Stats: Comparing Zaheer Khan's record with the best Indian fast bowlers

Zaheer Khan has taken 282 wickets in 200 ODI matches

In ODIs

Overall stats

Player	Matches	Wickets	Average	Best Bowling Figures
Zaheer Khan	200	282	29.43	5/42
Kapil Dev	225	253	27.45	5/43
Javagal Srinath	229	315	28.08	5/23
Venkatesh Prasad	161	196	32.30	5/27
Ashish Nehra	120	157	31.72	6/23

In One-day internationals, the Indian quicks have done a far better job. This should not come as a surprise as the men in blue have always been quite dominant in the shorter format of the game.

Srinath leads the way with a whopping 315 scalps from 229 matches at an average of 27.45 is the pick of the bowlers, with Zaheer Khan closely following him with 282 wickets from 200 games.

Nehra’s 6/23 against England in the 2003 World Cup, when he single-handedly ripped the heart of the English batting line-up with unprecedented precision and movement, is the best bowling figures by an Indian fast bowler in a World Cup match.

Player	5 Wickets	Economy	Strike Rate
Zaheer Khan	1	4.93	35.8
Kapil Dev	1	3.71	44.2
Javagal Srinath	3	4.44	37.8
Venkatesh Prasad	1	4.67	41.4
Ashish Nehra	2	5.19	36.6

The overall numbers indicate that Javagal Srinath has been India’s finest fast bowler in ODIs.

On the other hand, Kapil’s economy of 3.71 is not at all baffling, considering the generation in which he played the gentleman’s game.

Home stats

Player	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy	Strike Rate
Zaheer Khan	65	94	30.21	5.19	34.8
Kapil Dev	85	100	27.15	4.00	40.6
Javagal Srinath	80	103	30.51	4.58	39.9
Venkatesh Prasad	46	64	28.76	4.76	36.2
Ashish Nehra	33	42	42.11	6.36	39.7

Except Nehra, all the other 4 bowlers possess a bowling average below 31 at home, with Srinath again leading with 103 scalps at an average of 30.51 and a remarkable economy of 4.58.

Zaheer’s economy might be slightly higher, thanks to the advent of T20 cricket in this century, although 94 wickets from 65 matches at a strike rate of 34.8 is far too big to be overlooked.

Away (home of opposition) and neutral venue stats

Player	Matches	Wickets	Average	Economy	Strike Rate
Zaheer Khan	135	188	29.04	4.8	36.2
Kapil Dev	140	153	27.64	3.55	46.6
Javagal Srinath	149	212	26.9	4.37	36.9
Venkatesh Prasad	115	132	34.02	4.63	44.0
Ashish Nehra	87	115	27.93	4.72	35.5

As per the statistics, it’s very clear that Javagal Srinath has been India’s best fast bowler in ODIs with 212 wickets from 149 matches. However, Zaheer’s wicket taking ability irrespective of the venue is also something that is worthy of a lot of praise.

It might not be absolutely right to compare these rare talents, as they are players of different eras, but to some extent, statistics might help us to analyze the performances of these pacers.

No matter whatever the stats tell, on their day, these tearaway quicks were nothing short of world-class and have also scripted numerous victories for the Indian cricket team.