FAST,FASTER,FASTEST

10. Lasith Malinga

Lasith Malinga

Separamadu Lasith Malinga is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a specialist fast bowler with a rare round-arm action.His fastest delivery is 155.7 kmph During World Cup 2011 group fixture against New Zealand at Mumbai.

9. Dale Steyn

Dale Steyn

Dale Willem Steyn  is a South African cricketer . His fastest delivery is – 155.7 kmph ODI match during a bilateral series against New Zealand.

8. Shane Bond

Shane Bond

Shane Edward Bond New Zealand’s best fast bowler.His fastest delivery is – 156.4 kmph During World Cup 2003.

7. Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Sami is a Pakistani right arm fast bowler. His fastest delivery is – 156.4 kmph ODI match during a tri-series at Sharjah against Zimbabwe in April 2003.

6. Fidel Edwards

Fidel Edwards

Fidel Henderson Edwards is a West Indian  pace bowler, His fastest delivery is 157.7 kmph @ Bilateral test series against South Africa in 2003/04.

5. Andy Roberts

Andy Roberts

Andy Roberts is a former West Indian cricketer. He was an excellent fast bowler, twice taking seven wickets in an innings of a Test match. His fastest delivery is 159.5 kmph against Australia in Perth 1975.

4. Jeffrey Thompson

Jeffrey Thompson

Jeffrey Robert Thomson is a former Australian cricketer. He was one of the fastest bowlers his fastest delivery is 160.4 kmph  against West Indies in Perth 1975.

3. Brett Lee

Brett Lee

Brett Lee  is an one of the fastest Australian bowlers in world cricket. He bowled his fastest delivery of 160.8 kmph 2005 bilateral series against New Zealand at Napier.

2. Shaun Tait

Shaun Tait

Shaun William Tait  is a former Australian cricketer, who only plays T20.He is a right arm fast bowler bowled his fastest delivery of 161.1 kmph  against England in an ODI.

1. Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the world. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, of  161.3 km/h (100.2 mph) 2003 World Cup fixture against England.

FROM RAGS TO RICHES

Some Players who made it big from rags to riches with hard work and determination.

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf's story of struggle is the most fascinating one. It's a testamant to the fact that it doesn't matter where you have come from, what matters is where you are going. Yousuf was born in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan to a poor Hindu Balmiki family which later converted to Christianity. His father Yousuf Maseeh worked at the railway station with family living in the railway colony. As a boy, he couldn't afford a cricket bat and so swatted the ball with a wooden bat on the roads. For a time he also tried his luck driving rickshaws. He made his debut in International cricket against South Africa in 1998. His well crafted shots attracted attention and he went on to become one of Pakistan's best batsman.

The Pathan Brother's
The rise of the pathan brother's and their struggle to the Indian team has been well documented in the Indian media. Their  father worked as a 'muezzin' in baroda and and the brother's spent most of their time in d backyard of the mosque. Their family was not well-off but the determination was there.  The brother's had only second-hand equipments to practice with. They had a rough time to begin with but slowly both the brother's made their way to the Indian team. Now both the brother's are stars at the Ipl and  well known at the International level. The brothers had a memorable partnership against Sri Lanka in a T20 match and led the team to victory which at one point  looked impossible, reliving their days in the backyard where both the brother's played together.

Makhaya Ntini
The South African pacer was the first black player to play for the nation. He was only the third South African to take 300 eickets in test matches after Donald and Pollock. Ntini hails from the hinterland of Mdingi in the Eastern Caper. He came a long way from working in the hayfields to the cricket field. He says the years of work in d fields and 15 kms of running in the fields has contributed to the stamina.

Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav grew up in small village,Valli a village of miners. His father was a coal miner. Umesh never had any intentions of becoming a cricketer till very late in his career. He had unsuccessfully applied to Army and Police. Yadav began bowling with a leather ball and joined an unfashionable team Vidarbha. Coming from a family of coalminers, it was not an easy job for Umesh. A well built cricketer who can clock above 140's consistently  and has a bright future ahead.

Ravindra Jadeja
His father was a watchman for a private security agency and sister is a nurse in a local hospital in Jamnanagar. But Ravindra Jadeja, IPL's new million-dollar baby has ensured his families passage out of lower-middle class deprivation. The All Rounder was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping  $2 million(Rs. 9.72 crore), making it the highest player bid by a franchise. He also got an oppertunity in the International Cricket and fits into the role of an all-rounder which the team has been looking for.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott
He was born in the mining villages Fitzwilliam in Yorkshire. He was the eldest of the three son's. His father had a serious accident while working in the coal fields. His spine was severely damaged and could never really recover and died. When Boycott was 8, he had an accident and almost died when he was imapled through chest by the handle of the mangle after having a from from the iron railing. In an attempt to save him, his spleen was fully removed. Despite these challenges in his life, Boycott made a name for himself as an opening batsman and later as a commentator. He is still the leading test scorer for england with more than 8000 runs.

