Guide: fastest delivery in ipl – Record, Top Speeds & Seasons

The crack of leather on wood isn’t finished echoing when the broadcast graphic stings across the screen: 157-plus, a number that invites goosebumps and debate in equal parts. Pace is theatre in the IPL. It draws a hush in Wankhede, a roar in Eden, and it dares batters who otherwise bully good balls into the stands. The IPL’s fastest delivery conversation is a mix of raw physics, unforgiving biomechanics, careful measurement, and very human memory—where we were, who was batting, which end the speed gun sat at. This is a complete, methodical look at the fastest ball in IPL history, the top-10 fastest deliveries, the fastest Indian in the league, and the truths and myths behind the IPL speed gun record.

If you’re here for the short answer, you’ll find it first. If you want to understand why one page says a 157.7 from long ago is the all-time pace record while another crowns a 157.3 today, you’ll get that too. If you’re searching “IPL me sabse tez ball” or “IPL fastest delivery today kmph,” this covers the live context and the history.

Fastest Ball in IPL History

The fastest ball in IPL history is 157.3 km/h by Lockie Ferguson for Gujarat Titans against Rajasthan Royals in the final at Ahmedabad. That translates to 97.7 mph on the radar. It was a full-speed sequence from a slingy action perfectly suited to white-ball rhythm—high hip-shoulder separation, late snap, and a whippy wrist that sends seam and speed on the same path.

Top 10 Fastest Deliveries in IPL (km/h and mph)

How we rank this list:

• Primary sources: official IPL match feeds and broadcaster speed-gun data; cross-checks with ESPNcricinfo/Cricbuzz ball-by-ball and Hawk-Eye where available.
• We list the speed gun’s “release speed” rounded to one decimal.
• Variance note: radar/hawk-eye differences and calibration can introduce small shifts (±0.5 to ±1.5 km/h), especially beyond the top three.

Table: Top speeds (consensus range)

A note on historical discrepancies: Older lists often surface a 157.7 from Shaun Tait. Some broadcasts did show that number, but not all official datasets carry it, and multiple independent archives list different peaks for the same spell. Our editorial standard privileges official match-center speed feeds and modern ball-tracking corroboration. That’s why Lockie Ferguson’s 157.3 stands as the IPL pace record here, with Umran Malik’s 157.0 the Indian benchmark and Mayank Yadav’s 156.7 the next-best confirmed peak.

Fastest Ball by an Indian in IPL

Umran Malik holds the Indian IPL record with 157.0 km/h. A few things make that number special:

• It wasn’t a one-off: he lives above 150 when rhythm and conditions align. You’ll see sequences where each ball ticks past 152, 153, and a top-gear ball crack 156, 157.
• It’s wrist and run-up. Umran’s arm is a blur, but the engine is timing—plant foot braced, hips fire before the shoulders, whipping arm catapults the ball in the last instant.
• Control is catching up with pace. Early spells were head-down sprints; the evolution is fuller lengths to hit stumps and the occasional 120s off-cutter to scramble a batter’s pick-up.

Mayank Yadav sits right behind him at 156.7 km/h. His release is different—less sling than Umran, more classic high-release bolt. He skids the ball with hard backspin, and it hits the keeper’s gloves with a crack you feel in the bones even through TV audio. On the Indian pace leaderboard inside the IPL, the modern order looks like:

• Umran Malik: 157.0 km/h
• Mayank Yadav: 156.7 km/h
• Jasprit Bumrah: around the low 150s
• Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna: in the 150 neighborhood at their peaks

This is the most robust native speed generation the league has seen. If you’re thinking sabse tez Indian bowler in IPL, the conversation today begins with Umran and Mayank.

Season-wise Fastest Ball in IPL

The league has had eras. You can feel them through the sound and the seam, not just the numbers.

The early pace era:

• Shaun Tait and Dale Steyn gave the IPL its first spells of true intimidation—Tait with raw arm speed from a wide base, Steyn with seam-upright rockets and that violent but balanced action.
• The speed gun was a novelty then. You’d see a 152 and Twitter would sneeze fire emojis for a day. The raw surfaces were two-paced, and pace looked faster because batters had not yet normalized high-140s in T20.

