There are only two main types of bowling in cricket. One is Fast bowling or pace bowling and the other is spin bowling or slow bowling. The main two types are further elaborated in different kinds as fast bowling, medium-fast, slow medium fast, etc, and the same is the case with spin bowling, off break, leg break, off spin, leg spin, etc. Here we discuss all types of bowling in cricket.
Article Layout
Types of Bowlers
- Face Pace Bowler
- Fast-Medium Bowler
- Medium-Fast Bowler
- Medium Pace Bowler
- Spin Bowler
- Off-Break Bowler
- Leg Break Bowler
Fast Pace Bowler (Speed over 142kph)

For fast pace bowlers, we considered those bowlers whose bowling speed is over 142 km/h. Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhter is leading the fast bowling with its express speed. He bowled many times the fastest deliveries over 150 km/h His fastest deliveries of 161kph 160kph and 159.9kph were against New Zealand in 2002. Against Sri Lanka, he bowled with a speed of 159.5kph, 159kph, 158.4kph, and 157.4kph in the year 2002. He bowled against Australia with a speed of 157.2kph in 2001 and 156kph. Bret Lee of Australia is another speed star and has bowled over 150kph many times. His fastest delivery of 157.4kph was against South Africa in 2002. M Hayward, Alan Donald, and M Ntini of South Africa have bowled over 150kph while Waqar Younis of Pakistan, Shen Bond of New Zealand, and Darren Gough of England have also bowled over 150kph.
Fast-Medium Bowler (Speed 130 – 141 kph)
Fast-medium is those bowlers whose speed is between 130 – 141 kph. The majority of bowlers in world cricket are fast-medium category. The well-known bowlers of this limit are A. Nehra, Zaheer Khan, and Agarkar are from India, and Headley, Cris Cairns, and Chris Martin are from New Zealand. CA Walsh, CEL Ambrose, M. Dillon, and Sanford of West Indies, AM Blignaut, TJ Friend, and HH Streak of Zimbabwe.
Medium-Fast Bowler (Speed 120 – 129 kph)
The speed of medium-fast bowlers is between 120-129kph. Normally these are the part-time bowler. These bowlers are used to disturb the concentration of a set batsman and try to get them out and usually, such bowlers get the breakthrough for the team. Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Roger Binny of India, Steve Wagh of Australia, Fernando of Sri Lanka, and Colling wood of England are such types of bowlers.
Medium Pace Bowler (Speed 100 – 119 kph)
The speed of medium-pace bowlers or medium pacers is between 100 – 119kph. These are very effective in the game and are very skill full, economical, and accurate in their bowling, and are very helpful for the team and get the wicket at a crucial stage of the game and play their part in the team’s victory.
Spin Bowlers

Spin bowling in cricket has a very important and key role to turn the game. The spin bowlers are the musicians of the game. The spinners rely on their ability to rotate or spin the bowl. Even the spinners are more successful in the game than the fast bowlers. The game of cricket has produced outstanding and great spinners who won the hearts of cricket lovers all over the world. Here we mention the few men of golden arm and top spinners of the world. Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Saqlain Mushtaq, Harbhajan Singh, Rashid Khan, Graeme Swann, Jim Laker, Nathan Lyon, Mushtaq Ahmad, Abdul Qadir, and Shadab Khan. Here we discuss the type of spin bowling and the legendary artist and specialists of this bowling.
Off-Break Bowler
Muttiah Muralitharan is undoubtedly the no.1 off-break bowler in the history of cricket and is the leading wicket-taker in the field of spin bowling. He got 800 test wickets in 133 tests, 534 ODI wickets in 350 ODI, and 13 T20I wickets in 12 matches. Overall he got 1,347 wickets in 495 appearances. Saqlain Mushtaq and Harbhajan Singh are prominent off-break bowlers in world cricket.
Leg-Break Bowler
Shane Warne of Australia and Anil Kumble of India are the other two greats of leg-break bowling. Shane Warne has got 708 wickets in 145 tests, 193 wickets in 194 ODI’s, and 70 wickets in 73 T20. He got 1,071 wickets in 412 matches. While Anil Kumble of India has got 619 wickets in 132 tests, 337 wickets in 271 ODI’s, and 57 wickets in 54 T20. He got 1,013 wickets in 457 matches. Shahid Afridi and Abdul Qadir are two great bowlers of leg spin.
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