Kieron Pollard

'It was pretty tough, it wasn't ideal getting up and and your mum say We have only X amount of money. In one of the statements's, Pollard summed up his difficult childhood. Pollard was raised by a single mother and who always ran short of money while taking care of her three kids. Cricket changed Pollard and his family's life. He now earns millions plying his all-round cricket skills for West Indies and a clutch of league based teams.

Top 10 Bowlers of All Time- My Pick

10 Chaminda Vaas:
Chaminda Vaas is the left arm fast medium bowler from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is considered to be one of the world's worst place to bowl for fast bowlers. Still, playing most of the matches in Sri Lanka, Chaminda Vaas managed to take more than 750 wickets in International cricket. Despite his impressive bowling, Chaminda Vaas was always under the shadow of Muttiah Muralitharan. Still, his impressive record made him to be in the 10th spot of top ten bowlers.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	111	194	355	29.58	66.0	2.68	7-71
ODI	322	320	400	27.53	39.4	4.18	8-19
T20	6	6	6	21.33	22.0	5.81	2-14

9 Shaun Pollock:
South Africa has always been known for the fast bowling attack. Among the good bowlers of South Africa, Shaun Pollock found himself in the top spot. The main strength of the Shaun Pollock was accuracy and swing. And, with over 800 wickets in international cricket, Shaun Pollock is listed in one of the top bowlers in cricket at 9th spot.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	108	202	421	23.11	57.8	2.39	7-87
ODI	303	297	393	24.50	39.9	3.67	6-35
T20	12	11	15	20.60	16.2	7.62	3-28

8 Joel Garner:

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	58	111	259	20.97	50.8	2.47	6-56
ODI	98	98	146	18.84	36.5	3.09	5-31
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Joel Garner was a tall strong fast bowler and had got very excellent yorker. In fact Joel's Yorker was so excellent that, it was nearly impossible to hit. He did not played many matches in cricket but, in his short career he took more than 500 wickets with an excellent bowling average. In fact Joel Garner has the best bowling average in ODI cricket.


7 Richard Hadlee:

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	86	150	431	22.29	50.8	2.63	9-52
ODI	115	112	158	21.56	39.1	3.30	5-25
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

It had been said that, Sir Hadlee had the special ability to turn any match. New Zealand has got many excellent fast bowlers but, among the best of them is Richard Hadlee. He was also inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

6 Waqar Younis:
Waqar Younis was the right arm fast bowler. He took 793 wickets in his career but, the first fascinating thing is that, he had got the deadliest of yorker. He seldom opened the bowling despite being one of the leading wicket taker in Pakistani team after Wasim Akram still, he managed to become the greatest bowler in cricket, you will ever see. 

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	87	154	373	23.56	43.4	3.25	7-76
ODI	262	258	416	23.84	30.5	4.68	7-36
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

5 Anil Kumble:
Anil Kumble from India is the another important name is bowling history of world cricket. Kumble is leg break spin bowler. He is not a big turner of ball still, his accurate line ,length and googly was so effective that he beacame one of the successful bowling history. He has taken more than 950 wickets (956 wickets to be exact) and third most wicket taker in international cricket.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	132	236	619	29.65	65.9	2.69	10-74
ODI	271	265	337	30.89	43.0	4.30	6-12
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

4 Glenn McGrath:
Glenn McGrath is the right arm fast medium bowler from Australia. He has taken more than 900 wickets in test cricket at very impressive average. Glenn McGrath accurated line, length bowling and swings were his weapons. There is no doubt Glenn McGrath made to the list of top ten bowlers in cricket world.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	124	243	563	21.64	51.9	2.49	8-24
ODI	250	248	381	22.02	34.0	3.88	7-15
T20	2	2	5	15.80	9.6	9.87	3-31

3 Wasim Akram:
Wasim Akram and quick and was a master in swing and seam. Although subcontinental pitch does not supports the fast bowling, Wasim Akram mangaed to move ball in bothe ways and took more than 900 wickets. He is also the second highest wicket taker in ODI cricket with 502 wickets.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	104	181	414	23.62	54.6	2.59	7-19
ODI	356	351	502	23.52	36.2	3.89	5-15
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

2 Shane Warne:
Leg break is one the difficult ball to control the line and lenght. Still, no one can argue that, Shane Warne is in the top 2 after the fact that, Shane Warne took more than 900 wickets in International cricket bowling leg break and most bowling in Australian pitch which does not support spin bowling.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	145	273	708	25.41	57.4	2.65	8-71
ODI	194	191	293	23.73	36.3	4.25	5-33
T20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

1 Muttiah Muralitharan
And, finally top bowler in the world, its no one other than Muttiah Muralitharan. Muttiah Muralitharan has an ability to spin the ball even in glass due to his unique off spin action. Muralithan has taken more than 1300 wickets in international cricket and he is the highest wicket taker in both forms of cricket. So, without any doubt, Muttiah Muralitharan tops the list of top ten bowlers of all time.

