Mohammad Sami claims to have bowled two deliveries in excess of 160 kph that weren't recorded

When former Pakistan bowler Mohammad Sami first started playing cricket, he was among the most promising potentials for his nation. He was also among the fastest bowlers in Pakistan and he has now alleged that he bowled two balls over 160kmph but the deliveries were not recorded because of the speed gun’s defect.

Sami had developed a devastating tandem with the legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar during his time on the national side. His deliveries used to land in the 145-150kmph zone consistently, and the pace bowling duo was a nightmare for the opposition batters. Talking about his fastest balls, Sami has claimed that he crossed the 160 kph mark twice but he was told that speed gun wasn’t working.

“I bowled two balls more than 160kmph in a match, one was 162 and the other was 164. After that, it was said that the bowling machine (speed gun) is not working. So, the balls were not counted,” Sami told paktv.tv. But if you look overall, whoever has bowled with a speed of more than 160, there have been just one or two balls in that speed. It is not like they have bowled with that speed consistently. It happened occasionally,” he further added.

The fastest ball recorded by Sami was 156.4 kph

Shoaib Akhtar is said to have bowled the fastest ball in international cricket, at a speed of 161.3 kph, when he played against New Zealand in the year 2002. Australian bowlers Brett Lee and Shaun Tait have bowled deliveries at 160kph which haven’t been registered. But Sami has claimed that he had delivered a ball to strike past the 160 mark which has not been considered.

Sami represented his country in 36 Tests, 87 ODIs, and 13 T20Is, and the fastest ball recorded under his name is at a speed of 156.4 kph, which he struck while playing in Sharjah against Zimbabwe in the year 2003. He began his Test career with a bang, collecting 8 wickets in his maiden Test against New Zealand in Auckland in 2000-2001. Two years after his maiden Test, he bagged a hat-trick against Sri Lanka at the Asian Test Championship final.

In an ODI against the West Indies later that year, he claimed his second hat-trick and became just the second Pakistani bowler to record a hat-trick in both Tests and ODIs.