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. Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 20 Fast bowlers in World Cups in ODIs.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

THE CRITERIA


The WORLD CUP Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 300.00
Consistent Average 200.00
Economic Strike Rate 200.00
Best Bowling Top Inns (Wkts) 150.00
Economic Bowling Top Inns (Eco) 150.00
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
  • TS Points: 300.00(Max); Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
Top Teams (TT) and Non Weak Teams (NWT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams and non weak teams. Here is some information:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
  • They are calculated by decades.
  • A bowlerโ€™s performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
  • Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
  • TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION


Min Innings (TT) 5

PROLIFIC


The Eras

The time period from 1971 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2011
Era 3 MP greater than 2010

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS Imran Khan PAK 1974 1992 1983 19 34 250.00
1 Imran Khan PAK 1974 1992 1983 19 34 250.00
2 IT Botham ENG 1976 1992 1984 22 30 220.59
3 N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 25 28 205.88
4 AME Roberts WI 1975 1983 1979 16 26 191.18
5 RJ Hadlee NZ 1973 1990 1981.5 13 22 161.76
6 MA Holding WI 1976 1987 1981.5 11 20 147.06
7 RGD Willis ENG 1973 1984 1978.5 11 18 132.35
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 2000 39 71 300.00
1 GD McGrath AUS 1993 2007 2000 39 71 300.00
2 Wasim Akram PAK 1984 2003 1993.5 36 55 232.39
3 WPUJC Vaas SL 1994 2008 2001 31 49 207.04
4 J Srinath IND 1991 2003 1997 33 44 185.92
4 Zaheer Khan IND 2000 2012 2006 23 44 185.92
6 B Lee AUS 2000 2012 2006 17 35 147.89
7 SE Bond NZ 2002 2010 2006 16 30 126.76
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS MA Starc AUS 2010 2024 2017 28 65 290.00
1 MA Starc AUS 2010 2024 2017 28 65 290.00
2 SL Malinga SL 2004 2019 2011.5 28 56 249.85
3 Mohammed Shami IND 2013 2025 2019 18 55 245.38
4 TA Boult NZ 2012 2023 2017.5 29 53 236.46
5 JJ Bumrah IND 2016 2023 2019.5 20 38 169.54
6 Shaheen Shah Afridi PAK 2018 2025 2021.5 14 34 151.69

CONSISTENT


R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Venues at which a bowler has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For R Ave

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 20
Min Wickets (TT) 10

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS Mohammed Shami 18 744 55 13.53 14.05 100.00
1 Mohammed Shami 18 744 55 13.53 14.05 100.00
2 SE Bond 16 518 30 17.27 18.05 77.83
3 MA Holding 11 341 20 17.05 18.30 76.81
4 B Lee 17 629 35 17.97 18.49 75.98
5 MA Starc 28 1254 65 19.29 18.71 75.11
6 GD McGrath 39 1292 71 18.20 19.23 73.06
7 JJ Bumrah 20 744 38 19.58 19.69 71.38
8 RGD Willis 11 315 18 17.50 20.55 68.39
9 Shaheen Shah Afridi 14 715 34 21.03 20.76 67.69
10 Zaheer Khan 23 890 44 20.23 20.94 67.12
11 Imran Khan 19 655 34 19.26 20.95 67.06
12 WPUJC Vaas 31 1040 49 21.22 21.37 65.75
13 AME Roberts 16 552 26 21.23 23.14 60.72
14 SL Malinga 28 1281 56 22.88 23.26 60.42
15 RJ Hadlee 13 421 22 19.14 23.60 59.54
16 Wasim Akram 36 1311 55 23.84 24.88 56.48
17 TA Boult 29 1354 53 25.55 25.36 55.42
18 J Srinath 33 1224 44 27.82 28.43 49.44
19 IT Botham 22 762 30 25.40 28.65 49.04
20 N Kapil Dev 25 892 28 31.86 33.96 41.38

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS Mohammed Shami 10 433 33 13.12 13.63 100.00
1 Mohammed Shami 10 433 33 13.12 13.63 100.00
2 B Lee 11 412 27 15.26 15.70 86.80
3 MA Starc 18 848 41 20.68 20.06 67.96
4 Imran Khan 15 551 29 19.00 20.67 65.95
5 MA Holding 9 275 14 19.64 21.08 64.67
6 RGD Willis 8 252 13 19.38 22.76 59.89
7 SE Bond 8 311 14 22.21 23.23 58.68
8 GD McGrath 26 921 41 22.46 23.74 57.41
9 AME Roberts 14 484 21 23.05 25.12 54.25
10 Shaheen Shah Afridi 8 443 17 26.06 25.73 52.98
11 Zaheer Khan 14 631 25 25.24 26.13 52.17
12 TA Boult 17 882 32 27.56 27.36 49.82
13 J Srinath 23 900 32 28.13 28.74 47.43
14 JJ Bumrah 12 459 16 28.69 28.84 47.25
15 WPUJC Vaas 18 700 24 29.17 29.37 46.41
16 RJ Hadlee 8 302 12 25.17 31.04 43.92
17 IT Botham 17 636 23 27.65 31.20 43.69
18 N Kapil Dev 18 682 22 31.00 33.05 41.25
19 Wasim Akram 23 943 29 32.52 33.94 40.16
20 SL Malinga 17 872 26 33.54 34.10 39.97

ECONOMIC


R ER

Relative Economy Rate (R ER) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with ER.

