Recently we did an article about Sachin Tendulkar vs Brian Lara Stats and Comparison and today it’s the turn of 2 of the fastest bowlers ever to go up against each other and see who is the better of the 2. These 2 are the ones who made bowling fast cool and they instilled fear in the eyes of the batter consistently bowling at over 150 km h and even touching the 160 kmh mark. Both of them were different but one thing was common, bowl fast and take lots of wickets.

The fact that both Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee played in the same era is staggering as the batters had to contend with both of them when they either played against Australia or Pakistan. Although Brett Lee has got more wickets than Shoaib Akhtar, the Rawalpindi Express is faster than Brett. So, let’s compare the two fastest bowlers of all time.

Shoaib Akhtar – Test Cricket

In Test Cricket it has to be said that Shoaib Akhtar was not able to fully realize his potential and play a number of test matches for Pakistan. Still, he played 46 Test Matches for Pakistan in his career and he took 178 Test Wickets at an average of 25.70 and he took 12 Five wicket hauls and 2 times he took 10 Wickets in an innings. If he had Played close to 100 Test Matches he would have had more than 400 test wickets. Shoaib Akhtar Played test cricket from 1997-2007 averaging 4 test matches a year.

Shoaib Akhtar Record vs Team in Test Cricket:

Shoaib Akhtar Record in Home and Away Tests:

Brett Lee – Test Cricket

The same however cannot be said for Brett Lee because he is a legend even in Test cricket for Australia and unlike Shoaib, he played a lot more test matches for Australia and took a lot of Wickets in the process. Brett Lee played test cricket from 1999-2008 and in 9 Years he played 76 test matches averaging more than 8 per year. He took 310 Test wickets during his illustrious career at an average of 30.62 and he had 10 Five wicket hauls. If we compare the 2 in year cricket then it has to be said that Brett Lee had the better career playing more test matches and picking more wickets but Shoaib had more 5 wicket hauls and had a better average.

Brett Lee Record vs Team in Test Cricket:

Brett Lee Record in Home and Away Tests:

Shoaib Akhtar – ODI Cricket

Shoaib Akhtar Played ODI cricket the most and it has to be said that he in this format used his abilities to his maximum and got a lot I’d success. He played ODI cricket from 1998 -2011 and in those 13 years he played 163 ODI Matches and he took 247 ODI wickets at a very good average of 24.98 with 4 Five wicket hauls in his career. He was an ODI legend for Pakistan Cricket.

Shoaib Akhtar Record vs Team in ODIs:

Shoaib Akhtar Record in Home and Away ODIs:

Brett Lee – ODI Cricket

Brett Lee here as well played more ODIs than Shoaib and he has almost 140 more wickets than him. He played ODI cricket from 2000-2012 and in those 12 years he played 221 ODIs and he took a total of 380 wickets at a great average of 23.38 and had 9 Five wicket hauls In his career. Here Brett Lee had a better average, took more wickets and had more 5 wicket hauls to his name. In ODIs Brett Lee is a better fast bowler than Shoaib Akhtar.

Brett Lee Record vs Team in ODIs:

My Opinion

In my opinion Shoaib Akhtar was a rare species that only comes once in a lifetime and he was not able to do full justice to his abilities, he did very well but he could have achieved so much more. On the other hand Brett Lee is a true legend of the game with over 300 wickets in both formats and one of the bowlers who the world feared. In my opinion performance wise in this battle Brett Lee was the winner.