ODIs - Top Fast Bowlers In World Cups Featured

Top 20 Fast Bowlers In ODI World Cups

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Our One Day International (ODI) ratings take into account all matches from the first ODI match on January 5, 1971 till the below mentioned last update date. The Ratings are divided into 5 sections which take into account the number of wickets taken; the average of bowlers; their economy rate; their best performances by wickets and their top most economic spells. How the rating works is explained in highlighted sections. So, here are the Top 20 Fast bowlers in World Cup cricket

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2023-01-08

CONTENTS
1. QUALIFICATION
2. PROLIFIC
3. CONSISTENT
3.1. Against All Teams
3.2. Against Top Teams
4. ECONOMIC
4.1. Against All Teams
4.2. Against Top Teams
5. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
6. BEST BOWLING (ECO)
7. RATING
8. TOP TEAMS
WORLD CUP Rating

This rating only includes stats of Fast bowlers in World Cup cricket. The rating is divided into sections to make it easy to understand how it is calculated. Before each section, its criteria is highlighted in bold. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks.

Top Teams (TT)

Top Teams play an integral part in our ODI Rating. The Average (Con) and Economy (Eco) sections are divided into overall stats as well as stats against the top teams. Moreover, the best (BBW) and most economic (BBE) performances only include performances against the top teams. Here is how the Top Teams are calculated:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
  • The top teams are calculated by decades.
  • To be a top team, the team should be among the top teams of the decade overall.
  • A team is also included in top teams if it is a World Cup winner in that decade.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if he played against that team in that decade.
  • Knock Out and Super Six matches of ICC World Cup and Champions Trophy are also included in TT.
  • The Top Teams may be found in the last section of the rating.
The Trend Setter

The Trend Setter (TS) is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated as percentage points of TS. Let’s taken an example to understand it:-

  • Let’s assume that Glenn McGrath has taken 500 wkts, which is the highest. This makes him the TS.
  • Another player, say Jason Gillespie, has taken 250 wkts.
  • If the rating is out of 250, McGrath will get the full points (pts), that is 250.
  • The points of Gillespie are calculated as His Wkts/McGrath’s Wkts*250. This comes out to be 125.
  • Thus the formula is (Wkts Taken/Wkts Taken By TS)*Max Points.
  • All ratings are calculated similarly with Wkts being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  • Obviously, for average the formula is reverased as lower average is better for a bowler.
  • For Average, a bowler is eligible to be TS only if he has taken a minimum number of wickets.
  • For Economy, a bowler is eligible to be TS only if he has bowled a minimum number of balls.
  • If a bowler doesn’t fulfill the criteria of TS but has done better, he gets the max points but his stat is not taken as benchmark.
  • Lastly, it is to be noted that it is not necessary for a TS to be part of the rating as he might have topped in a criteria but not done well in others.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings 5
Min Innings (TT) 5
Min Wickets (TS AVE) 20
Min Balls (TS ECO) 250
The Eras

The first criteria Prolific gives points for wkts taken. We have divided ODI cricket into 3 broad eras. This has been done to make it fair for players from earlier era, when less cricket was played, and also for current players, who are in the middle of their careers. Let’s take an example:-

  • Let’s assume Murlidharan has taken 500 wickets, which is the maximum and gives him 250 points.
  • Now, say Ravi Shastri in earlier times took 250 wkts, which was the max for his era.
  • If there are no eras, he would get 50% of the pts, that is 125.
  • Instead of that, we reduced 50 pts (according to %age) from the max to arrive at the figure of 200 pts for Shastri.
  • Now, everyone in his era is compared to Shastri and not Murlidharan.
  • So a player who has taken 50 Wkts in Shastri’s era will get (50/250)*200 pts or 40pts.
  • Eras are calculated by MP, which is the mean of the years a player: First Played (FP) and Last Played (LP).

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 and 2013
Era 3 MP greater than 2012
RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS Imran Khan PAK 1974 1992 1983 19 34 150.00
1 Imran Khan PAK 1974 1992 1983 19 34 150.00
2 IT Botham ENG 1976 1992 1984 22 30 132.35
3 AME Roberts WI 1975 1983 1979 16 26 114.71
4 RJ Hadlee NZ 1973 1990 1981.5 13 22 97.06
5 MA Holding WI 1976 1987 1981.5 11 20 88.24
6 RGD Willis ENG 1973 1984 1978.5 11 18 79.41
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 2000 39 71 200.00
1 GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 2000 39 71 200.00
2 SL Malinga SL 2004 2019 2011.5 28 56 157.75
3 Wasim Akram PAK 1984 2003 1993.5 36 55 154.93
4 WPUJC Vaas SL 1994 2008 2001 31 49 138.03
5 Zaheer Khan IND 2000 2012 2006 23 44 123.94
6 B Lee AUS 2000 2012 2006 17 35 98.59
7 SE Bond NZ 2002 2010 2006 16 30 84.51
8 CEL Ambrose WI 1988 2000 1994 17 24 67.61
9 GI Allott NZ 1997 2000 1998.5 9 20 56.34
10 NW Bracken AUS 2001 2009 2005 10 16 45.07
10 AJ Bichel AUS 1997 2004 2000.5 8 16 45.07
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS MA Starc AUS 2010 2022 2016 18 49 170.00
1 MA Starc AUS 2010 2022 2016 18 49 170.00
2 TA Boult NZ 2012 2022 2017 19 39 135.31
3 Mohammed Shami IND 2013 2022 2017.5 11 31 107.55
C Ave

The Comparative Average (C Ave) for bowlers is calculated by taken into account two factors:-

  • First is the average of batsmen in the decades the bowler played.
  • Second is the average of the opposition batsmen at Home, in Asia or outside Asia; whichever is applicable.
  • The average of the opposing team’s batsmen is also calculated by decades.
  • Higher C Ave suggest that more runs were scored by the batsmen in the above mentioned factors.
  • Thus it was difficult to get Wkts and the bowler will benefit from this.
  • Lower C Ave means the opposite.
R Ave

The Relative Average (R Ave) is calculated using the C Ave. Its formula is (Bowler Ave/C Ave)*A Constant Factor. This constant doesn’t affect the rating as it is the same for everone. If your C Ave is comparatively high, your R Ave will be low; which is better for bowlers. Broadly speaking, the following bowlers will benefit from this system:-

  • Bowlers who have played more in unfavourable conditions.
  • Asian fast bowlers and Non-Asian spin bowlers whereever applicable.
  • Bowlers who have played in an era where the batsmen dominated, like the present era
  • Bowlers who have played more against top opposition than weaker teams.

CONSISTENT

Criteria: Points For R Ave

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE C AVE R AVE RAT
TS MA Starc 18 726 49 14.82 33.13 14.31 150.00
1 AJ Bichel 8 197 16 12.31 31.11 12.67 150.00
2 MA Starc 18 726 49 14.82 33.13 14.31 150.00
3 Mohammed Shami 11 487 31 15.71 33.93 14.82 144.86
4 GI Allott 9 325 20 16.25 32.57 15.97 134.44
5 NW Bracken 10 258 16 16.13 31.50 16.38 131.02
6 SE Bond 16 518 30 17.27 32.54 16.98 126.42
7 MA Holding 11 341 20 17.05 30.72 17.76 120.86
8 B Lee 17 629 35 17.97 31.38 18.33 117.11
9 GD McGrath 39 1292 71 18.20 31.72 18.36 116.91
10 Imran Khan 19 655 34 19.26 32.60 18.91 113.51
11 RGD Willis 11 315 18 17.50 29.10 19.25 111.52
12 Zaheer Khan 23 890 44 20.23 32.10 20.17 106.43
13 RJ Hadlee 13 421 22 19.14 30.25 20.24 106.04
14 CEL Ambrose 17 499 24 20.79 32.80 20.28 105.81
15 WPUJC Vaas 31 1040 49 21.22 33.07 20.53 104.52
16 TA Boult 19 850 39 21.79 33.00 21.14 101.54
17 SL Malinga 28 1281 56 22.88 33.44 21.89 98.05
18 AME Roberts 16 552 26 21.23 29.69 22.88 93.80
19 Wasim Akram 36 1311 55 23.84 32.76 23.28 92.19
20 IT Botham 22 762 30 25.40 30.86 26.33 81.50