The middle-IPL renaissance:

• Mitchell Starc brought left-arm velocity that swung late. Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer followed with calibrated high pace that still hit hard length. The average bail-lifter got heavier; 150 wasn’t news, it was a tool.
• Teams quietly started to scout “release speed” in red-ball and List A data, then ask, “Can this guy hold 6 balls at 145+ without losing alignment?” Spectrums of 150+ deliveries per season rose.

The modern speed boom:

• Anrich Nortje gave the white ball a new kind of aggression—ram-straight, chest-high, angled to chest or off-stump, producing top speeds and repeatable 152–155 sequences.
• Lockie Ferguson and Umran Malik unleashed peaks, with Lockie’s 157.3 becoming the IPL speed gun record.
• Mayank Yadav’s arrival gave the league a fresh Indian warp-speed story, reinvigorating the domestic fast-bowling arms race.
• The spread of bowling-load monitoring and the adoption of sprint mechanics in training means you don’t need to be a genetic lottery winner to hit 150. You need the base, the plan, and the time.

If you’re searching “fastest delivery in IPL this season” or “IPL fastest ball today,” here’s the pattern to expect:

• Early in the tournament, night games on fresh strips show peak speeds.
• As tournaments wear on, ball-striking dominates the conversation, but the top speed of the week often belongs to a quick who got three overs at the right time of day, with the right cross-wind and a dry ball.

Team traits and who tends to produce pace

While this isn’t a formal team-by-team table, certain franchises have had fingerprints on the speed narrative:

• Sunrisers Hyderabad: the conveyor belt of Indian quicks—Umran’s rise came through a clear tactical brief to bowl fast, not just good. Earlier, Steyn’s era gave the franchise an identity.
• Gujarat Titans: Lockie Ferguson’s record and their comfort with raw pace at the death signposted a risk-friendly selection policy.
• Delhi Capitals: their Nortje phase was as close as the league has come to a Test-match bouncer barrage in T20 clothing—still full tilt, still repeatable.
• Kolkata Knight Riders: cycles with overseas speed—Starc and Lockie spells, often layered with cutters from others to keep batters off-balance.
• Mumbai Indians: Archer when fit, Bumrah when menacing—even without touching all-time top speeds, Bumrah’s “feel” of pace is elite because batters pick him late.

Methodology: How IPL Bowling Speed Is Measured

If “fastest delivery in IPL” sounds simple, the measuring isn’t. Here’s how the numbers happen and why they sometimes disagree.

• Radar speed gun (Doppler): The standard stadium setup points a radar at the corridor from release to about the first third of the ball’s path. It captures the release speed, which is the highest velocity the ball enjoys in flight. This is what you see on most broadcast graphics.
• Hawk-Eye/ball-tracking: Tracks the ball through high-speed cameras, infers speed along the trajectory. It can display near-bounce speed or reconstruct release speed mathematically. Depending on the feed, you might see a number a whisker lower than radar because velocity decays after release.
• Alignment and angle: A radar placed non-axially (a few degrees off the ball’s direct line) needs calibration to “see” true velocity. Misalignment can under-read. Rarely, firmware or operator settings can produce outliers.
• Broadcast rounding: Some feeds round to the nearest integer; others show one decimal. A 156.24 can show up as 156 or 156.2 depending on the day. Over time, tiny rounding differences alter top-10 lists.

Our source hierarchy and rules

• Primary: IPL match-center speed gun values and official broadcaster feeds.
• Secondary: ESPNcricinfo/Cricbuzz commentary logs with speed callouts, plus Hawk-Eye where available.
• Tie-break: When sources disagree by under 1 km/h, we privilege the official feed. When an older broadcast claims a number that conflicts with multiple modern sources, we treat it as a legacy variance and note it, rather than canonize it.

What counts as the record?

• The fastest legal delivery measured by the official feed for the IPL game in question.
• No-balls count if they’re legal in delivery (overstep is still a ball bowled), but if a reading coincides with a known gun glitch (e.g., the instantly corrected “160+” rogue tickers you’ve seen?), we discard it.
• Beamer speeds count if the ball is bowled and measured. Dangerous but real. That said, most top readings are hard length or yorker; beamers are uncommon and rightly penalized.

How accurate is the IPL speed gun?

