Best Indian Fast Bowlers In Tests Featured

Top 10 Indian Fast Bowlers In Tests Since 1950

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). They are updated till 2026-02-05. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation) and at the end. So, here are the Top 10 Indian Fast bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. ATTACKING
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
3.4.1. Against All Teams
3.4.2. Against Top Teams
3.5. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Favourable Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Asians Outside Asia
4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Asians In Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. WKTS/INN
5.2. TOP FORM
5.3. IMPACT INNINGS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
6.1. BRIEF EXPLANATION
6.1.1. Dynamic Nature
6.1.2. Trend Setter (TS)
6.1.3. Top Teams (TT)
6.1.4. Abbreviations
Nations Filter

The Nations Rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from India.

  • The Rating of the players from India remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from India.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Wickets, Average, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Wkts Per Inn, Top Form, Impact Inns

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 25
Min Career Wkts 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 250.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Attacking Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Bowling Performances 150.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 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 1976
Era 2 MP between 1975 And 1996
Era 3 MP between 1995 And 2016
Era 4 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS FS Trueman ENG 1952 1965 1958.5 127 307 220.00
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS CA Walsh WI 1984 2001 1992.5 242 519 240.00
1 N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 227 434 200.69
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 2003 2024 2013.5 350 704 250.00
1 Zaheer Khan IND 2000 2014 2007 165 311 110.44
1 I Sharma IND 2007 2021 2014 188 311 110.44
3 J Srinath IND 1991 2002 1996.5 121 236 83.81
4 S Sreesanth IND 2006 2011 2008.5 50 87 30.89
RANK ERA 4 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS MA Starc AUS 2011 2026 2018.5 202 433 230.00
1 JJ Bumrah IND 2018 2025 2021.5 99 234 124.30
2 Mohammed Shami IND 2013 2023 2018 122 229 121.64
3 UT Yadav IND 2011 2023 2017 112 170 90.30
4 M Siraj IND 2020 2025 2022.5 84 139 73.83
5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar IND 2013 2018 2015.5 37 63 33.46

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 player has played.
  • Time Period in which a bowler has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 75
Min Wickets (TT) 60

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 99 4631 234 19.79 19.33 120.00
1 JJ Bumrah 99 4631 234 19.79 19.33 120.00
2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 37 1644 63 26.10 21.99 105.47
3 Mohammed Shami 122 6346 229 27.71 25.72 90.15
4 UT Yadav 112 5263 170 30.96 27.44 84.50
5 I Sharma 188 10078 311 32.41 27.77 83.52
6 N Kapil Dev 227 12867 434 29.65 28.11 82.51
7 Zaheer Khan 165 10247 311 32.95 28.82 80.48
8 M Siraj 84 4124 139 29.67 29.58 78.39
9 J Srinath 121 7196 236 30.49 29.70 78.09
10 S Sreesanth 50 3271 87 37.60 31.31 74.07

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 83 4138 193 21.44 20.10 180.00
1 JJ Bumrah 83 4138 193 21.44 20.10 180.00
2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 26 1340 47 28.51 23.34 154.98
3 Mohammed Shami 87 4838 164 29.50 26.46 136.70
4 N Kapil Dev 173 10509 361 29.11 26.75 135.22
5 Zaheer Khan 99 6482 183 35.42 28.42 127.28
6 J Srinath 69 4304 138 31.19 29.39 123.10
7 S Sreesanth 36 2474 67 36.93 29.60 122.22
8 UT Yadav 78 3909 112 34.90 29.82 121.29
9 I Sharma 139 7642 206 37.10 30.19 119.84
10 M Siraj 68 3564 112 31.82 30.40 118.99

ATTACKING

R SR

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

Criteria: Points For R SR or Balls/Wkt

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets 75
Min Wickets (TT) 60

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS M Jansen 38 3408 89 38.29 42.71 120.00
1 JJ Bumrah 99 10031 234 42.87 46.27 110.77
2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 37 3348 63 53.14 50.15 102.19
3 Mohammed Shami 122 11515 229 50.28 51.12 100.26
4 UT Yadav 112 8979 170 52.82 51.36 99.79
5 M Siraj 84 7007 139 50.41 55.25 92.76
6 Zaheer Khan 165 18785 311 60.40 57.11 89.74
7 S Sreesanth 50 5419 87 62.29 57.50 89.13
8 I Sharma 188 19160 311 61.61 58.76 87.22
9 N Kapil Dev 227 27740 434 63.92 59.20 86.58
10 J Srinath 121 15104 236 64.00 59.90 85.56