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE C AVE R AVE RAT
TS MA Starc 14 617 37 16.68 33.13 16.10 150.00
1 MA Starc 14 617 37 16.68 33.13 16.10 150.00
2 NW Bracken 7 193 12 16.08 31.50 16.34 147.85
3 AJ Bichel 6 184 11 16.73 31.11 17.21 140.38
4 B Lee 13 497 28 17.75 31.38 18.10 133.46
5 GI Allott 7 280 14 20.00 32.57 19.65 122.94
6 RJ Hadlee 9 319 17 18.76 30.25 19.85 121.71
7 Imran Khan 17 613 30 20.43 32.60 20.05 120.45
8 MA Holding 9 275 14 19.64 30.72 20.46 118.08
9 Mohammed Shami 6 307 14 21.93 33.93 20.68 116.80
10 SE Bond 11 404 19 21.26 32.54 20.91 115.54
11 GD McGrath 29 1055 48 21.98 31.72 22.18 108.94
12 TA Boult 15 731 30 24.37 33.00 23.63 102.22
13 RGD Willis 10 304 14 21.71 29.10 23.88 101.15
14 Zaheer Khan 16 700 29 24.14 32.10 24.07 100.38
15 WPUJC Vaas 22 813 32 25.41 33.07 24.58 98.28
16 CEL Ambrose 14 442 17 26.00 32.80 25.37 95.24
17 AME Roberts 13 468 19 24.63 29.69 26.55 90.99
18 SL Malinga 20 991 33 30.03 33.44 28.74 84.06
19 Wasim Akram 29 1125 38 29.61 32.76 28.92 83.54
20 IT Botham 20 727 26 27.96 30.86 28.99 83.33
C ER And R ER

The Comparative Economy Rate (C ER) and Relative Economy Rate (R ER) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as in C Ave and R Ave with average replaced with ER. Points to note are:-

  • Modern day bowlers benefit from R ER.
  • This is because scoring rates have increased with time and it has become more difficult to be economic.
  • Rest of the factors are the same as in R Ave

ECONOMIC

Criteria: Points For R ER

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER C ER R ER RAT
TS RGD Willis 11 709 315 2.67 3.95 3.04 150.00
1 RGD Willis 11 709 315 2.67 3.95 3.04 150.00
2 CEL Ambrose 17 987 499 3.03 4.37 3.12 145.85
3 RJ Hadlee 13 877 421 2.88 4.09 3.17 143.62
4 SE Bond 16 886 518 3.51 4.95 3.19 142.83
5 MA Holding 11 695 341 2.94 4.11 3.22 141.32
6 AJ Bichel 8 342 197 3.46 4.68 3.32 137.25
7 NW Bracken 10 430 258 3.60 4.88 3.32 137.16
8 AME Roberts 16 1021 552 3.24 4.03 3.62 125.82
9 GI Allott 9 526 325 3.71 4.51 3.70 123.29
10 WPUJC Vaas 31 1570 1040 3.97 4.77 3.75 121.50
11 IT Botham 22 1332 762 3.43 4.11 3.76 121.12
12 TA Boult 19 1104 850 4.62 5.45 3.81 119.50
13 MA Starc 18 937 726 4.65 5.48 3.82 119.34
14 GD McGrath 39 1955 1292 3.97 4.66 3.83 119.06
15 Wasim Akram 36 1947 1311 4.04 4.53 4.01 113.64
16 Imran Khan 19 1017 655 3.86 4.33 4.02 113.43
17 Zaheer Khan 23 1193 890 4.48 4.97 4.05 112.53
18 Mohammed Shami 11 577 487 5.06 5.50 4.14 110.07
19 B Lee 17 825 629 4.57 4.94 4.17 109.25
20 SL Malinga 28 1394 1281 5.51 5.34 4.64 98.15

