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Test cricket is all about taking 20 wickets. Without that one can not win a test match. That is why captains throughout decades have always tried to make bowling line up that will rip through opponents. From the mighty West Indies to invincible Australia and then Graeme Smith's pace attack they all have one thing, hunger for wickets. Not only pacers, spinners like Shane Warne, Muralitharan and Anil Kumble was as lethal with the ball as any could be. This makes us reveal the bowlers with the best strike rate with more than 200 test wickets.
Read Also: ICC Men's Cricketer of the year since 2004
What does strike rate mean in terms of bowling?
For a batter, strike rate means how many runs he would score in 100 balls. For a bowler, the strike rate means how many balls he takes to take one wicket. They calculate it by dividing the total number of wickets taken by the bowler from the total number of balls bowled by the bowler.
Bowling strike rate = (Total wickets taken)/ (total balls bowled)
Top 8 bowlers with best strike rate in test cricket with more than 200 test wickets
#8 Mohammed Shami | 49.8
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Mohammed Shami under the captaincy of Virat Kohli flourished a lot as a striker bowler. He has been fabulous with both the new and the old ball. Shami, who is always praised for his seam presentations and relentless bowling, has taken a test wicket in 49.8 balls.
The pacer till now has played 57 test matches for India. He has bowled 10413 balls in his career and taken 209 wickets. Ashtonishlgy his strike rate has been better in India than in overseas countries like Australia and England. This speaks for his strength to bowl in flatter conditions.
#7 Fred Trueman | 49.4
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Fast and frightening, these are the two words you need to use to describe the man from Yorkshire, England. He was the first-ever player to take 300 test wickets. It could have been 400 if he had not missed many matches due to discipline issues and misconduct. He reduced India to a 0 for 4 in his debut Test, which was the start of a remarkable test career of 67 test matches.
Freddie Trueman finished with 307 wickets and had an outstanding average of 21.57 which was unmatching back then in the late 50s.
#6 Mitchell Starc | 49.2
Tall, quick, aggressive and an Aussie, Mitchell Starc always had everything to be a great fast bowler. Though the road to greatness was not always easy for the left-armer. Injuries have always worried him. However, when Starc gets his tail up it is quite a view for the spectators, not for the batters though. Though he debuted for the Australian team in 2011, he could only cement his place after a magnificent 2015 season.
Till now Starc has played 62 test matches and has taken 274 wickets in them. Although he might be more expensive at the time considering his other partners, Starc's ability to take wickets at any situation of the game still makes him one of the best in the world. His bowling strike rate of 49.2 among the bowlers with 200+ wickets makes him sit on the number six on the list.
#5 Allan Donald | 47.0
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Named as the White-lightning, Donald was perhaps the most loved yet feared bowler on this list. He was quick, on your face and accurate. His run-up was one of the most beautiful things on a cricket field. Donald was the first one from his country to take 300 test wickets. If it would not have been for the injuries, the white lightning surely would have been the first South African to 400 test wickets.
In his 72 tests, Donald took 330 wickets at a bowling average of 22.5 and a strike of 47 with 20 five-wicket hauls in them.
#4 Malcolm Marshal | 46.7
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A fearsome part of the most feared bowling lineup ever to take the field, Malcolm Marshal of West Indies comes at number five of our list of bowlers with the best strike rate in Test Cricket. Marshal was the 4th quickest to 300 test wickets in the history of the game. He was a bit of a dancer in his run-up with an attacking mind to send rockets down the wicket.
Marshal took 376 test wickets in the 81 test matches that he had featured. He also had an outstanding average of 20.94 runs per wicket. He also won a staggering 6 Man of the Series award in his test career. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul holds more awards (7) than him as a West Indian.
#3 Waqar Yunis | 43.4
If anyone could hit the batter's toes at will, it was Waqar Yunis. Perhaps known for his lethal bowling with the older ball, Waqar always had the knack of hitting the stumps quite often than not. Though he had lost his charm in the latter part of his career, Waqar always had the skill to blow up any team in his day.
The Pakistani spearhead bowled 16224 balls in his 87 test matches. His 373 test wickets came at a strike rate of 43.4 balls per wicket. Although his strike rate against teams like India, Australia and South Africa are 80.2, 62.7 and 50.6 respectively.
#2 Dale Steyn | 42.3
Dale Steyn is perhaps the best test bowler of the last decade. Yes, there might be a comparison of him with James Anderson, but his ability to take wickets at any situation of a test against any opposition makes him arguably the best of the lot. The South African pacer is the highest wicket-taker in tests for his country. Moreover, he also holds the record for the most fifer taken by any South African.
Steyn bowled 18608 balls in test cricket in his 93 tests. He finished his career with 439 wickets and 26 five-fors against his name.
#1 Kagiso Rabada | 40.7
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KG Rabada as they say is as mean as it gets. He is genuinely quick and at you. Moreover, he is relentless. To be fair, South Africa never missed Dale Steyn when they had Rabada firing it from an end for them. Except against New Zealand, Rabada has a strike rate of below 50 against every test playing nation, which eventually makes a threat in any conditions and against any opponent.
A 52 tests old Rabada now has 233 test wickets and still has a long career ahead of him. He surely is the one to go past Dale Steyn's record in future. With a 40.7 bowling strike rate, Rabada tops the list among the bowlers with more than 200 test wickets. Moreover, he also ranks 4th in career strike rate in Test cricket's history.