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS BLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS M Jansen 28 2507 62 40.44 42.78 180.00
1 JJ Bumrah 83 8909 193 46.16 48.44 158.96
2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 26 2522 47 53.66 49.86 154.43
3 Mohammed Shami 87 8757 164 53.40 53.00 145.29
4 UT Yadav 78 6561 112 58.58 55.14 139.66
5 S Sreesanth 36 4139 67 61.78 55.76 138.10
6 M Siraj 68 5856 112 52.29 56.05 137.37
7 N Kapil Dev 173 22467 361 62.24 56.60 136.04
8 J Srinath 69 8683 138 62.92 57.49 133.93
9 Zaheer Khan 99 12043 183 65.81 58.65 131.28
10 I Sharma 139 14569 206 70.72 64.70 119.00

BEST BOWLING (WKTS)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 7 Inns

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BBW RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/63 6/77 7.29 50.00
1 N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/63 6/77 7.29 50.00
2 J Srinath 8/86 6/21 6/45 6/76 5/46 5/60 5/95 5.86 40.20
3 I Sharma 7/74 6/51 6/55 6/134 5/22 5/43 5/51 5.71 39.22
3 JJ Bumrah 6/27 6/33 6/45 6/61 6/76 5/7 5/24 5.71 39.22
5 Zaheer Khan 7/87 5/29 5/34 5/53 5/65 5/72 5/75 5.29 36.27
6 Mohammed Shami 6/56 5/28 5/35 5/44 5/47 5/112 4/31 5.00 34.31
6 M Siraj 6/15 6/70 5/60 5/73 5/104 4/32 4/40 5.00 34.31
8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6/82 5/33 5/48 5/82 4/8 4/87 4/88 4.71 32.35
9 UT Yadav 6/88 5/53 5/93 4/25 4/32 4/41 4/45 4.57 31.37
10 S Sreesanth 5/40 5/75 5/114 4/70 4/79 4/95 4/109 4.43 30.39

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BBW RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/63 6/77 7.29 100.00
1 N Kapil Dev 9/83 8/85 8/106 7/56 7/220 6/63 6/77 7.29 100.00
2 J Srinath 8/86 6/21 6/76 5/46 5/104 5/140 4/33 5.57 76.47
2 JJ Bumrah 6/33 6/45 6/61 6/76 5/27 5/30 5/42 5.57 76.47
4 I Sharma 7/74 5/51 5/54 5/68 5/118 4/41 4/59 5.00 68.63
5 Mohammed Shami 6/56 5/28 5/35 5/44 5/112 4/49 4/57 4.86 66.67
5 M Siraj 6/15 6/70 5/73 5/104 4/32 4/66 4/84 4.86 66.67
7 Zaheer Khan 5/72 5/75 5/91 5/94 5/95 4/59 4/61 4.71 64.71
8 S Sreesanth 5/40 5/75 5/114 4/70 4/79 4/95 4/109 4.43 60.78
9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6/82 5/82 4/8 4/87 4/88 3/31 3/44 4.14 56.86
10 UT Yadav 5/93 4/32 4/70 3/9 3/12 3/22 3/29 3.57 49.02

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 JJ Bumrah 124.30 300.00 110.77 115.69 809.70 323.88
2 N Kapil Dev 200.69 217.73 86.58 150.00 791.05 316.42
3 Mohammed Shami 121.64 226.85 100.26 100.98 695.02 278.01
4 Zaheer Khan 110.44 207.75 89.74 100.98 640.19 256.08
5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 33.46 260.45 102.19 89.22 639.75 255.90
6 I Sharma 110.44 203.36 87.22 107.84 627.87 251.15
7 J Srinath 83.81 201.19 85.56 116.67 621.16 248.46
8 UT Yadav 90.30 205.79 99.79 80.39 615.93 246.37
9 M Siraj 73.83 197.39 92.76 100.98 602.33 240.93
10 S Sreesanth 30.89 196.29 89.13 91.18 545.59 218.24

