Five fastest bowlers currently in world cricket

Shoaib Akhtar, popularly known as Rawalpindi Express, is said to be the king of speed. It's been eight years since his retirement and his record is still withstanding. Akhtar had bowled a ball at a whopping 161.3 mph in a match against England in the World Cup in 2003. Since then, Akhtar's record has remained intact. The last instance of someone even coming close to the record was Mitchell Starc when he clocked a speed of 160.04 kmph against New Zealand.

There are some fast bowlers who have a good shot at breaking this record. Fast bowling depends on fitness and hard work, and in today's modern era, players have facilities from gyms to personal trainers, so we can expect a lot of improvement in the speed of all players.

Let's take a look at the five current fastest bowlers in world cricket. (This list only includes players who have played at least 20 ODIs and are active members of their respective national ODI teams due to these criteria, some express pacers like Umesh Yadav, Billy Stanlake and Shivam Mavi have missed out.)

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# 5. Oshane Thomas

Oshane Thomas has been impressive with his fiery pace and bounce

The 21-year-old West Indian fast bowler has been a revelation ever since his debut series against India. He sent back Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to the pavilion and was also quite economical. His height of more than 6 feet helps him extract bounce from the pitch and comparisons with former West Indian fast bowling legends are inevitable.

He is just 21 years old, and with age and games under his belt, his speed will naturally increase. Thomas bamboozled all the Indian batsmen with his pace and bounce and was thus acquired by Rajasthan Royals for 1.1 crores in the 2019 IPL auction. However, it is yet to be seen whether he can replicate these speeds and accuracy on a consistent basis.

# 4. Lockie Ferguson

Lockie Ferguson has impressed in short career so far

New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson is famous for picking wickets in the middle overs. With his high speeds and excellent accuracy, he doesn't allow the batsmen to settle at the crease. Ferguson has so far taken 36 wickets in 21 one-day internationals. He is one of New Zealand's best fast bowlers and just needs to work on his consistency.

In his short career, he has troubled multiple world-class batsmen with his impressive speed. Ferguson is regularly bowling in the 140s. He can even bowl the ball at speeds of more than 150 kmph. He's considered to be very aggressive, and he does not concede many runs during his spells.

Short pitch bowling is the greatest strength of Ferguson, and he utilizes it well to take wickets. As he is still relatively young and with his pace being natural there is always a chance for his speed to increase.

# 3 Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada is touted as one of South Africas best ever pacers

When anyone talks about the current fastest bowlers in world cricket, Kagiso Rabada's name instantly comes to mind. Facing the 23-year-old South African bowler is no less than an attack on the batsmen. Rabada's average bowling speed is in excess of 140 which is one of the highest average bowling speeds from anyone on this list.

He has bowled at speeds of more than 150 kilometers per hour on multiple occasions, and Rabada has a wide variety of variations - ranging from excellent yorkers to attacking bouncers. This is one of the reasons that has long been the number one bowler in the ICC Test rankings. He also took a hat-trick against Bangladesh in what was his debut match

The 23-year-old has just started his international cricket, with the pace of bowling progressing over time. Rabada has emerged as a bowler so everyone is very hopeful. If he is free from injury, then Rabada could break the record of Shoaib Akhtar.

#2. Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the causes of India's dominance in world cricket.

Jasprit Bumrah is a jewel of the Indian cricket team, and has every weapon of a potent fast bowler. Over time, he has even developed a good in-swinger which was seen in the tour of England and has worked on his pace since he broke out on the international stage. At first, he used to bowl at speeds of 135 kmph but he can now bowl at speeds of 153 kmph as he showed on the Australia tour.

Playing his impeccable yorker is a challenge for most batsmen and that is one reason why he is such a good death bowler. Recently the Indian team beat Australia in tests for the first time away from home. He presented an outstanding specimen of fast bowling throughout the series and kept the pressure on the opposition batsmen. Bumrah's unique bowling action adds to his potency.

It is not wrong to say that the speed of Bumrah is increasing over time as it has already increased by nearly 15 kmph, and if he keeps this up he can reach Shoaib's record. Bumrah has so far taken 78 wickets at an average of 21 in one-day cricket.

# 1. Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc is an exceptional pacer

Australian left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc is regarded as an extremely fast and potent fast bowler. Starc made his debut against India in 2011 and immediately impressed everyone with his pace. His primary weapon is a fast yorker which is difficult to play, coming from his left arm angle.

He consistently bowls at speeds of more than 150 kmph, and in a Test match against New Zealand in 2015, he managed to clock a speed of 160.04 kmph.

Stark has taken 145 wickets in 75 one-day internationals andhas given runs at an economy rate of 4.95 runs per over. Based on this, you can conclude that he is also an excellent death bowler, and a fast yorker from him can dismiss even the best batsmen in the world. Although his speed is unlikely to increase as it has been in decline for some time, he is still one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket.