In the period of the 1960s and 1970s, Eknath Solkar used to open the bowling with his seam ups. His main aim was not to bowl quickly, but to take the shine off the ball before the spinners could come into the picture. This was India’s old relationship with fast bowlers, and in the upcoming test series, you could come across a bowler busting through the ranks. Even on the green tops, the Indian bowlers relied on spinners to get their opponents out.
Despite the fact that India went on to play 500 odd matches, they did not have a fast bowler of repute. The pitch, along with the weather conditions, did not have a major role to play, and it was natural for the Indian team to rely on spinners who would help them win matches. There was some level of an initial spark in the first few days, and things changed with the emergence of Kapil Dev on the scene. He made the batsman dance to his tunes in a considerable manner. Let us now figure out some of the fastest bowlers that India has developed.
Umesh Yadav
Here is a bowler who has come of age and has gone on to become the fastest bowler in all formats of the game. He is one of the active quicks in the circuit and constantly clocks around 140+ km/h and, in some cases, breaches the 150+ mark too. Injuries and inconsistencies did hamper his performance, but at such a young age, he was considered the bowler of the future.
In the early part of his sporting career, injuries did take a toll on him, both physically and mentally. But then he went on to work hard on his fitness. Even on the docile Indian wickets, he has gone on to trouble the opposition batsman in a major way. LBW and bowled tend to occupy a major chunk of his wickets, which goes on to drive home the point that he is an outstanding bowler. Even in the IPL, he has been providing initial breakthroughs for his franchise.
Ishant Sharma
a tall, lanky guy who went on to make his debut at a young age in Australia. No one can forget the memorable encounters he had with Ricky Ponting and it was his emergence onto the international scene. In recent times, he has seen his form dip and is no longer with the Indian cricket team. But he has been putting in the hard yards and plans to make it into the Indian test team.
When he is in rhythm, he is a joy to watch and generates a considerable amount of pace. Every time he has battled an injury, he has come back stronger the next time. It is not only on the Australian pitches his numbers on the Indian pitches have been excellent.
Ashish Nehra
The current coach of the Gujarat Titans went on to make sure that the team won the IPL in their first appearance. But when he was on the international circuit, he defied age to a considerable extent and put in timely performances. One of their performances was during the 2003 World Cup against England, where he went on to take 6/23, and his swing was really difficult for the English batsman to negotiate. Even after his retirement, with his commentary and coaching skills, he has gone on to surprise a lot of people.
For a man who has been on the rough side of injuries, taking such a lot of wickets in international cricket is a testimony to his perseverance. Along with him, there were a lot of fast bowlers who went on to make their debut, but most of them faded away from the scene. But Nehra kept on reinventing himself and has gone on to make a name in the cricketing world. When he was on a song, he could move the ball both ways at an outstanding pace.
Ajit Agarkar
All of us would be surprised by the size of the fast bowler. But there is a saying that better things are available in small packages, which holds true when it comes to the fast bowler from Mumbai. Currently, he is an active commentator in Indian cricket, and his views have gained considerable appreciation among the masses. It has to be said that, with his short height, the bowler started off his cricketing career in Mumbai.
His style of bowling was more suited to the shorter formats of the game, and he was the fastest bowler to reach 50 wickets in one day of cricket. Having said that, his skills in red-ball cricket were equally impressive, and who can forget the six wickets he took against Australia for 41 runs when India won the test? The only area where he was a letdown was his batting, and there is a general feeling he did not live up to the potential of his talent. But still, he is one of the few Indian players to have scored a century at Lord’s.
Venkatesh Prasad
Five years in international cricket may be short for a fast bowler, but here we have a baller with a special talent. Especially with his performance on the green tracks where he could move the ball, this is an appealing feature. In addition, he was a nice exponent of the slow ball, and many batsmen could not pick them at all. The pace was not his cup of tea, but he still moved the ball in both directions, and it was really difficult for the batsman to pick his leg cutter. A lot of batsmen considered him to be deceptive as he could swing the ball both ways on the docile pitches in the Indian sub-continent. One of his achievements was that he was fit and did not miss a lot of matches for the team during his playing days. He was a big match player and dished notable performances based on the situation.
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