	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	S.R.	Economy	Best
Test	133	230	800	22.72	55.0	2.47	9-61
ODI	339	331	517	23.11	35.3	3.92	7-30
T20	12	12	13	22.84	21.6	6.31	3-29

Bizzare, Famous and Interesting

Cricketers to play for 2 countries - Amir Elahi, Gul Mohammad, AH Kardar first for India then Pakistan. JJ Ferris, WE Midwinter, WL Murdoch, AE Trott, SMJ Woods first for Australia then for England. SC Guillen (windies to Kiwis), F Hearne & F Mitchell (England to South Africa), Nawab Pataudi Senior (England to India), AJ Traicos (South Africa to Zimbabwe) and Keppler Wessels for Australia then South Africa. Wessels also features in out list of best debuts in test match cricket.

Most consecutive test matches - were played by Allan Border of Australia. 153 in all without missing a single test. Mark Waugh played 107, Sunil Gavaskar of India comes at 3rd position with 106. No other test cricketer has ever gone past 100 test without missing any, but Dravid (93 tests), Adam Gilchrist (90) and Sachin Tendulkar with 84 sucsessive for their countries.

Most "Man of the match" awards - a very close fight here. As of today, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne & Jacques Kallis of South Africa have won 17 MOM awards each in test matches. Next in line (and still playing) is Aussie captain Ricky Ponting with 14.

Most Extras in an innings - Pakistan against West Indies at Georgetown ,Guyana. A total of 71 extra runs were conceeded by Pakistani's, with 21 byes, 11 legbyes, 4 wides & no less than 38 no balls. The only team to come close is again Pakistan with 68 against same windies team at Bridgetown. 

Youngest test cricketers - Hasan Raza of Pakistan. He was only 14 years and 277 days old when made his debut against Zimbabwe at Faisalabad. Mushtaq Mohammad was 15 years & 124 days old. Another sub-continent cricketer - Mohammad Sharif from Bangladesh played his first test match at an early age of 15 years and 189 days. Aqib Javed of Pakistan burst as a special swing bowler at the age of 16y205days against a test against New Zealand. Waqar Younis made his debut against India at Karachi with just one day to go for his 18th birthday.

Oldest test cricketers - make really a bizzare list of records. Wilfred Rhodes holds this record of playing test cricket as most aged cricketer - 52 years & 165 days he was then. Oldest man to make his test match debut is James Southerton, playing first test against Australia 223 days before his 50th birthday.

The relationship cricketers - make another amazing list. A total of 36 father-son combination have played International test matches. A pair of four brothers (Hanif, Mushtaq, Sadiq & Wazir Mohammad for Pakistan), 6 pair of three brothers (Chappells & Ranatunga's the famous ones) and no less than 66 two brother pairs have graced test cricket at certain point of time.

Cricketers in other sports - are a few, but not many if Football (soccer) is not considered. 19 of them played cricket and soccer for their country, with most famous being Vivian richards for Antigua and R foster of england who in fact captain England in both Cricket and football. 11 cricketers have played International Hockey, with Jonty Rhodes of South Africa as the most famous & recent one. 28 have played International Rugby and cricket, where as 6 played professional Tennis with cricket. Keppler Wessels again must be mentioned who was given tennis scholarship from University of Houston but declined.

India Vs New Zealand: A Build up

India will look to start fresh when they take on New Zealand in first Test in Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Thursday.
India haven't lost a home Test series since November 2004 and and have won 9 of their 13 matches. New Zealand on the other hand haven't won an away series against oppositions other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe Since 2002. These stats clearly suggest that India will go into the Test series as the overwhelming favourites. Even Indians have had a poor run in the last few Tests which include a whitewash against England an Australia. But the fact that the lions are playing their Den gives them the total control over their opponents.

In the face of such staggeringly one-sided stats, New Zealand's only hope seems to be the high number of draws that are played out in India and in the matches between these two teams. The draw percentage in India since November 2004 is 38%, only marginally lower than West Indies' 40% - these are the two countries with the highest draw percentage during this period. Also, the draw percentage in India-New Zealand Tests is 50% (25 draws in 50 Tests), which is second only to the number of stalemates in India-Pakistan Tests. In 11 Tests between India and New Zealand in India since 1990, eight have been drawn.

