – they give you a kick like none other.Running a long way and bowling seems infinite times cooler than taking 3-4 strides and gripping the ball, though the latter has more longevity. However, there have been some pace bowlers who started out bowling quick, but ended up dropping speed in favour of line and length and longevity.Here are they:

#1 Imran Khan

Imran Khan

These days, he fervently spends throwing arguments at other politicians in the Pakistan parliament, but there was once a time he threw the cricket ball at batsmen with infuriating wrath.

In a fast bowling contest at Perth, he ended up third with a speed of 139.7 km/h – only behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding – and he could consistently bowl at that range and trouble the batsmen with his fierceness.

However, once he deciphered the art of reverse swing, he sacrificed pace in order to become an expert exponent of this deadly skill. In the end, it turned out to be a great decision as it not only got him more scalps, but also a career that spanned for almost 2 decades in the international level.

He finished his career with 362 and 182 wickets in 88 Tests and 175 ODIs, respectively, and carved his name on the eternal stone of great fast bowlers.

#2 Javagal Srinath

Javagal Srinath

Ouff. Oh, how quick was he during the mid-to-late-90s? Javagal Srinath was, and still remains, India’s quickest bowler ever.

Most of the people who were born in the 90s might have a flustered look on their faces right now, since the Srinath that rests in their memories was someone who could rarely conjure enough strength to go beyond the 135 mark, but at the peak of physical fitness, he spit venom like no Indian bowler.

Between 1995 and 2000, Srinath would regularly bowl in the 150s (no need to rub your eyes, you read it right) and his fastest delivery was clocked at 156 km/h. He ended the 1999 World Cup as its second fastest bowler, clocking 154 km/h.

Then a series of injuries hampered his pace onslaught and by the time the 2003 World Cup, he could rarely cough up a bowl over 140.

However, he ended up with 236 and 315 wickets in 67 Tests and 229 ODIs, respectively. He remains the quickest bowler India has ever produced & will likely hold that tag for some time to come.

#3 Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath

Pitch it just outside off-stump and keep the length on top of off-stump, this was the teaching of Glenn McGrath’s school of pace bowling. Pace didn’t matter, accuracy did. Easy, one would think, but if it was so, then there wouldn’t have been only one Glenn McGrath.

It wasn’t always like this, though. The Australian and the aforementioned Javagal Srinath were contemporaries when it came to who could bowl fast. There was a time when McGrath could clock in the mid-140s consistently, but he opted for precision over speed and that decision made him the reference point for many young kids.

His controlled bowling action allowed him to play a mammoth 124 Tests – a great number for a fast bowler – and took an astonishing 563 wickets. His ODI stats are just as impressive as he scalped 381 wickets in 250 games with an incredible average of 22.02 and even flabbergasting economy rate of 3.88.

#4 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan

It was a World Cup 2007 opener against Bangladesh. Zaheer Khan steamed in and threw the ball at Tamim Iqbal. The radar read 170.8 km/h. I kid you…not.

While the delivery was nothing out of the ordinary and it was definitely a mishap by the radar, Zaheer Khan, once upon a time, could clock bowls at over 145.

When he made his debut in the Knockout trophy in 2000, he caught the eye of the views with his quick speed and swinging yorkers. He carried on bowling quick and was India’s best pacer in their runners-up run in the 2003 World Cup, bowling consistently in the 140s.

But it was the drop in pace that took India all the way in the 2011 World Cup as he ended the tournament as his country’s best bowler. He was the main bowler of the World Cup winning team and was supported well by Munaf Patel (another bowler who dropped pace in favour of accuracy).

He finished his career with respectable tallies of 311 and 282 wickets in 92 Tests and 200 ODIs, correspondingly.

#5 Dennis Lillee

Dennis Lillee

“Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust, if Thomson don’t get ya, Lille must,” was the slogan sung by the Aussies as the fiery bowling attack of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson took on the field.

At the time Lillee was knocking stumps off the ground, radars weren’t as available as they are today – yet the University of Western Australia took the initiative to measure the speed at which this beast bowled and the reading was scary: 154 km/h per hour.

Batsmen of that era actually go on to claim that they – Lillee and Thomson – bowled at speeds that made Shoaib Akthar like a spinner.

However, apart from Thomson, Lillee had another dangerous partner that always stuck with him like a shadow – injuries. He had suffered from so many serious injuries that at one point it was feared he wouldn’t be able to bowl anymore.

Ultimately, he had to curb his action to favour seam movement more than pace. In fact, his pace dropped dramatically, but he was an equally terrifying bowler thanks to controlled line and length. He finished with a then-record 355 wickets in Tests and is revered as one of its greatest bowlers ever.

#6 Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram

The Sultan of swing. When one talks about Wasim Ao what he did during his early years.

Between 1990 and 1994, Wasim and Imran Khan and later Waqar Younis one of the most scintillating pace bowling attacks in the world. These three could clock deliveries at over 140s on regular intervals and the look on the batsmen’s faces when batting against them gave people the impression that they were watching a Holocaust movie.

In fact, Wasim Akram, in his late-30s would bowl the odd speedster every now and then that read over a 140km/h.

Wasim, however, did the clever thing when he started emphasizing on swing more than pace. It worked like a charm as he ended his career as the greatest swing bowler of his time and, definitely, as the greatest left-arm pacer of all time.