Bowling with the new ball is an art. To manage the new ball lot of hardwork is required. Some of the bowlers in International arena have mastered this art i.e, bowling with the new ball. In this article, we’ll look at top 10 most dangerous new ball bowlers in International cricket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Despite bowling at a gentle medium pace, Kumar is extremely skilful and capable of generating a prodigious swing with the new ball both ways in almost any conditions. His mastery is such that he has not needed extreme pace, prolific seam movement or variations to take wickets in his career thus far.
Mitchell Johnson
Australia’s Mitchell Johnson started his career has young speedster playing the second fiddle to Glen McGrath and Bret Lee. Post the legends retirement, the baton was passed to his hands to carry on the legacy forward of bowling with the new ball.It was the 2013 Ashes series, when the speedster displayed his ruthless avatar giving bruises and wounds to the batsmen making them feel feared. He rediscovered the lost aggressive brand of fast bowling, when the batsmen were found hopping against the rising deliveries.
Trent Boult
The skillful New Zealand fast bowler is a silent killer, making one of the world’s best bowlers Boult bowls calmly with no buildup and has already taken over 500 wickets in international cricket.
Pat Cummins
The Australian captain and fast bowler is currently the number two Test bowler. He is also one of the best bowlers in limited-overs cricket. He has been expectional with the new ball . Also, many batters trembled with his sharp pace bowling. His accuracy and consistency make him one of the best bowlers in the world.
Jeff Thompson
Jeff Thompson along with Dennis Lillee was the most fearsome bowling partnership of all time. He was the first bowler to have a slinging action, making it almost impossible to catch the sight of the ball. He was lightning fast and played with the batsman psychology and invading them mentally. It was like hundred bullets fired at once on the batsmen.
Michael Holding
Michael Holding also nicknamed “Whispering Death”. His main weapon wasn’t Yorker or nagging line and length towards the off stump. He was brutal and targeted the batsman’s head. The chances of casualties were at a maximum. Those days the batsmen didn’t have helmets for protection. A minor judgment and you are gone. Playing against him was like going for war. Due to his clean and butter run up surprising the batsmen with bounce, he was called the whispering death. Michael Holding bowled the fastest delivery at the sheer pace of 95.2 miles he was almost unplayable with the new ball.
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar also nicknamed “Rawalpindi express” was a nightmare for batters across the globe. His thunderbolt pace made the life hell for the batsmen. He loved attacking the top pedigree of batsmen. His one lethal bouncer showed Brian Lara stars during the day and within seconds the batter was lying on the ground. It was more about survival than attack against the Rawalpindi express. His cobra biting Yorkers broke the toes of many batsmen. It was better getting out than getting injured. He is the fastest bowler in the world till date, clocking the rampage speed of 100.1 miles per hour and one of the moat dangerous bowler with the new ball.
Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad has been a key component of the England team since 2008, and he has many attributes that have made him successful bowler for England over the years.His height gives him the ability to generate good bounce on hard pitches and makes him the dangerous new ball bowler. His pace means he can bowl aggressively when required. However, it is his ability to swing the ball, particularly in English conditions, that has brought him the majority of his wickets.
One such spell was his 6-25 against India at Old Trafford this summer, in which he blew away the Indian batting order with aggressive swing bowling.
James Anderson
James Anderson has every trick in the swing-bowler’s manual, the hooping out-swinger, the darting in-swinger and the canny use of reverse swing as the ball deteriorates.England rely upon Anderson for crucial wickets, and he rarely fails to deliver. Their rise to top of the world rankings owed a lot to his wicket-taking ability, and he was still performing as they fell away. He is one of the moat dangerous bowler with the new ball.He will go down in history as one of the best new ball bowlers of all time.
Dale Steyn
In first position is not just the best new ball bowler in the world, it is the best bowler in the world: Dale Steyn.He can take every kind of wicket: vicious bouncers and yorkers can be followed by phenomenal out- and in-swingers. He is also an expert at utilising reverse swing—adding another string to his bow with the old ball.Lots of bowlers can swing the ball, but it is Steyn’s pace, competitive edge and skill that set him apart from the competition.