• In practice, very good. In the top pace bracket, expect ±1 km/h uncertainty under clean alignment. High winds, unusual angles, or bad placements can worsen that margin.
• Release speed vs near-bounce speed can differ by roughly 1.5–3 km/h. If you’re comparing radar (release) to a near-bounce camera readout, make sure you know which one you’re looking at before declaring a “new record.”

KM/H vs MPH: quick conversions

Sometimes you see km/h, sometimes mph. The exact math is 1 km/h = 0.621371 mph.

Popular conversions:

• 150 km/h = 93.2 mph
• 152 km/h = 94.5 mph
• 155 km/h = 96.3 mph
• 156 km/h = 96.9 mph
• 157 km/h = 97.6 mph
• 158 km/h = 98.2 mph

What makes a ball fast? The biomechanics behind pace

It’s easy to say “he runs in hard.” That’s not what makes the needle jump.

• Braced front leg: The plant leg must land stiff, accept violent ground reaction force, and not collapse inward. This converts horizontal run-up energy into rotational and vertical power up the chain.
• Hip-shoulder separation: Hips open first, shoulders lag, then whip—think of a bow being drawn and released. More separation (with control) equals more stored energy and arm speed.
• Trunk flex and wrist whip: After the hip-shoulder snap, the trunk flexes forward; the wrist adds the last millisecond of velocity. Quick wrists matter more than they’re credited for.
• Release height and seam: A high, fast release with clean backspin reduces early decay in flight. The ball may not swing huge, but it gets to the batter sooner and feels faster.
• Run-up rhythm: Too long and you bleed energy; too short and you never reach top speed. Ferguson, Nortje, Umran, Starc—they’re studies in personal rhythm, not generic “long run-ups.”
• Ankle stiffness and timing: The unnoticed hero. A strong ankle at plant prevents energy leaks that cost 2–3 km/h.
• Strength and, crucially, sequencing: A heavy squat alone won’t deliver 150. Sequencing—what fires when—is why the lanky kid can outgun the gym veteran.

Pitch, venue, and conditions: do they change speed readings?

Release speed—the number the gun shows—shouldn’t care about grass, bounce, or dew. But the ecosystem shapes what you see and how batters perceive it.

• Atmospheric density and altitude: Bangalore’s thinner air doesn’t change release speed, but it reduces drag. A ball may hold speed a fraction longer—sometimes enough for a radar tracking window to grab a hair higher average. It also makes the ball feel “zippier” after bounce.
• Wind: A headwind marginally resists the ball; a tailwind does the opposite. Crosswinds can mess a radar’s angle if calibration is lazy.
• Temperature and humidity: The radar doesn’t care. Keepers do. A dry ball holds seam better; a sweaty one can slip, costing energy at release. Dew can change the bowler’s grip confidence.
• Square and boundary distances: Purely perception. A 152 that flies off the edge to third man looks “faster” than the same ball punched to mid-off. Don’t confuse optics for physics.

Fastest over vs fastest spell: how to measure the other pace records

“Fastest over in IPL” sounds simple—just average the six ball speeds. But to make that meaningful, you need consistency.

• Our definition: six legal deliveries, average of release speeds from the official feed. Extras re-bowled count if they’re the sixth legal ball; broken run-ups and dead balls don’t.
• Real-world candidates: Nortje’s “Buttler barrage” is often cited—multiple balls above 150 in the same over. Umran has delivered overs that average near the mid-150s in bursts. Ferguson has ended innings with five balls at 150+ culminating in a top-speed yorker.
• Fastest spell: Over four overs, the “fastest spell” is about mean speed, not peak. In the IPL, mean speeds above 147 across a full spell are exceptional. Very few can do it without a clear decline in the last over.

IPL fastest yorker: what counts and why it matters

Yorkers don’t need to be the fastest ball you bowl, but the ones that make batters hop:

• Late-release velocity matters: A high-speed yorker at 153 sounds different on the stump mic. Archer’s best inswingers at pace have that thud. Starc’s left-arm tail adds illusion—batter sees leg stump and then hears off stump.
• Notable clips: Nortje’s thunderbolts to Buttler—one of them touching mid-150s—are the template for “IPL fastest yorker.” Lockie’s 157.3 itself was the capstone to an over that mixed a wedge of hard length with a blistering full ball. Mayank’s stump-targeters have already carried that menace: a few inches of error and you’re bowling a half-volley at 156; get it right and it’s unplayable.

