The world of cricket has seen some phenomenal young bowlers and I have listed five of them who took the world by storm by showcasing their incredible skills with the ball for their country and rose to the top.
#5 Waqar Younis (23 years 47 days)
Nicknamed the “Burewala Express”, Waqar is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Well-known for his speed and technique, he could devastate any battling line-up with his ability to swing the ball with great precision.
The Pakistani icon was so good at bowling longer spells with great precision that he brought a new word to the cricketing vocabulary. Batsmen were “Waqared” with legs or stumps outspread around the batting crease throughout his Test career. His ability to reverse-swing a ball at a high speed is well-respected.
He achieved the number 1 rank in Test cricket in January 1993 by taking 9 wickets at Hamilton and retained his spot for 39 matches. Alongside bowling partner Wasim Akram, Waqar formed one of the most feared bowling attacks ever.
#4 Joey Palmer (22 years, 360 days)
The right-arm spinner from Australia had a short but exquisite Test cricket career. He was considered extremely tough to play even on batsmen-favoring pitches, let alone on pitches that favored bowlers. His medium-pace style of spin bowling was well-respected in the cricket community.
He reached the number 1 spot in Test cricket in March 1882 by taking 11 wickets in Sydney Cricket Ground followed by 9 wickets in the next match. His reign lasted 12 matches and 933 days between 1882 and 1886 after which his Test career was cut short owing to a kneecap injury. He continued to sporadically play domestic cricket for nearly a decade.
#3 Sir Ian Botham (22 years 259 days)
If you are an ardent cricket fan then you must have heard about Sir Ian Botham. The ICC Hall of Famer and retired English cricketer is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He made his Test debut in 1977 and it took him a mere 11 Tests to reach the number 1 rank in August 1978 at Lord’s when he took 11 wickets against New Zealand at Lord’s.
He was regarded as a magician with the ball when it came to out-swingers and in-swinging yorkers. He was tremendous with the bat too as statistics show that at that stage, his batting average was more than forty. He spent 60 Tests as the top-ranked bowler between 1978 and 1980 which is an incredible feat considering he was competing with the likes of Dennis Lillee and Richard Hadlee at the time.
#4 George Lohmann (22 years 238 days)
The right-arm medium-fast bowler is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time considering the fact that he still owns the best bowling average (of 10.75) than any bowler with more than 50 Test wickets.
Moreover, the Englishman held the world record for the best innings bowling figures for more than sixty years. He gained the top spot in February 1888 and retained the spot for 339 days. He was also well-known for being one of the finest slip fielders and an effective batsman as well.
#5 Kagiso Rabada (22 years 211 days)
The right-arm Proteas pacer is the youngest player to ever top the Test bowling table, surpassing a record which had stood since the 19th Century.
Kagiso “KG " Rabada made his international Test debut against India at Mohali after an impressive performance in ICC U-19 World Cup in 2014 where he took 14 wickets for his team.
Well-known for his consistency and wicket-taking ability, he reached the top spot in Test cricket in January 2018 and is still at the top with an ICC Test rating of 899 points. He also reached the top spot in ODI rankings in May 2017 and retained for just 5 days.
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