Just imagine yourself as a batsman. A bowler with the reputation to bowl at the speed of 150 km/hr is at the start of his run-up. He starts his run-up and, out of nowhere, dishes out the ball at 100 km/hr. You get tricked and make the mess of your stumps. Well, you are not the only victim of this delivery. In cricket today, the slower ball has become a widely used variation and, if executed correctly, can be a lethal weapon in your arsenal. Bowling this delivery needs hours and days of practice. Some bowlers in history had a knack for bowling slower deliveries and fetching wickets. Let us have a look at the Top 10 Slower Ball Bowlers of All Time-
1. Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Separamadu Lasith Malinga will go down as one of the greatest exponents of the off-cutter. He could deliver the ball at 150+ km/hr. This made his slower ball even more effective, especially in the death overs, when the batters expected him to bowl at a searing pace. His slingshot action, for which he earned the sobriquet ‘Slinga Malinga,’ made him even more challenging to read. He has taken the most number of wickets bowled in T20I history, proving the effectiveness of his slower yorkers at the death.
2. DJ Bravo (West Indies)
Dwayne John Bravo possesses the most deceiving slower ball in T20I history. He is often used as a death-over specialist and can choke runs with his slower yorkers. He can dip the balls with his off-cutter. His slower bowls are on full display in T20 cricket, especially while playing franchise cricket.
3. James Faulkner (Australia)
James Faulkner’s quick-arm action works in his favor while bowling the back-of-the-hand delivery. His 132 white-ball wickets are testimony to the Tasmanian’s bowling ability. Using his slower balls, he became the first Australian to take a 5-wicket in a T20I match against Pakistan in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
4. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
Jasprit Bumrah is a premier Indian pacer who, with his unorthodox action, can bowl those toe-crusher yorkers. This young man’s off-cutter is equally lethal and has fetched him the wickets of many international batters. His most memorable slower ball dismissed Australia’s Shaun Marsh lbw in Melbourne in 2018. Bumrah bowled a dipping slower ball and Marsh was late on bringing his bat down to be given out lbw.
5. Brett Lee (Australia)
Brett Lee is one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played cricket. In his prime, he was a batter’s nightmare. His reputation of clocking 155+ km/hr regularly made his slower ball even more dangerous and effective. His slower balls to trap Brian Lara in front of stumps and to castle Andrew Strauss are prime examples of his lethal slower balls.
6. Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
Mustafizur Rahman is part of the rare species of fast bowlers who have off-cutters as their stock deliveries. But such is wristwork that he can still control the speed of the bowl with the exact grip. On damp pitches, where the ball doesn’t come on to the bat, Mustafizur is a captain’s ace card. In 2015, he became the first Bangladesh bowler to take a 5-wicket haul in two consecutive innings. What is more remarkable, is that those were his first two innings in his ODI career.
7. Dale Steyn (South Africa)
Often called “Steyn Gun,” Dale Steyn was one of the greatest swing bowlers. The amount of movement he extracted through the air brought him wickets at crucial moments of the game. But his slower ball, too, was very efficient, although he didn’t use it too often. The famous slower ball he bowled to Jonny Bairstow was a delight and almost fetched Steyn a wicket.
8. Tim Southee (New Zealand)
Tim Southee has risen through the ranks since the 2008 ICC World Cup. His right-arm medium-fast bowling extracts a lot of swing in the windy conditions in New Zealand. But off late, he has also developed a deceptive off-cutter that dips through the air and catches the batter late in bringing his bat down. On slow pitches, he takes the pace off the ball and forces the batter to generate all the power, eventually fetching him wickets.
9. Zaheer Khan (India)
Zaheer Khan is one of the earliest users of the ‘knuckle ball’ in cricket. The left-arm medium-fast bowler could bowl the knuckleball with the seam upright enough to cause the ball to swing. Although he didn’t bowl those frequently but when he did, he had a lot of success with that delivery.
10. Ian Harvey (Australia)
Ian Joseph Harvey had a lethal slower ball that could breach a batter’s defense easily. In the Final of the Carlton Series in 2001 against West Indies, Harvey conceded just 5 runs in 6 overs and took 2 wickets, thanks to the unreadable slower balls.