Indian pace revolution: how the IPL changed “sabse tez gend” forever

Every academy now has a sprint coach and a med-ball wall. Ten years ago that sentence would have sounded like a joke. Today, Indian bowling is literate in speed.

• Role clarity: Teams give one brief to the young quick labeled “express”—don’t be clever too soon. Bowl fast, hit the stumps, threaten the badge on the shirt. Clever comes later.
• Workload intelligence: GPS units, wellness apps, bowling-count dashboards—fast bowlers aren’t kept in the dark about their own bodies. You see fewer mid-season breakdowns, more maintained top speeds.
• Technical polish: Indian quicks once compensated with effort. Now they generate speed with mechanics—front-leg bracing, hip drive, wrist wobble for late dip—instead of muscling through.

Myths and realities: reading the speed gun without losing your head

• Myth: “He bowled 160 on TV that night.” Reality: the rare on-screen 160+ you saw was almost certainly a glitch corrected by the next ball. If it wasn’t corrected, multiple archives should carry it. They don’t.
• Myth: “Faster equals better.” Reality: a fierce 142 with seam is more valuable than a wild 153 into the stands. The IPL punishes predictability. The top speed makes the headline; the change-up wins the over.
• Myth: “Batters handle 150 like it’s nothing.” Reality: they guess better, pick lengths earlier, and leverage fields smarter. But true 150 with late movement still forces late, ugly swings and top edges. The best batters look in control; most aren’t.

The craft of training for 150 in T20 weeks

Pace doesn’t live in the gym; it visits. Fast bowlers in the IPL keep it around with careful work.

• Micro-dosing speed work: Two or three max-velocity run-throughs in a short midweek session, not a marathon. The nervous system needs a reminder, not a beating.
• Ballistic med-ball throws: Translating force along the bowling plane. Hips first, shoulders after, wrist last—rehearsal for the trigger chain.
• Bound and brace drills: Single-leg bounds into a stiff plant, cueing that front-leg brake. Lose this and you lose 3 km/h and, eventually, your back.
• Skill under fatigue: The last over in the IPL happens under lights, noise, and lactic acid. Training includes short sets of three balls at near-max to hit yorker targets under a heart rate that lies to you.
• Breathing and arousal: The best over at pace is often the quietest one in the head. You’ll see elite quicks exhale sharply at coil and again at release to keep the action compact and aligned.

Hawk-Eye vs speed gun in IPL: when two truths collide

A common fan question: my stream showed 154, the comm box quoted 152—who’s right?

• Likely both, in their own frame. If one was a radar release speed and the other a near-bounce Hawk-Eye number, that 2 km/h gap is normal.
• When we assemble records, we normalize to the release speed standard. That’s how “fastest ball” lists have been tracked historically.

Comparisons that matter: Umran Malik vs Lockie Ferguson, Nortje vs Starc, left-arm vs right-arm

Umran Malik vs Lockie Ferguson

• Peak vs peak: Lockie edges it with 157.3; Umran’s 157.0 puts him in the same club.
• Shape: Lockie’s balls feel like they “arrive later” because of the whippy, late wrist and often fuller length. Umran’s hit you at chest or top of off, making batters hurry on punches and pulls.
• Repeatability: Both can live around 150 for an over. Umran’s consistency is improving; Lockie’s best death overs blend pace with line.

Nortje vs Starc

• Nortje’s hard length is a lesson in simplicity: seam up, angle in, chest-high or top-of-off, and barely any giveaway. The speed gun loves the economy of motion.
• Starc’s left-arm angle and late tail make even 148 “play faster” than it reads. Add the occasional 154–155 with full swing and you get the most uncomfortable yorker in the league.

Left-arm vs right-arm fastest delivery in IPL

Top-end velocity tends to be similar across arms at the elite tier. What changes is angle. Left-arm at 152 feels meaner to right-handers because it brings LBW and bowled into play without telegraphing, and the ball tracks across the bat. Right-arm high pace bullies the splice and gloves; both demand different scoring options.

