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). 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 10 Indian Fast bowlers in Test Cricket since 1950.

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

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
3.4. BEST BOWLING (WKTS)
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. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. WKTS/INN
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
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 Top Form Home, Top Form Away, Wkts/Inn, Impact Inns
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)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the Top Teams:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
  • The top teams are calculated by decades.
  • Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Wickets Taken 200.00
Consistent Average 400.00
Attacking Strike Rate 300.00
Best Bowling Top Bowling Performances 100.00

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 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 227 434 160.00
1 N Kapil Dev IND 1978 1994 1986 227 434 160.00
2 KD Ghavri IND 1974 1981 1977.5 69 109 40.18
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS JM Anderson ENG 2003 2024 2013.5 350 704 200.00
1 Zaheer Khan IND 2000 2014 2007 165 311 88.35
1 I Sharma IND 2007 2021 2014 188 311 88.35
3 J Srinath IND 1991 2002 1996.5 121 236 67.05
4 IK Pathan IND 2003 2008 2005.5 54 100 28.41
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS WKTS RAT
TS TG Southee NZ 2008 2024 2016 203 391 160.00
1 Mohammed Shami IND 2013 2023 2018 122 229 93.71
2 JJ Bumrah IND 2018 2025 2021.5 86 205 83.89
3 UT Yadav IND 2011 2023 2017 112 170 69.57
4 M Siraj IND 2020 2025 2022.5 67 100 40.92

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 100

Against All Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 86 3977 205 19.40 18.30 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 86 3977 205 19.40 18.30 200.00
2 Mohammed Shami 122 6346 229 27.71 25.91 141.27
3 IK Pathan 54 3226 100 32.26 26.29 139.23
4 UT Yadav 112 5263 170 30.96 26.56 137.80
5 N Kapil Dev 227 12867 434 29.65 28.09 130.32
6 Zaheer Khan 165 10247 311 32.95 28.39 128.93
7 I Sharma 188 10078 311 32.41 29.24 125.21
8 M Siraj 67 3074 100 30.74 29.31 124.89
9 J Srinath 121 7196 236 30.49 29.33 124.82
10 KD Ghavri 69 3656 109 33.54 32.04 114.24

Against Top Teams

RANK BOWLER INNS RUNS WKTS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JJ Bumrah 78 3716 181 20.53 19.37 200.00
1 JJ Bumrah 78 3716 181 20.53 19.37 200.00
2 Mohammed Shami 101 5551 187 29.68 27.76 139.57
3 N Kapil Dev 187 11041 367 30.08 28.50 135.91
4 M Siraj 59 2769 90 30.77 29.33 132.06
5 J Srinath 82 5190 168 30.89 29.71 130.37
6 Zaheer Khan 121 7781 220 35.37 30.48 127.11
7 KD Ghavri 53 3003 94 31.95 30.52 126.93
8 I Sharma 134 7832 223 35.12 31.69 122.26
9 UT Yadav 78 3849 102 37.74 32.38 119.65
10 IK Pathan 44 2682 59 45.46 37.05 104.57

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 100
RANK BOWLER INNS BALLS WKTS SR R SR RAT
TS Waqar Younis 154 16224 373 43.50 43.83 300.00
1 JJ Bumrah 86 8630 205 42.10 46.05 285.56
2 UT Yadav 112 8979 170 52.82 50.12 262.36
3 Mohammed Shami 122 11515 229 50.28 51.92 253.24
4 IK Pathan 54 5884 100 58.84 52.30 251.44
5 Zaheer Khan 165 18785 311 60.40 56.91 231.07
6 M Siraj 67 5306 100 53.06 58.19 225.97
7 KD Ghavri 69 7036 109 64.55 60.02 219.09
8 N Kapil Dev 227 27740 434 63.92 60.74 216.47
9 J Srinath 121 15104 236 64.00 60.89 215.94
10 I Sharma 188 19160 311 61.61 60.92 215.83

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

RANK BOWLER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE WT 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 6/45 6/76 5/46 5/60 5/95 5.86 80.39
3 JJ Bumrah 6/27 6/33 6/45 6/61 6/76 5/7 5/24 5.71 78.43
3 I Sharma 7/74 6/51 6/55 6/134 5/22 5/43 5/51 5.71 78.43
5 IK Pathan 7/59 6/51 5/32 5/45 5/58 5/61 5/67 5.43 74.51
6 Zaheer Khan 7/87 5/29 5/34 5/53 5/65 5/72 5/75 5.29 72.55
7 Mohammed Shami 6/56 5/28 5/35 5/44 5/47 5/112 4/31 5.00 68.63
8 UT Yadav 6/88 5/53 5/93 4/25 4/32 4/41 4/45 4.57 62.75
8 M Siraj 6/15 5/60 5/73 4/32 4/66 4/84 4/94 4.57 62.75
8 KD Ghavri 5/33 5/51 5/52 5/107 4/45 4/46 4/63 4.57 62.75

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 half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500 pts.