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Ratings to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 30.00
Away 120.00
Favourable Conditions 30.00
Unfavourable Conditions 120.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. is considered as a second Home for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani bowlers are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 N Kapil Dev 119 219 26.50 55.76 770.93 23.13
2 JJ Bumrah 31 62 17.71 38.00 626.51 18.80
3 Mohammed Shami 42 76 22.11 42.62 625.85 18.78
4 UT Yadav 64 101 25.88 48.05 599.85 18.00
5 J Srinath 57 108 26.61 55.83 590.99 17.73
6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 21 27 26.22 52.11 565.73 16.97
7 Zaheer Khan 70 104 35.88 70.28 504.64 15.14
8 I Sharma 77 104 31.64 65.63 495.87 14.88
9 S Sreesanth 21 31 39.55 66.94 444.49 13.33
10 M Siraj 33 35 28.77 50.80 432.90 12.99

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 68 172 20.54 44.62 851.85 102.22
2 Mohammed Shami 80 153 30.50 54.09 699.15 83.90
3 N Kapil Dev 108 215 32.86 72.23 690.19 82.82
4 Zaheer Khan 95 207 31.48 55.44 671.90 80.63
5 I Sharma 111 207 32.79 59.58 659.13 79.10
6 M Siraj 51 104 29.97 50.28 628.59 75.43
7 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 16 36 26.00 53.92 566.04 67.92
8 J Srinath 64 128 33.77 70.89 556.05 66.73
9 S Sreesanth 29 56 36.52 59.71 510.18 61.22
10 UT Yadav 48 69 38.39 59.80 508.54 61.02

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

FC/UC Rating

Points to note:-

  • Unfavourable Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Spinners and In Asia for Pacers.
  • Favourable Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Favourable Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 7

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 68 172 20.54 44.62 908.27 27.25
2 I Sharma 88 171 32.49 60.15 790.20 23.71
3 Zaheer Khan 66 147 31.26 57.40 730.85 21.93
4 Mohammed Shami 74 143 31.39 55.32 719.03 21.57
5 N Kapil Dev 77 155 30.79 71.21 708.22 21.25
6 M Siraj 47 98 30.10 50.17 657.24 19.72
7 J Srinath 57 117 34.74 72.85 630.64 18.92
8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 16 36 26.00 53.92 580.37 17.41
9 S Sreesanth 27 54 35.87 59.33 538.45 16.15
10 UT Yadav 32 51 40.27 61.24 485.87 14.58

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 N Kapil Dev 150 279 29.01 59.87 840.12 100.81
2 Mohammed Shami 48 86 21.59 41.91 793.80 95.26
3 UT Yadav 80 119 26.97 49.21 767.12 92.05
4 JJ Bumrah 31 62 17.71 38.00 734.21 88.10
5 J Srinath 64 119 26.32 55.30 690.07 82.81
6 Zaheer Khan 99 164 34.46 63.09 658.17 78.98
7 I Sharma 100 140 32.30 63.39 631.46 75.78
8 M Siraj 37 41 28.63 50.98 519.24 62.31
9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 21 27 26.22 52.11 500.00 60.00
10 S Sreesanth 23 33 40.42 67.12 488.58 58.63

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 JJ Bumrah 851.85 156.63 734.21 227.07 236.37
2 N Kapil Dev 690.19 192.73 840.12 177.05 228.01
3 Mohammed Shami 699.15 156.46 793.80 179.76 219.50
4 Zaheer Khan 671.90 126.16 658.17 182.71 196.67
5 I Sharma 659.13 123.97 631.46 197.55 193.45
6 J Srinath 556.05 147.75 690.07 157.66 186.18
7 UT Yadav 508.54 149.96 767.12 121.47 185.65
8 M Siraj 628.59 108.23 519.24 164.31 170.44
9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 566.04 141.43 500.00 145.09 162.31
10 S Sreesanth 510.18 111.12 488.58 134.61 149.34

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Wickets Per Inn 50.00
Top Form 100.00
Impact Innings 150.00

WKTS/INN

WPI RATING

Points to note about WPI Rating:-

  • It gives points for three criteria.
  • The number of wkts per inn overall and aganst Top Teams.
  • The number of bowled victims per inn.
  • The number of top 7 batsmen dismissed per inn.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS W/I RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 99 234 2.36 828.93 41.45
2 Mohammed Shami 122 229 1.88 648.43 32.42
3 J Srinath 121 236 1.95 626.36 31.32
4 N Kapil Dev 227 434 1.91 621.12 31.06
5 Zaheer Khan 165 311 1.88 601.77 30.09
6 S Sreesanth 50 87 1.74 588.66 29.43
7 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 37 63 1.70 570.69 28.53
8 M Siraj 84 139 1.65 540.33 27.02
9 UT Yadav 112 170 1.52 517.31 25.87
10 I Sharma 188 311 1.65 514.79 25.74

