If the openers are the ones who lay the foundation for a fruitful batting essay for the team, it’s the pacers who do the same with the ball in ODIs. Though the swing on offer is much less with the white ball, the new cherry does something on most surfaces.
This is where the wicket-taking skills of the pace bowlers come in handy, and they have the task of gaining a rich haul of wickets at all phases of an innings (with a new ball, in middle-overs, or at the death), courtesy of being a spearhead.
In this article, we will talk about the 10 fastest pacers to reach the 100-wicket milestone. Reaching 100 wickets in any format is a big thing, especially for a pacer since longevity matters, and achieving that in the least number of games will give them even more satisfaction.
Fastest Pace Bowlers to 100 ODI Wickets
| Player | Matches to 100 Wickets | Time Taken |
|---|---|---|
| Bilal Khan (OMA) | 49 | 5y 88d |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK) | 51 | 5y 40d |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 52 | 5y 306d |
| Shane Bond (NZ) | 54 | 5y 12d |
| Mustafizur Rahman (BAN) | 54 | 4y 17d |
| Brett Lee (AUS) | 55 | 3y 16d |
| Trent Boult (NZ) | 56 | 5y 165d |
| Mohammad Shami (IND) | 56 | 6y 17d |
| Jasprit Bumrah (IND) | 57 | 3y 164d |
| Matt Henry (IND) | 57 | 8y 63d |
Key insights from the above stats
Among the top 15 to reach 100 ODI wickets mark the fastest, 10 are pacers, and only 5 of them are spinners.
51: Number of matches taken by Pakistani pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi to reach the 100-wicket milestone in ODI cricket. He did so in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup game against Bangladesh. He is also the third-fastest overall to achieve the landmark.
4: Of the top 10 pacers to reach the 100 wickets the fastest, 4 of them are left-arm seamers, namely Shaheen Afridi, Mitchell Starc, Mustafizur Rahman, and Trent Boult.
2: Known for their pace battery, Pakistan has 2 bowlers on this list; one is Shaheen, and the other is the legendary Waqar Younis, who took 59 matches to scalp 100 ODI wickets. Waqar, with 13 ODI five-wicket hauls, leads the pack in that regard.
Apart from Pakistan, India and Australia also have 2 bowlers each on this list. For India, it is Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, while Mitchell Starc and Brett Lee represent Australia.
25.47: This is the ODI bowling strike rate of Mohammad Shami, the least among pacers with more than 100 wickets. He is closely followed by Shaheen Afridi and Mithcell Starc. Shami has the best strike rate for any bowler in ODI World Cups (15.33)
52: Starc took only this many matches to surpass 100 ODI wickets, and he has the third most wickets in ODI World Cups (62).
3: New Zealand is the only team that has 3 bowlers to feature on this list, and they are the current pace duo of Matt Henry and Trent Boult, along with legendary speedster Shane Bond. Only a few matches separate the trio.