A reality check awaits the Indian team as it gears up to begin life without the famed batting duo of Dravid and Laxman. The challenge now for the Indian team is to overcome the transition in the coming home season in which they will play 10 Tests, 13 ODI's and 3 T20's and also a T20 World Cup in September.It is no secret that the mighty Australians are still struggling after the fading away of their cricketing greats. Thus, India`s young brigade would be keen to overcome this tough phase with the help of Tendulkar`s experience before their real test starts in 2013 when they take on the current No. 1 Test side, South Africa on their home turf.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Ajinkya Rahane, Subramaniam Badrinath and Piyush Chawla.

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (Capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee, Kruger van Wyk, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Tests between India and New Zealand

	Tests	Ind won	NZ won	Draw
Overall	50	16	9	25
In India	29	11	2	16
In India since 1990	11	3	0	8

Highest draw percentage in Tests between two teams (Qual: 10 Tests)

Teams	Tests	Wins (T1/ T2)	Draws	Draw %
India v Pakistan	59	9/ 12	38	64.41
India v New Zealand	50	16/ 9	25	50.00
India v West Indies	88	14/ 30	44	50.00
England v Pakistan	74	22/ 16	36	48.65
New Zealand v West Indies	39	9/ 12	18	46.15

Indian batsmen in Tests v New Zealand

Batsman	Overall-Tests	Average	100s/ 50s	In India-Tests	Average	100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar	22	49.41	4/ 8	11	49.28	2/ 3
Virender Sehwag	10	44.41	2/ 3	5	71.87	2/ 3
Gautam Gambhir	6	68.00	2/ 3	3	41.75	0/ 2
MS Dhoni	5	49.83	0/ 3	3	36.00	0/ 1
Suresh Raina	3	6.50	0/ 0	3	6.50	0/ 0

VVS Laxman -The saviour

Some memories never die. They make you feel warm on a cold night. They make you feel young again. VVS Laxman's 281 against Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and his 376-run partnership with Rahul Dravid at the Eden Gardens in March 2001 is one such treasure. In the hour of need, with imminent defeat staring in the face, champions rise and become part of folklore. VVS Laxman was one such hero – the ever dependable figure who produced his best in situations of crisis. Every one talks about the might of the Indian batting line-up, But when this formidable line-up stutteres, they looked upon the elegant Hyderabadi to clear the muddle and lift india to safety. VVS along with Rahul Dravid scripted a number of great comebacks.

Here is a list of Laxman’s greatest efforts in the deepest muddles – knocks that rewrote history and carved his own niche.

281 vs Australia at Kolkata, March 2001

It is a knock that defined the word epic and put Laxman’s name into the annals of cricketing history for eternity. Australia had won the first Test at Mumbai, scored 445 in the first dig at Kolkata, and then bowled India out for 171 and asked them to follow on. Steve Waugh & Co, riding on 16 successive Test wins, were thinking of ways to celebrate the conquest of their final frontier when VVS, promoted to No. 3, joined forces with an out-of-touch Rahul Dravid. Both added 376 for the fifth wicket as India declared at 657 for seven and then bowled a stunned Australia out to eke out an unthinkable win. Laxman hit 281, then the highest individual score by an Indian in Tests.

148 vs Australia at Adelaide, December, 2003

 India were reduced to 85 for four after the Aussies had amassed 556. Both VVS and Rahul then started to battle with the Australian bowlers and calmly got the scoreboard ticking. It was déjà vu Kolkata as Waugh’s Australians felt the heat again. By the time Laxman was dismissed for 148 – a fluent knock full of his trademark shots – India were in a position of relative safety. Laxman and Dravid added 303 for the fifth wicket as the visitors reached 523. India then bowled out Australia for 196 and successfully chased 233 to record a rare overseas win that gave them a 1-0 lead in the series.

 178 vs Australia at Sydney, Jan 2004

This match is best remembered for Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 241 without stroking a boundary on the off-side , but what also stood out was a regal 178 off Laxman's bat. Both the batting geniuses added 353 for the fourth wicket as India put on a humungous 705 for seven in the fourth and final Test.

 73 not out vs Australia at Mohali, October , 2010

India, chasing 216 were looking down and out at 124 for eight, with Ishant Sharma giving company to Laxman, who was writhing in back pain. The Hyderabadi, however, pulled off a miracle , and added 81 with the tailender to give heartache to the Aussies. The 'heartache' turned to 'heartbreak' as VVS then took India home with last man Pragyan Ojha in, to pull off a one-wicket win for India.

 96 vs South Africa at Durban, December , 2010

It was a tricky wicket and bothe sides had a difficult time adjusting to the conditions. India were bowled out at 205 where VVS top scored with 38 runs. South Africans were bundled out for 131 in their first innings giving india a crucial advantage. In the second innings, Indians were struggling at 56 for 4 when laxman came to the rescue and helped india reach a winning total of 303. This includes a vital partnership of 70 with Zaheer for the eighth wicket.