TOP FORM

TF RATING

Points to note about TF Rating:-

  • TF is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • The inns are taken such that his points are maximum.
  • Only innings against Top Teams are considered.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 50 122 19.43 40.76 843.09 84.31
2 N Kapil Dev 50 141 27.18 51.97 842.31 84.23
3 J Srinath 50 116 27.10 52.20 748.27 74.83
4 Mohammed Shami 50 104 24.88 47.15 729.32 72.93
5 Zaheer Khan 50 112 29.04 54.52 707.83 70.78
6 I Sharma 50 85 27.62 58.62 651.08 65.11
7 M Siraj 50 82 32.48 50.04 607.69 60.77
8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 26 47 28.51 53.66 589.38 58.94
9 UT Yadav 50 69 29.51 53.58 580.79 58.08
10 S Sreesanth 36 67 36.93 61.78 571.89 57.19

IMPACT INNINGS

II RATING

Impact Innings (II) are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or strike rate. Know All About II. These are the criteria for an inning to be included in II:-

  • A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
  • The required AVE or SR increases as the number of wickets taken increases.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 99 52 52.53 801.53 120.23
2 Mohammed Shami 122 54 44.26 683.62 102.54
3 J Srinath 121 53 43.80 622.63 93.39
4 N Kapil Dev 227 76 33.48 599.62 89.94
5 S Sreesanth 50 22 44.00 586.76 88.01
6 Zaheer Khan 165 61 36.97 563.07 84.46
7 I Sharma 188 69 36.70 554.25 83.14
8 UT Yadav 112 38 33.93 521.63 78.24
9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 37 11 29.73 445.44 66.82
10 M Siraj 84 25 29.76 438.08 65.71

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BOWLER TF WPI II SEC RAT
1 JJ Bumrah 84.31 41.45 120.23 245.99
2 Mohammed Shami 72.93 32.42 102.54 207.90
3 N Kapil Dev 84.23 31.06 89.94 205.23
4 J Srinath 74.83 31.32 93.39 199.54
5 Zaheer Khan 70.78 30.09 84.46 185.33
6 S Sreesanth 57.19 29.43 88.01 174.64
7 I Sharma 65.11 25.74 83.14 173.99
8 UT Yadav 58.08 25.87 78.24 162.19
9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 58.94 28.53 66.82 154.29
10 M Siraj 60.77 27.02 65.71 153.50

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 7 JJ Bumrah IND 323.88 236.37 245.99 806.24
2 17 N Kapil Dev IND 316.42 228.01 205.23 749.66
3 31 Mohammed Shami IND 278.01 219.50 207.90 705.40
4 55 Zaheer Khan IND 256.08 196.67 185.33 638.08
5 56 J Srinath IND 248.46 186.18 199.54 634.19
6 64 I Sharma IND 251.15 193.45 173.99 618.59
7 74 UT Yadav IND 246.37 185.65 162.19 594.21
8 86 Bhuvneshwar Kumar IND 255.90 162.31 154.29 572.50
9 91 M Siraj IND 240.93 170.44 153.50 564.88
10 107 S Sreesanth IND 218.24 149.34 174.64 542.21

BRIEF EXPLANATION

Dynamic Nature

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.

Trend Setter (TS)

  1. TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
  2. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
  3. TS Bowling Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
  4. TS Points: 300.00 (Max)
  5. Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00.
  6. Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  7. Know All About the Trend Setter
    8. .

Top Teams (TT)

  1. An opposition is counted as a TT considering its Win/Loss (WL) Ratios in last 7 years.
  2. Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia and Overall WL Ratio is considered.
  3. The WL Ratio should be more than a certain value overall or in specific conditions.

Abbreviations

  1. AVE - Average or Runs/Wkt
  2. BLS - Balls
  3. ER - Economy Rate or Runs/Over
  4. FF, 5WH - Five Fors or 5 Wkt Hauls
  5. FP - First Played by Year
  6. INF - Infinite
  7. INNS - Innings
  8. LP - Last Played by Year
  9. MDNS - Maidens
  10. MP - Middle Played or (FP+LP)/2
  11. NA - Not Applicable
  12. NI - Not In Top
  13. NK - Not Known
  14. NO, * - Not Out
  15. NQ - Not Qualified
  16. OPP - Opposition
  17. OVRS - Overs
  18. SR - Strike Rate or Balls/Wkts
  19. TS - Trend Setter
  20. TT - Top Teams
  21. WKTS - Wickets Taken

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