RANK BOWLER PRO CON ATT BBW RAT PRI PTS
1 JJ Bumrah 83.89 400.00 285.56 78.43 847.88 423.94
2 N Kapil Dev 160.00 266.22 216.47 100.00 742.69 371.35
3 Mohammed Shami 93.71 280.84 253.24 68.63 696.42 348.21
4 UT Yadav 69.57 257.45 262.36 62.75 652.12 326.06
5 Zaheer Khan 88.35 256.04 231.07 72.55 648.01 324.00
6 I Sharma 88.35 247.46 215.83 78.43 630.08 315.04
7 J Srinath 67.05 255.19 215.94 80.39 618.57 309.29
8 IK Pathan 28.41 243.80 251.44 74.51 598.16 299.08
9 M Siraj 40.92 256.95 225.97 62.75 586.58 293.29
10 KD Ghavri 40.18 241.17 219.09 62.75 563.19 281.59

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 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Favourable Conditions 250.00
Unfavourable Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY 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: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 23 47 17.19 35.60 794.71 198.68
2 Mohammed Shami 42 76 22.11 42.62 700.29 175.07
3 N Kapil Dev 119 219 26.50 55.76 698.16 174.54
4 UT Yadav 64 101 25.88 48.05 628.47 157.12
5 J Srinath 57 108 26.61 55.83 594.21 148.55
6 KD Ghavri 50 77 31.58 61.04 530.28 132.57
7 I Sharma 77 104 31.64 65.63 525.62 131.40
8 Zaheer Khan 70 104 35.88 70.28 505.79 126.45
9 M Siraj 25 19 37.00 62.63 424.82 106.20
10 IK Pathan 26 27 50.33 97.85 342.00 85.50

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 63 158 20.06 44.03 843.67 843.67
2 IK Pathan 28 73 25.58 44.41 710.28 710.28
3 Zaheer Khan 95 207 31.48 55.44 692.45 692.45
4 N Kapil Dev 108 215 32.86 72.23 690.15 690.15
5 Mohammed Shami 80 153 30.50 54.09 672.18 672.18
6 I Sharma 111 207 32.79 59.58 662.00 662.00
7 M Siraj 42 81 29.27 50.81 602.83 602.83
8 J Srinath 64 128 33.77 70.89 572.83 572.83
9 UT Yadav 48 69 38.39 59.80 548.78 548.78
10 KD Ghavri 19 32 38.25 73.00 500.00 500.00

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

Favourable/Unfavourable Conditions 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: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 63 158 20.06 44.03 876.67 219.17
2 N Kapil Dev 77 155 30.79 71.21 739.92 184.98
3 I Sharma 88 171 32.49 60.15 729.91 182.48
4 Mohammed Shami 74 143 31.39 55.32 702.87 175.72
5 IK Pathan 13 35 23.57 39.11 698.48 174.62
6 Zaheer Khan 66 147 31.26 57.40 693.23 173.31
7 J Srinath 57 117 34.74 72.85 597.08 149.27
8 M Siraj 38 75 29.39 50.72 589.49 147.37
9 UT Yadav 32 51 40.27 61.24 455.92 113.98
10 KD Ghavri 17 30 37.40 71.87 412.48 103.12

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 23 47 17.19 35.60 814.75 814.75
2 Mohammed Shami 48 86 21.59 41.91 778.06 778.06
3 N Kapil Dev 150 279 29.01 59.87 739.39 739.39
4 UT Yadav 80 119 26.97 49.21 709.59 709.59
5 J Srinath 64 119 26.32 55.30 643.12 643.12
6 Zaheer Khan 99 164 34.46 63.09 604.57 604.57
7 I Sharma 100 140 32.30 63.39 596.61 596.61
8 KD Ghavri 52 79 32.08 61.77 542.70 542.70
9 IK Pathan 41 65 36.94 69.46 488.12 488.12
10 M Siraj 29 25 34.80 60.08 449.79 449.79

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 JJ Bumrah 843.67 198.68 814.75 219.17 2,076.27 207.63
2 Mohammed Shami 672.18 175.07 778.06 175.72 1,801.03 180.10
3 N Kapil Dev 690.15 174.54 739.39 184.98 1,789.06 178.91
4 Zaheer Khan 692.45 126.45 604.57 173.31 1,596.77 159.68
5 I Sharma 662.00 131.40 596.61 182.48 1,572.49 157.25
6 UT Yadav 548.78 157.12 709.59 113.98 1,529.47 152.95
7 J Srinath 572.83 148.55 643.12 149.27 1,513.78 151.38
8 IK Pathan 710.28 85.50 488.12 174.62 1,458.52 145.85
9 M Siraj 602.83 106.20 449.79 147.37 1,306.20 130.62
10 KD Ghavri 500.00 132.57 542.70 103.12 1,278.38 127.84

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four 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 four secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Wkts Per Inn 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a bowler.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 N Kapil Dev 30 85 23.98 46.71 741.78 148.36
2 UT Yadav 30 62 19.55 36.15 715.33 143.07
3 JJ Bumrah 23 47 17.19 35.60 705.84 141.17
4 J Srinath 30 75 22.88 48.61 695.58 139.12
5 Mohammed Shami 30 60 20.48 42.02 666.82 133.36
6 Zaheer Khan 30 60 30.42 58.80 581.01 116.20
7 KD Ghavri 30 51 27.65 53.90 536.74 107.35
8 I Sharma 30 41 25.51 53.78 508.22 101.64
9 M Siraj 25 19 37.00 62.63 348.23 69.65
10 IK Pathan 26 27 50.33 97.85 321.09 64.22

