Who is the fastest bowler in the world?

The cricketing world has witnessed a whole lot of fast bowlers who have rattled even the best of batters with their astonishing bowling speed. Starting from the 1970s, the West Indies pace battery especially the duo of Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding, almost terrified the batsmen with their stunning raw fast bowling pace. Then in the 2000s came Pakistan’s right-arm speedster Shoaib Akhtar who brought his raw pace onto the cricket pitch, surprising even the greatest of batters, and thus, he was arguably known as the fastest bowler in the world. 

Here are the top three fastest bowlers in the world who have bowled the fastest deliveries in international cricket:

1. Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also called the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ owns the world record for bowling the fastest ball in international cricket when he clocked an astonishing bowling speed of 161.3 kmp/h against England in 2003. Incidentally, the legendary Pakistani speedster had his own way of preparations before every cricket match, which was way more different than the rest of his teammates. While talking about his cricket stats, Akhtar has picked up more than 400 wickets from as many as 224 international matches. 

2. Shaun Tait

While talking about Australian cricket history, Shaun Tait was definitely one of their fastest bowlers who troubled even the best batters in the world across formats and conditions. Tait is the second name on the list when it comes to counting the fastest ball in international cricket as he delivered a remarkable bowling speed of 161.1 kmph against England in 2010. The Aussie fast bowler has taken a total of 218 wickets from 171 T20 matches at a fine economy of less than 8. 

3. Brett Lee

Former Australian pacer Brett Lee was also once called the fastest bowler in the world due to surprising bowling lengths and an unorthodox action. Lee bowled the third fastest ball in cricket history when he hit an extraordinary bowling speed of 161.1 kmph against New Zealand in 2005. Interestingly, the Aussie speedster has managed to scalp more than 600 international wickets in a total of 322 matches. 

All-time Fastest Deliveries in International Cricket History