Fastest delivery by venue: a feel-based cheat sheet

• Wankhede: quick outfield, sea breeze at night, and true carry. Radar setups are clean; fast bowlers love this place. Many top speeds have flashed here.
• Eden Gardens: more bounce than it gets credit for lately. Under lights, the ball kisses through mid-150s spells.
• Chinnaswamy: the air gives; the short square boundaries take. You’ll see quicks chase top speed early to earn an extra fielder’s worth of indecision.
• Arun Jaitley: skiddy surface spells; speeds look a touch faster off the deck. Nortje has feasted here with chest-high bursts.

Speed gun controversies in IPL: the greatest hits

• The phantom 160: Once in a while, a rogue ticker outruns reality. If a 160 appears with no surrounding context—no comms hype, no replay package, no subsequent mentions—it was likely a misread. Broadcasters usually correct on-air.
• Legacy splits: The Shaun Tait 157.7 figure is the classic case. Some broadcasts flashed it. Others archived lower peaks. Official modern feeds and cross-checks center Lockie’s 157.3 as the league record. Our list follows that consensus.
• “It looked faster than that”: Perception is shaped by length. A 149 bouncer at head height “feels” faster than a 152 yorker that hits the boot. The gun doesn’t care how scared the batter looked.

What 150+ really does to the batter

At this speed, you don’t watch the ball; you watch spaces. A batter might decide “any width” before release and stick with it. A good quick knows this and pairs pace with tight lines:

• Hard length at 151 pins the batter on the crease. The pull becomes a gamble; the punch brings the splice.
• Yorker at 153 turns defensive options into survival—blade angles must be perfect, or you’re either bowled or trapped.
• The payoff is the slower ball: a 118 off-cutter after three at 150 makes batters swing at ghosts.

Hinglish corner for the local searcher

• IPL me sabse tez ball kisne daali? Lockie Ferguson, 157.3 km/h.
• IPL ka sabse tez gend kaun? Ferguson all-time; Indian record Umran Malik, 157.0 km/h; Mayank Yadav close at 156.7 km/h.
• Aaj IPL fastest ball? Night games often deliver. Look for the speed gun graphic after the second over of a quick’s spell.

150 km/h Club in IPL: why it matters even if it’s just one ball

The club is symbolic. It says a bowler can break the game for an over. Teams don’t sign a player only because one delivery touched 150, but the club proves the ceiling. The chasm between 147 and 151 looks tiny on paper; it’s not. The batter’s backswing, trigger step, and weight transfer all have less time. In T20, fewer milliseconds is everything.

Tactical notes: how captains use pace

• The shock over: One over, two fielders back, one bouncer license, and a pre-planned slower ball. The goal is a dot and a bad hook, not a hat-trick ball every time.
• Death with pace: Not everyone can do it. Lockie and Starc can fire yorkers at top speed; others should hide pace behind a wide line and variations.
• Powerplay at the body: Nortje’s template—hard at the ribs—turns free-swingers into late, ugly flicks. If the bowler can swing it at 148+, he earns edges; if not, he earns mistimed pulls.

Why our list may differ from another page you’ve seen

• Source weighting: We prioritize official feeds and multiple independent confirmations. Some listicles cite one-off TV graphics without cross-checking.
• Rounding rules: We use one decimal place and accept the official rounding from the match feed; others round differently.
• Legacy claims: Where older calibrations disagree, we flag them rather than merge unmatched numbers into the canon.

IPL fastest delivery today vs last night: where to look, what to expect

• The nightly leaderboard is usually mid-innings. Early overs in a night game on a hard pitch are prime. If a young quick has a green light, the top tick may come in his second over, ball two or three, when the run-up rhythm is set.
• Keep your eye on Umran/Mayank-type bowlers on true surfaces; look for Nortje-style quicks when the pitch is skiddy; watch for Lockie/Starc to create a spike late with a full-tilt yorker.

Comparative context: fastest delivery in T20, ODI, Tests vs IPL

Different balls, different days. A white ball stays harder early and often skids. Red-ball speeds are measured over longer spells, often with a cushion of swing that tempts fuller lengths. The IPL’s peak speeds are comparable to the fastest global T20 leagues—sometimes higher because of the talent concentration.

Overall cricket’s fastest ever sits above the IPL’s top number by a margin. But the IPL’s mix of measured, consistent 150+ bursts across multiple quicks is unmatched in franchise cricket.