Criteria: Points For R ER

Min Qualification For TS
Min Balls 300

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS CEL Ambrose 17 987 499 3.03 3.14 100.00
1 RGD Willis 11 709 315 2.67 3.27 96.16
2 SE Bond 16 886 518 3.51 3.33 94.36
3 JJ Bumrah 20 1055 744 4.23 3.36 93.60
4 MA Holding 11 695 341 2.94 3.59 87.45
5 RJ Hadlee 13 877 421 2.88 3.62 86.72
6 WPUJC Vaas 31 1570 1040 3.97 3.84 81.80
7 GD McGrath 39 1955 1292 3.97 3.90 80.68
8 TA Boult 29 1650 1354 4.92 3.94 79.74
9 IT Botham 22 1332 762 3.43 3.96 79.45
10 AME Roberts 16 1021 552 3.24 3.96 79.26
11 Zaheer Khan 23 1193 890 4.48 4.07 77.21
12 MA Starc 28 1459 1254 5.16 4.12 76.31
13 B Lee 17 825 629 4.57 4.13 76.09
14 Wasim Akram 36 1947 1311 4.04 4.16 75.53
15 Mohammed Shami 18 870 744 5.13 4.18 75.23
16 N Kapil Dev 25 1422 892 3.76 4.18 75.12
17 Imran Khan 19 1017 655 3.86 4.23 74.26
18 J Srinath 33 1700 1224 4.32 4.29 73.17
19 Shaheen Shah Afridi 14 769 715 5.58 4.36 72.10
20 SL Malinga 28 1394 1281 5.51 4.77 65.85

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS RUNS ER R ER RAT
TS MD Marshall 7 468 235 3.01 3.41 100.00
1 JJ Bumrah 12 624 459 4.41 3.50 97.26
2 RGD Willis 8 526 252 2.87 3.52 96.64
3 MA Holding 9 551 275 2.99 3.66 93.18
4 SE Bond 8 456 311 4.09 3.89 87.66
5 AME Roberts 14 894 484 3.25 3.97 85.79
6 GD McGrath 26 1356 921 4.08 4.00 85.07
7 B Lee 11 557 412 4.44 4.01 85.00
8 IT Botham 17 1068 636 3.57 4.12 82.71
9 MA Starc 18 985 848 5.17 4.12 82.57
10 RJ Hadlee 8 540 302 3.36 4.22 80.68
11 TA Boult 17 990 882 5.35 4.28 79.60
12 N Kapil Dev 18 1050 682 3.90 4.33 78.62
13 Mohammed Shami 10 485 433 5.36 4.36 78.10
14 WPUJC Vaas 18 923 700 4.55 4.40 77.44
15 Imran Khan 15 823 551 4.02 4.40 77.42
16 Wasim Akram 23 1299 943 4.36 4.49 75.93
17 J Srinath 23 1187 900 4.55 4.52 75.31
18 Zaheer Khan 14 737 631 5.14 4.67 72.92
19 Shaheen Shah Afridi 8 438 443 6.07 4.74 71.83
20 SL Malinga 17 878 872 5.96 5.16 66.03

BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)


BBW

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

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBW RAT
TS Mohammed Shami 7/57 5/18 5/54 5/69 4/16 5.20 150.00
1 Mohammed Shami 7/57 5/18 5/54 5/69 4/16 5.20 150.00
2 MA Starc 6/28 5/26 5/46 4/43 4/55 4.80 138.46
3 Shaheen Shah Afridi 6/35 5/54 3/23 3/28 3/45 4.00 115.38
3 TA Boult 5/27 4/30 4/44 4/51 3/37 4.00 115.38
5 WPUJC Vaas 6/25 4/22 3/33 3/34 3/46 3.80 109.62
6 B Lee 5/42 4/28 3/35 3/36 3/52 3.60 103.85
7 Imran Khan 4/37 4/37 3/15 3/36 3/57 3.40 98.08
7 JJ Bumrah 4/39 4/55 3/32 3/37 3/61 3.40 98.08
7 Wasim Akram 4/32 4/40 3/21 3/45 3/49 3.40 98.08
7 GD McGrath 5/14 3/16 3/18 3/29 3/31 3.40 98.08
7 SL Malinga 4/43 4/54 3/27 3/35 3/55 3.40 98.08
12 SE Bond 6/23 3/31 3/33 2/15 2/19 3.20 92.31
13 RJ Hadlee 5/25 3/20 3/32 2/20 2/48 3.00 86.54
13 N Kapil Dev 5/43 3/35 3/41 2/30 2/38 3.00 86.54
15 J Srinath 4/35 3/34 3/37 2/22 2/23 2.80 80.77
15 AME Roberts 3/32 3/36 3/39 3/43 2/16 2.80 80.77
15 Zaheer Khan 4/42 3/26 3/64 2/29 2/33 2.80 80.77
18 IT Botham 4/31 3/23 2/12 2/12 2/27 2.60 75.00
18 MA Holding 4/33 3/40 2/16 2/26 2/32 2.60 75.00
20 RGD Willis 4/42 2/9 2/24 1/9 1/20 2.00 57.69

BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)


BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against Non Weak 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.