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 30 80 19.14 41.20 750.04 600.03
2 IK Pathan 28 73 25.58 44.41 735.29 588.23
3 Zaheer Khan 30 82 24.72 44.59 720.21 576.16
4 I Sharma 30 62 19.65 45.13 686.68 549.34
5 N Kapil Dev 30 83 30.87 58.45 675.59 540.47
6 J Srinath 30 75 29.93 56.17 632.87 506.30
7 Mohammed Shami 30 62 24.71 43.21 626.06 500.85
8 M Siraj 30 62 25.90 45.08 606.00 484.80
9 UT Yadav 30 40 31.78 56.13 494.32 395.45
10 KD Ghavri 19 32 38.25 73.00 415.51 332.40

WKTS/INN

WKTS/INN RATING

Points to note:-

  • This rating gives points for wkts taken per inn.
  • All Teams, Top Teams and Top 7 Batsmen are the criteria used.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS WKTS WKTS/INN RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 86 205 2.38 828.37 414.18
2 J Srinath 121 236 1.95 721.14 360.57
3 Zaheer Khan 165 311 1.88 687.92 343.96
4 N Kapil Dev 227 434 1.91 680.51 340.26
5 Mohammed Shami 122 229 1.88 640.09 320.04
6 KD Ghavri 69 109 1.58 629.30 314.65
7 IK Pathan 54 100 1.85 606.07 303.03
8 I Sharma 188 311 1.65 600.23 300.12
9 M Siraj 67 100 1.49 534.69 267.35
10 UT Yadav 112 170 1.52 509.96 254.98

IMPACT INNINGS

Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings 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 takes equal to or more wickets than 5.
  • A Bowler equal to or more wickets than 2 at a good AVE or SR.
  • 1st and 2nd; and 3rd and 4th inns are clubbed together.
  • The required AVE or SR is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BOWLER INNS II II Perc RAT WTG
1 JJ Bumrah 86 41 47.67 755.59 755.59
2 J Srinath 121 47 38.84 602.01 602.01
3 N Kapil Dev 227 73 32.16 592.85 592.85
4 Mohammed Shami 122 45 36.89 587.44 587.44
5 I Sharma 188 63 33.51 571.13 571.13
6 Zaheer Khan 165 55 33.33 561.99 561.99
7 KD Ghavri 69 23 33.33 556.99 556.99
8 IK Pathan 54 17 31.48 504.72 504.72
9 UT Yadav 112 32 28.57 413.17 413.17
10 M Siraj 67 16 23.88 406.95 406.95

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above three criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BOWLER TF HM TF AW WPI II TOT SEC RAT
1 JJ Bumrah 141.17 600.03 414.18 755.59 1,910.98 191.10
2 N Kapil Dev 148.36 540.47 340.26 592.85 1,621.93 162.19
3 J Srinath 139.12 506.30 360.57 602.01 1,607.99 160.80
4 Zaheer Khan 116.20 576.16 343.96 561.99 1,598.32 159.83
5 Mohammed Shami 133.36 500.85 320.04 587.44 1,541.70 154.17
6 I Sharma 101.64 549.34 300.12 571.13 1,522.23 152.22
7 IK Pathan 64.22 588.23 303.03 504.72 1,460.21 146.02
8 KD Ghavri 107.35 332.40 314.65 556.99 1,311.39 131.14
9 M Siraj 69.65 484.80 267.35 406.95 1,228.75 122.87
10 UT Yadav 143.07 395.45 254.98 413.17 1,206.68 120.67

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK OV RANK BOWLER NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 5 JJ Bumrah IND 423.94 207.63 191.10 822.67
2 26 N Kapil Dev IND 371.35 178.91 162.19 712.45
3 32 Mohammed Shami IND 348.21 180.10 154.17 682.48
4 52 Zaheer Khan IND 324.00 159.68 159.83 643.51
5 56 I Sharma IND 315.04 157.25 152.22 624.51
6 59 J Srinath IND 309.29 151.38 160.80 621.46
7 66 UT Yadav IND 326.06 152.95 120.67 599.67
8 70 IK Pathan IND 299.08 145.85 146.02 590.95
9 93 M Siraj IND 293.29 130.62 122.87 546.79
10 95 KD Ghavri IND 281.59 127.84 131.14 540.57

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS WI PAK IND ENG
1960s WI AUS PAK IND NZ ENG
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SL

Top Teams Outside Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS ENG WI SA
1960s ENG AUS WI SA NZ
1970s SA ENG WI AUS IND
1980s WI NZ AUS ENG PAK
1990s AUS SA WI PAK ENG NZ
2000s AUS ENG SA IND NZ PAK
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND PAK
2020s AUS ENG NZ SA IND WI
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS

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