A day after Anrich Nortje’s record ball in the IPL got former cricketers talking, ex-Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has responded to a tweet where Ian Bishop praised the South Africa quick for his effort. Delhi Capitals pacer Nortje clocked a ball at 156.2 kph, the fastest ball ever bowled in the history of IPL, overtaking Dale Steyn’s 154 k/h delivery long ago.
Bishop, the former West Indies quick, was one of the many to say good things about Nortje. He had tweeted: “Anrich Nortje just knocked Butler over with a 155kph rocket of a ball.” This came after Nortje, who was constantly bowling at over 150 clicks, had castled Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler with his record-breaking delivery.
But if Latif is to be believed, there was nothing unique about it since he believes 150 kmph or more is ‘routine ball speed.’ In reply to Bishop’s tweet, Rashid tweeted: “In past 150 is routine ball speed you, Sir curtly Ambrose, Walsh, Anthony, Brett Lee, Waqar, Bond, Shoaib and Sami consistently bowled fast in ODI and Test matches,” and tagged the likes of Curtly Ambrose, Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis and Shane Bond.
However, it takes nothing away from the fact that Nortje entered the IPL record-books, even though he admitted he wasn’t aware of his record fastest ball.
“Really? No idea. Hearing it for the first time,” Nortje replied after the match on being asked about his record-breaking delivery. “[I’ve] been feeling it the last few days. Nice to see some results. Buttler played them really well. Maybe I was a touch too full. Didn’t expect him to go for a six first ball. Maybe he was expecting something else off that delivery. Stuck to my strength and paid off.”
Source: IPLT20.com