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Back in the day, when he was still a bowler during the World Cup 2003, Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan got his moment, and, surprisingly, no one was aware of it. The fast bowler was clocked at 161.3 kilometers per hour while bowling to England's Nick Knight in Newlands, Cape Town. That record has been unbroken for over two decades. We still bring it up because since that time, nobody has legitimately broken that number.
Fast forward to December 2024, a peculiar event occurred at the Adelaide Oval during a Test match between Australia and the rival side. Mohammed Siraj bowled a ball and the electronic scoreboard displayed an incredible number - 181.6 kilometers per hour. The people who were watching it on TV could not trust their eyes. The internet was quickly filled with memes and jokes about whether the Indian fast bowler had just broken all the records.
Nevertheless, the reading of 181.6 kilometers per hour was reported as just a technical error. The speed gun malfunctioned during the 25th over when Siraj bowled a delivery around the off-stump to Marnus Labuschagne. The equipment used for broadcasting made a mistake, and it wasn't an actual speed.
What Really Happened at Adelaide?
The broadcasters' speed measuring device suffered a technical problem. The device marked Siraj's delivery at an impossible speed, thus, fans soon got the problem as it was literally no human could bowl that fast. The error was immediately rectified and shortly after it became a hot topic on the internet.
However, this is not the first time that the speed guns are said to be out of calibration. There have been plethora of instances in the past where these gadgets displayed completely false figures:
In a match against Ireland in 2022, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was clocked at a spectacular speed of 201 kilometers per hour, followed by the mind-boggling 208 reading.
Shaheen Afridi during the Australian tour was going on about the speed guns showing 132-133 whereas he was actually bowling much faster.
Jofra Archer was voicing his concerns in New Zealand in 2019 when the speed guns could not display anything beyond 155 even though he was bowling at a good pace.
Matheesha Pathirana's ball was recorded as a wide at 175 kilometers per hour against Sri Lanka, which was definitely a mistake.
Why Shoaib's Record Still Stands
Shoaib Akthar earned the well deserved title of “The Rawalpindi Express.” It was a moment in history when a bowler bowled an over 100 mph delivery for the very first time. February 2003, that event will still be remembered as the highest electronically recorded speed of a ball thrown by a bowler. Guinness world records declare it the fastest ball ever thrown by a male bowler.
The ICC has said there are still some differences between electronic speed measurement globally but it has been mostly accepted as the fastest ball. Akhtar practiced like crazy to trust he could possibly throw a ball that fast. He would pull cars and trucks over miles to build the required strength that he would need to build up to trusting himself to throw a ball at that speed. The guy was putting in an enormous amount of dedication to break barriers that no one would have considered even possible at that time.
How Speed Measurement Works
Cricket today employs radar technology for measuring the delivery speed of the balls. These guns calculate the speed of the ball right at the moment it is released from the bowler's hand. They do not monitor the further process or how fast it feels when the ball reaches the batter. Though the technology has gained more accuracy with time, it is not perfect yet. Different stadiums use different brands and setups of the equipment.
So far, these are the accuracies we know in measurement:
Radar guns can produce errors of about 3 percent at maximum speeds
At 90 miles an hour, the laser could be nearly off by 3 miles an hour
Compared to the radar guns, app-based systems like Fulltrack AI are usually the ones that overestimate speeds
If there is no proper setup by neutral parties, the truth about the accuracy of the systems will always remain a question.
Technical problems are common per various metrics and reasons. Sometimes equipment will give the wrong numbers, whether because of software programming errors, how it's set up, or due to malfunctioning hardware. That's specifically what happened with the reading of 181.6 when Siraj performed in Adelaide.
Other Fast Bowlers Throughout History
Even though Akhtar has the official record for most wickets, there have been many other bowlers in history who have come quite close to that number. Jeff Thomson from Australia has the fastest recorded delivery at 160.6 kilometers per hour against the West Indies in 1975. Australia’s Mitchell Starc bowled at 160.4 kilometers per hour against New Zealand in 2015. Brett Lee recorded a speed of 160.1 against New Zealand in 2005.
These types of speeds can demonstrate the difficulties of bowling over 160 kilometers per hour. There are very few bowlers who are able to produce those types of speeds. It is a physical demand like no other. Bowlers need strength, discernable technique and body mechanics to be able to create the speed needed to bowl with that type sheer velocity.
The Bottom Line on Khelofun
Who officially has the fastest ball record? Shoaib Akhtar does, without question. He set the record with a delivery of 161.3 kilometers per hour in 2003, and it hasn't been broken since. That 181.6 recorded for Mohammed Siraj was just a speed gun mistake and gave everyone a laugh. Technology can fail, and that was what happened in Adelaide.
Speed records matter. They determine what is humanly possible. Akhtar went against the grain and has a record that has lasted for over 20 years. Unless someone beats the 161.3 reading in a properly validated way, Akhtar and the Rawalpindi Express remain the fastest bowler in the history of cricket.
For cricket fans before the advent of platforms that usually involved the cricket contest, when they got interested in records like this, it makes the match more intriguing [memory]. Witnessing bowlers trying their luck and bowling at extreme speeds creates memories and legacies that last forever.
On any one given day, whether it's trying to break a record, or whether a speed gun is inaccurate, when a bowler goes over 147, it's usually going to create a buzz within the fans. The conversation goes into whether that ball was 181.6 kilometers per hour
and what that looks like on the human body; but it is these same conversations that subsequently help click here the contest establish itself from generation to generation with cricket fans that love raw pace and strength.
Speed measuring technology is only going to get better. Who knows; maybe we actually see Akhtar's 161.3 record broken in our lifetime.
Prior to anything, we, presumably, have one clear answer to the fact of the fastest ball angled bowled. The P(161.3) versus P(181.6) is immediately not (P), as one is entirely a factual answer and the other is an electronics node. Khelofun fans know the difference between minute factors and the machine, and that's what keeps fans engaged and down to earth and factual!