FAQ

Who holds the record for the fastest ball in IPL?

Lockie Ferguson with 157.3 km/h, set in a final at Ahmedabad for Gujarat Titans against Rajasthan Royals.

What is the fastest ball by an Indian in IPL?

Umran Malik at 157.0 km/h for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Mayank Yadav’s 156.7 km/h is next.

How accurate is the IPL speed gun?

Generally within ±1 km/h when correctly aligned. Differences with Hawk-Eye numbers come from whether release speed or near-bounce speed is shown.

Which IPL season had the most 150+ km/h deliveries?

The recent phase of the league has featured the densest clusters of 150+ readings, driven by better scouting, fitness, and the emergence of multiple specialist quicks.

Which team has produced the most 150+ bowlers?

Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, and sides that invested in express overseas pace (Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders) have dominated the 150+ conversations across different cycles.

Who bowled the fastest ball this season?

The benchmark this season has come from a young Indian quick in the Mayank Yadav/Umran Malik mold or an overseas specialist like Nortje or Ferguson. Check the latest match-week leaderboard; night games on hard surfaces usually produce the top tick.

What is the fastest yorker recorded in IPL?

Multiple contenders, with Anrich Nortje’s mid-150s yorkers against top-order batters a frequent reference. Lockie Ferguson’s 157.3 came in an over that featured a blistering full ball; it’s part of the yorker-speed lore even when listed generically as “fastest delivery.”

What is 150 km/h in mph in cricket?

About 93.2 mph. The rough conversion is km/h × 0.621371.

Is the radar measuring release speed or after-bounce speed?

The broadcast number in the IPL is release speed from radar unless otherwise specified.

Why do some outlets list Shaun Tait ahead of Lockie Ferguson?

Legacy broadcast readings and archival inconsistencies sometimes elevate Tait’s top ball above 157.3. With today’s source hierarchy, Lockie’s 157.3 is treated as the official IPL speed record.

The editorial stance you can trust

• Transparent methodology: speed gun (release) as standard, cross-checked with ball-tracking when available, one-decimal rounding, and clear notes on legacy disputes.
• Season context: pace in the IPL has risen not only at the top end but in the middle of spells. The real revolution is consistency—three balls an over above 150 at will.
• Indian focus: the “fastest ball by an Indian in IPL” is no longer a footnote. It’s central to the story, with two domestic quicks already owning places in the all-time top tier.

If you’re a coach or a player, the takeaways are simple:

• You can train sequencing, not just strength. Front-leg bracing and hip-shoulder separation are worth more than another set on the leg press.
• A yorker at 148 with late tail is more repeatable than a 155 bouncer you can’t land. Build a death toolkit that respects your ceiling.
• Night games and rhythm matter. Plan your spells backward from the over where you want your top speed.

If you’re a fan, remember this:

• The IPL fastest ball record is a single number, but the sport is broader than a spike. What keeps batters unsure—your seams, your spells, your silence—is what wins nights.

And yet, there’s magic in the spike. The split second where a bowler’s body and the stadium’s heartbeat agree, and a number flips into the high 150s. That’s why we still look up between overs and wait for the graphic.

Key takeaways

• IPL fastest delivery record: Lockie Ferguson, 157.3 km/h (97.7 mph).
• Fastest Indian in IPL: Umran Malik, 157.0 km/h; Mayank Yadav close at 156.7 km/h.
• The top-10 list includes Nortje, Starc, Archer, and Steyn; rankings beyond the top three can swap by tenths due to rounding and source variance.
• Speed gun measures release speed; Hawk-Eye can show different points on the trajectory, hence small discrepancies.
• The fastest over/spell is about repeatability; the modern IPL features more overs averaging above 147 than ever before.
• “IPL me sabse tez ball” is not just trivia—it’s the tip of a larger shift in scouting, training, and tactics.

The IPL has turned pace into a language everyone understands. You can hear it in the keeper’s gloves, see it in the batter’s hurried backlift, and feel it in the number that flashes for a heartbeat on your screen. Quick never gets old. It just gets more precise. And in this league, the next 157 might already be in someone’s legs—waiting for a night, a breeze, a run-up where everything clicks.