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 BBE RAT
TS SM Pollock 8.0/10 6.0/8 9.0/13 10.0/17 8.0/16 1.54 150.00
1 GD McGrath 9.0/13 8.0/12 8.4/14 8.0/18 9.4/25 1.86 124.44
2 JJ Bumrah 6.0/9 5.0/8 7.0/19 5.0/14 10.0/35 2.04 113.19
3 SE Bond 10.0/15 10.0/19 10.0/23 10.0/26 8.0/23 2.10 110.33
4 WPUJC Vaas 7.0/11 10.0/22 8.0/19 10.0/27 9.1/25 2.28 101.64
5 RGD Willis 9.0/9 7.0/9 11.0/20 12.0/24 12.0/37 2.38 97.20
6 MA Starc 8.0/20 9.4/26 9.0/28 8.5/28 10.0/34 2.39 96.92
7 RJ Hadlee 12.0/16 10.0/20 12.0/24 12.0/26 9.0/20 2.42 95.41
8 IT Botham 10.0/12 9.0/12 10.0/23 10.0/27 10.0/30 2.45 94.58
9 TA Boult 7.0/18 10.0/27 10.0/30 10.0/32 10.0/37 2.45 94.33
10 N Kapil Dev 11.0/21 8.0/16 9.0/18 8.0/17 11.0/32 2.46 94.05
11 AME Roberts 12.0/16 11.0/18 7.0/14 12.0/25 12.0/36 2.47 93.77
12 J Srinath 10.0/22 8.0/20 9.0/23 8.2/25 10.0/34 2.72 85.07
13 Imran Khan 12.0/24 7.1/15 8.0/22 10.1/29 8.0/25 2.78 83.27
14 Mohammed Shami 6.2/16 7.0/22 5.0/18 8.0/30 9.0/35 2.79 82.97
15 MA Holding 8.0/16 12.0/25 12.0/29 12.0/32 9.4/26 2.91 79.46
16 Shaheen Shah Afridi 9.0/23 10.0/28 9.1/35 10.0/45 10.0/54 3.00 77.09
17 Wasim Akram 10.0/21 10.0/27 9.0/27 9.2/32 9.0/32 3.02 76.50
18 SL Malinga 7.0/21 9.0/35 10.0/43 6.0/27 10.0/46 3.54 65.26
19 B Lee 8.0/28 8.0/29 9.0/36 8.0/35 7.0/31 3.59 64.46
20 Zaheer Khan 9.3/29 10.0/40 10.0/43 6.0/26 9.0/41 3.66 63.25

WORLD CUP RATING


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

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ECO BBW BBE WC RAT
1 Mohammed Shami 245.38 200.00 153.33 150.00 82.97 831.69
2 MA Starc 290.00 143.06 158.88 138.46 96.92 827.33
3 GD McGrath 300.00 130.46 165.75 98.08 124.44 818.73
4 Imran Khan 250.00 133.01 151.67 98.08 83.27 716.03
5 TA Boult 236.46 105.24 159.34 115.38 94.33 710.75
6 JJ Bumrah 169.54 118.64 190.86 98.08 113.19 690.30
7 WPUJC Vaas 207.04 112.17 159.24 109.62 101.64 689.70
8 Wasim Akram 232.39 96.63 151.47 98.08 76.50 655.07
9 SE Bond 126.76 136.51 182.02 92.31 110.33 647.93
10 AME Roberts 191.18 114.97 165.05 80.77 93.77 645.73
11 SL Malinga 249.85 100.40 131.88 98.08 65.26 645.45
12 IT Botham 220.59 92.73 162.16 75.00 94.58 645.06
13 B Lee 147.89 162.79 161.09 103.85 64.46 640.06
14 MA Holding 147.06 141.47 180.63 75.00 79.46 623.62
15 N Kapil Dev 205.88 82.62 153.74 86.54 94.05 622.84
16 RJ Hadlee 161.76 103.46 167.40 86.54 95.41 614.57
17 Shaheen Shah Afridi 151.69 120.67 143.93 115.38 77.09 608.76
18 RGD Willis 132.35 128.28 192.80 57.69 97.20 608.33
19 Zaheer Khan 185.92 119.29 150.13 80.77 63.25 599.35
20 J Srinath 185.92 96.86 148.48 80.77 85.07 597.10

NON WEAK TEAMS


DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1970s WI ENG AUS NZ PAK SL IND
1980s WI ENG AUS PAK IND NZ SL ZIM
1990s SA AUS PAK WI IND SL ENG NZ ZIM
2000s AUS SA SL PAK IND NZ ENG WI BAN
2010s IND SA AUS ENG NZ PAK SL BAN WI
2020s IND PAK NZ AUS SL SA BAN ENG WI AFG

TOP TEAMS


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


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