Will Akhtar's 161.3 kmph record be ever broken?

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar is considered the fastest pacer in the history of international cricket. The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ took the record for ‘bowling the fastest delivery ever’ for himself with his 161.3 kmph delivery against England in ODI World Cup 2003. With that delivery, he broke the long-standing record set by Australia’s Jeff Thomson (160.6 kmph) in the year 1975 against West Indies! It was a craze to bowl the fastest delivery during the 90s and early in this century. And Akhtar should be proud of this record he set at this level which is yet to be broken!

Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo

Though few other bowlers came close to Akhtar in the list, they failed to mount it. It would also be difficult for the current generation bowlers to break this record. Difficult, not impossible!! For the record, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait were the two players (both from Australia) who came close to take this record all for themselves! Lee bowled a 161.1 kmph delivery against New Zealand in 2005 while Tait bowled a 161.1 kmph delivery against England at Lord’s in 2010. Both these pacers agonizingly fell short of the record by a little margin of 0.2 kmph!

The risk behind bowling faster deliveries

A fast bowler’s run-up is a treat to watch for every cricket fan. And if it coupled with the fastest deliveries, then it’s a double delight! However, bowling at a faster pace is a herculean task that requires a lot of energy. And bowling consistently at over 100 mph or even close to that figure may get the bowler injured as well on a regular basis. Bowling sheer pace is fun but it comes with a lot of risks! Sometimes it might also cost the career span of the players!

Will this Akhtar’s record be ever broken?

Considering the risk factors involved, the record might not be broken in the foreseeable future. Moreover, players are looking to prolong their playing career as there are too many opportunities available at the moment with the rise of T20 leagues across the globe. On that note, let us stress the fact that players who tend to bowl faster deliveries have shorter playing careers which were also marred with injuries! So to prolong their careers, bowlers in this generation are trying variations like knuckleball or the back-of-the-hand deliveries to contain runs and pick up wickets!

To support this fact, the bowlers who are considered to be the most successful with a good number of wickets at the international level have mostly been bowling medium pace. From Courtney Walsh to Glenn McGrath, they have all adopted the technique of slower bowling to bag as many wickets as possible and be in the record books! Even the two bowlers in the current generation with over 500 Test wickets – James Anderson and Stuart Board – bowl more medium pace than deliveries with over 140 kmph to just become more effective with the ball.

Munaf Patel was once considered as India’s fastest bowler who can bowl consistently over the 150-kmph mark. However, he later had to resort to medium pace just to have a chance to play few games for India. He even played his last few years in international cricket as a medium-pacer! 

Who can break this record?

Australia’s Mitchell Starc too had the record of bowling a 160.4 kmph delivery in 2015 against New Zealand. However, Starc’s career is now marred with injuries rather than a happy ride at the international level. To prolong his career, he too now is bowling in the zone of 140-150 kmph.

The records always tend to be broken! So will this be, maybe at a future date or maybe not! Having said that, there are players in the current generation too who bowl at super pace and can bowl that extra yards with very little effort. England’s Jofra Archer is one of them who bowls almost every single delivery close to the 150 kmph mark with very little effort! South Africa’s Anrich Nortje too showed his ability to bowl the faster deliveries during the IPL 2020 edition which was played in UAE. Both these players might have a chance to take this record for themselves!