Top 5 fastest bowlers to 100 wickets in men's ODIs ft. Shaheen Afridi
The ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup has seen quite a few eventful happenings. One of them was when Shaheen Afridi bagged his 100th wicket in ODIs as Pakistan took on Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Afridi managed to become the fastest Pakistani to get to this milestone, breaking a record that former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq had held for 26 years.
The former got to the milestone after bagging the wicket of Bangladesh's opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim in the first over of the game itself.
Tanzid was struck on the pads by Afridi and given out straight away by the on-field umpire.
Afterwards, the youngster spoke to non-striker Litton Das and chose to take the DRS. The replays, however, showed that the ball was crashing onto the stumps. The decision was retained.
In this listicle, we bring to you the five fastest bowlers to get to 100 wickets in ODIs:
#1. Sandeep Lamichhane
Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane is on top of this list. He took just 42 matches to get to this milestone. The leg-spinner, who was also picked up by the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, picked his hundredth wicket in ODIs against Oman in Kirtipur in 2018.
He has often been seen as a mercurial bowler with a taste for theatrics. Although there were quite a few off-field issues that saw Lamichhane miss out in action for quite some time, he has come back stronger from them and appears to be considerably chastised.
Nepal are fortunate to have him. Lamichhane's ability to vary the pace of his deliveries is what works wonders for him.
#2. Rashid Khan
Afghanistan's star spinner Rashid Khan is the second leg-spinner on this list. He took a mere 44 matches to get to 100 wickets in ODIs, two more than his counterpart from Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane.
Rashid is the leader of the Afghanistan bowling attack in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup as he has been over the last few years. Rashid has a lot of variations up his sleeve and that is what makes him extremely difficult to tackle in limited-overs cricket.
His ability to turn the ball the other way without any discernible change in his release point is what makes him stand apart from the others in his ranks.
#3. Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen Afridi, who became the latest entrant to this club, is the second Pakistani to get there after Saqlain Mushtaq. Afridi bagged his 100th wicket in ODIs in Pakistan's game against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Afridi has the ability to move the ball both ways and most noticeably bring it back to the right-handers. He also has decent pace to boot, and that is what makes him so fearsome to openers in the limited-overs game.
Afridi is one of the few bowlers from the current Pakistan team who may go on to become a great of the game if he keeps pace with his work ethic and works on his ability to extract the best from unhelpful surfaces.
#4. Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Starc is only the second fast bowler, and the second left-arm one at that, in this list. He picked his 100th ODI wicket against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2016. He took 52 matches to get there.
Starc has not had a very good time in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup but that does not take away from the fact that he is one of the finest fast bowlers Australia has produced.
Starc has the ability to bowl deadly inswinging yorkers early on in the game, and that is what makes him so threatening.
Australia have long relied upon him to give them breakthroughs early on in the innings, and although it has not quite gone to plan this time around, one can expect that to change soon.
#5. Saqlain Mushtaq
Saqlain Mushtaq, as mentioned above, held the record of being the fastest Pakistani bowler to get to 100 wickets in ODIs for 26 years, until Shaheen Afridi broke it on Tuesday.
Mushtaq got to his milestone in just his 53rd ODI in Gwalior against India. At the moment, he is the fifth bowler on this list. Mushtaq was one of the finest off-spinners that the game saw, and the first proponent of the doosra, the ball that went the other way after pitching.
Mushtaq has worked in several coaching and consulting roles after his retirement. He was renowned for usually saving his best against arch-rivals India.