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER C ER R ER RAT
TS RGD Willis 10 646 304 2.82 3.95 3.22 150.00
1 RGD Willis 10 646 304 2.82 3.95 3.22 150.00
2 NW Bracken 7 328 193 3.53 4.88 3.26 148.14
3 MA Holding 9 551 275 2.99 4.11 3.28 147.15
4 CEL Ambrose 14 816 442 3.25 4.37 3.35 144.19
5 AJ Bichel 6 306 184 3.61 4.68 3.47 139.26
6 RJ Hadlee 9 601 319 3.18 4.09 3.51 137.58
7 SE Bond 11 628 404 3.86 4.95 3.51 137.49
8 AME Roberts 13 822 468 3.42 4.03 3.81 126.55
9 IT Botham 20 1218 727 3.58 4.11 3.93 122.96
10 MA Starc 14 771 617 4.80 5.48 3.94 122.38
11 GD McGrath 29 1517 1055 4.17 4.66 4.03 119.84
12 WPUJC Vaas 22 1139 813 4.28 4.77 4.04 119.43
13 GI Allott 7 414 280 4.06 4.51 4.05 119.30
14 TA Boult 15 888 731 4.94 5.45 4.08 118.38
15 Imran Khan 17 908 613 4.05 4.33 4.21 114.62
16 B Lee 13 641 497 4.65 4.94 4.24 113.79
17 Wasim Akram 29 1573 1125 4.29 4.53 4.26 113.33
18 Zaheer Khan 16 854 700 4.92 4.97 4.45 108.48
19 Mohammed Shami 6 324 307 5.69 5.50 4.65 103.85
20 SL Malinga 20 1022 991 5.82 5.34 4.90 98.52
BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler against top teams. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 5 innings divided by 5.

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBW RAT
TS MA Starc 6/28 5/26 4/43 4/55 2/20 4.20 100.00
1 MA Starc 6/28 5/26 4/43 4/55 2/20 4.20 100.00
2 B Lee 5/42 4/28 3/14 3/35 3/36 3.60 85.71
3 Wasim Akram 4/32 4/40 3/45 3/49 3/64 3.40 80.95
3 GD McGrath 5/14 3/18 3/29 3/31 3/34 3.40 80.95
3 TA Boult 5/27 4/44 4/51 2/42 2/44 3.40 80.95
6 WPUJC Vaas 4/22 3/33 3/34 3/41 3/46 3.20 76.19
6 Imran Khan 4/37 4/37 3/36 3/57 2/29 3.20 76.19
6 SL Malinga 4/43 4/54 3/35 3/55 2/34 3.20 76.19
9 SE Bond 6/23 3/31 2/19 2/23 2/26 3.00 71.43
10 Zaheer Khan 4/42 3/14 3/64 2/23 2/29 2.80 66.67
10 Mohammed Shami 5/69 4/35 2/30 2/37 1/68 2.80 66.67
12 GI Allott 4/37 4/64 3/24 1/33 1/39 2.60 61.90
12 RJ Hadlee 5/25 3/20 3/32 1/16 1/26 2.60 61.90
12 AME Roberts 3/32 3/39 3/43 2/18 2/25 2.60 61.90
15 IT Botham 4/31 2/12 2/12 2/27 2/36 2.40 57.14
16 AJ Bichel 7/20 2/42 1/15 1/57 2.20 52.38
16 NW Bracken 4/19 3/33 2/40 1/15 1/25 2.20 52.38
16 CEL Ambrose 3/31 2/24 2/24 2/26 2/34 2.20 52.38
19 MA Holding 3/40 2/16 2/26 2/32 1/23 2.00 47.62
19 RGD Willis 4/42 2/9 2/24 1/9 1/20 2.00 47.62
BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against top teams. Best Bowling By Economy (BBE) is the Relative Economy of the bowler in the 5 Inns. Only 30+ Balls performaces are counted in this criteria.

BEST BOWLING (ECO)

