Top 5 left-arm fast bowlers of all time

Left-arm fast bowlers are a rarity in world cricket. Watching a left arm fast bowler swinging the ball into right-handed batsmen and getting him trapped LBW is a visual treat. Also, their natural angle which takes the ball away from the right-handers, makes them a difficult proposition to deal with.

There have been few outstanding left-arm fast bowlers world has seen over time. Let's take a look at those amazing exponents of a cricket ball:

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#1 Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram celebrating a wicket

Arguably the best left-arm fast bowler of all time, Wasim Akram was an artist with the bowl. He had an amazing control over the cricket ball as if he had tied a string to the ball. His action was not beautiful, but, it was effective. He could bowl at a fair clip even from a very short run-up.

He had an amazing yorker. During his playing days, he was one of the best death bowlers in ODIs. He used to set-up batsmen like a magician casting a spell.

Akram took 414 wickets from 104 Test matches.

#2 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan is easily the best left-handed fast bowler India has ever produced. He was a complete fast bowler with amazing skills. He had one of the most fearsome yorkers. His ability to bring the ball into right-handers fetched him many wickets.

Later on, he developed a fearsome leg-cutter as well. He used to bowl at a fair clip during his prime. He had a big leap towards the end of his run-up, which used to help him in generating pace.

Zaheer Khan was a treat to watch. The way he used to set-up a batsman was like watching an artist at work. There are no prizes for guessing that his idol was Wasim Akram.

He took 311 wickets from 92 Test matches.

#3 Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson

Johnson was one of the most fearsome fast bowlers of modern times. He instilled fear in the minds of batsmen. He had a lethal bouncer which he used to great effect, it also fetched him a lot of wickets.

Johnson was not the most consistent fast bowler, but when he was in the mood, he used to run through sides. The 2013-14 Ashes is a perfect testimony to the fact. He took 37 wickets in 5 Test matches. He was at his quickest in this series and got wickets with sheer pace bowling at over 150 km/hr.

Johnson took 313 wickets in 73 Test matches.

#4 Chaminda Vaas

Chaminda Vaas

Chaminda Vaas is the best fast bowler Sri Lanka has produced till date. He had a lethal in-swinger and got many batsmen out with that delivery.

He formed an amazing partnership with Muttiah Muralitharan. Together they ran through sides with utmost ease. He aged like old wine getting better with every match.

Sri Lanka got their first overseas win in New Zealand due to Chaminda Vaas. He was instrumental in putting Sri Lanka on the map of world cricket.

He scalped 355 wickets in 111 Test matches.

#5 Alan Davidson

Alan Davidson

Before the emergence of Wasim Akram, Alan Davidson was considered to be the best left-arm fast bowler to have ever played the game.

The pair of Davidson and leg-spinner Richie Benaud won many matches for Australia.

He was not the quickest around, but, he was accurate. He was a handy lower order batsman as well.

Davidson became better with time. Out of his total tally of 186 wickets from 44 Tests, 171 wickets came from last 33 matches of his career.