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBE RAT
TS SM Pollock 8.0/10 9.0/13 10.0/17 8.0/16 10.0/29 1.81 100.00
1 GD McGrath 9.0/13 8.4/14 8.0/18 9.4/25 9.0/24 2.05 88.28
2 RGD Willis 9.0/9 7.0/9 11.0/20 12.0/24 12.0/37 2.21 81.68
3 SE Bond 10.0/19 10.0/23 10.0/26 8.0/23 8.0/26 2.31 78.11
4 RJ Hadlee 12.0/16 12.0/26 9.0/20 10.1/25 12.0/32 2.38 76.04
5 CEL Ambrose 10.0/19 10.0/24 10.0/24 10.0/25 10.0/26 2.43 74.33
6 MA Starc 8.0/20 9.4/26 9.0/28 8.5/28 8.2/29 2.45 73.60
7 IT Botham 10.0/12 9.0/12 10.0/27 10.0/30 12.0/36 2.51 71.85
8 WPUJC Vaas 10.0/22 8.0/19 10.0/27 10.0/31 8.0/25 2.54 71.03
9 MA Holding 8.0/16 12.0/25 12.0/29 12.0/32 9.4/26 2.61 69.16
10 AME Roberts 11.0/18 7.0/14 12.0/25 10.0/32 9.0/29 2.69 67.20
11 NW Bracken 9.4/19 7.0/15 9.0/25 10.0/33 9.0/40 2.73 66.25
12 Imran Khan 12.0/24 8.0/22 10.1/29 8.0/25 10.0/32 2.85 63.42
13 Zaheer Khan 9.2/14 7.4/23 9.3/29 10.0/40 10.0/43 2.90 62.33
14 AJ Bichel 10.0/18 10.0/20 5.0/15 7.0/32 9.0/42 2.98 60.72
15 TA Boult 10.0/27 10.0/32 10.0/40 10.0/42 10.0/44 3.05 59.16
16 B Lee 8.0/14 8.0/28 8.0/29 9.0/36 8.0/35 3.16 57.22
17 Wasim Akram 10.0/27 9.0/27 9.2/32 9.0/32 10.0/37 3.25 55.59
18 GI Allott 10.0/24 10.0/33 10.0/37 10.0/39 10.0/42 3.49 51.78
19 SL Malinga 7.0/21 9.0/35 10.0/43 10.0/46 9.0/42 3.50 51.64
20 Mohammed Shami 8.0/30 9.0/35 8.0/37 10.0/68 10.0/69 4.34 41.61
WC Rating

The WORLD CUP (WC) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.

RATING

RANK BOWLER PRO CON C TT ECO E TT BBW BBE WC RAT
1 MA Starc 170.00 150.00 150.00 119.34 122.38 100.00 73.60 885.32
2 GD McGrath 200.00 116.91 108.94 119.06 119.84 80.95 88.28 833.98
3 SE Bond 84.51 126.42 115.54 142.83 137.49 71.43 78.11 756.32
4 Imran Khan 150.00 113.51 120.45 113.43 114.62 76.19 63.42 751.62
5 RJ Hadlee 97.06 106.04 121.71 143.62 137.58 61.90 76.04 743.96
6 MA Holding 88.24 120.86 118.08 141.32 147.15 47.62 69.16 732.43
7 WPUJC Vaas 138.03 104.52 98.28 121.50 119.43 76.19 71.03 728.98
8 NW Bracken 45.07 131.02 147.85 137.16 148.14 52.38 66.25 727.87
9 AJ Bichel 45.07 150.00 140.38 137.25 139.26 52.38 60.72 725.06
10 RGD Willis 79.41 111.52 101.15 150.00 150.00 47.62 81.68 721.37
11 TA Boult 135.31 101.54 102.22 119.50 118.38 80.95 59.16 717.06
12 B Lee 98.59 117.11 133.46 109.25 113.79 85.71 57.22 715.13
13 Wasim Akram 154.93 92.19 83.54 113.64 113.33 80.95 55.59 694.18
14 Mohammed Shami 107.55 144.86 116.80 110.07 103.85 66.67 41.61 691.42
15 CEL Ambrose 67.61 105.81 95.24 145.85 144.19 52.38 74.33 685.42
16 AME Roberts 114.71 93.80 90.99 125.82 126.55 61.90 67.20 680.98
17 Zaheer Khan 123.94 106.43 100.38 112.53 108.48 66.67 62.33 680.75
18 IT Botham 132.35 81.50 83.33 121.12 122.96 57.14 71.85 670.26
19 GI Allott 56.34 134.44 122.94 123.29 119.30 61.90 51.78 669.98
20 SL Malinga 157.75 98.05 84.06 98.15 98.52 76.19 51.64 664.36

TOP TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK NZ IND SL
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND ENG SL NZ
2000s AUS SA PAK SL IND NZ ENG WI
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ SL PAK BAN
2020s BAN PAK AUS NZ IND SA SL ENG

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