Mohammed Siraj's 181.6 kph delivery: Truth or error? Sparks debate in IND vs AUS Test

Mohammed Siraj 181.6 kph Bowling Speed: Reports of Indian bowler Mohammed Siraj bowling at a record-breaking speed of 181.6 kph during the second Test against Australia went viral. Was it a genuine record or a technical glitch?

Mohammed Siraj 181.6 kph Bowling Speed

India is playing a 5-Test series against Australia. India achieved a historic victory in the first Test in Perth. Following this, the second Test match is being played at the Adelaide Oval. This is a pink-ball Test match. India won the toss and chose to bat. Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck on the very first ball bowled by Starc. After that, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill faced the Australian bowlers.

Fastest Delivery in Test Cricket

After the score crossed 60, KL Rahul was dismissed for 37 runs off Starc's bowling. Shubman Gill then returned for 31 runs. Rishabh Pant (21), captain Rohit Sharma (3), and Virat Kohli (7) also couldn't withstand the bowling of Starc and Boland. This put India in trouble at 109 runs for 6 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin (22) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (42) helped India reach a somewhat respectable score.

With the tailenders getting out quickly, India were all out for 180 runs. Mitchell Starc took 6 wickets for Australia. Australia then started their first innings and were at 86 for one wicket at the end of the first day's play. Nathan Lyon was on 38 and Marnus Labuschagne on 20. By the start of the second session on the second day, Australia had scored 191 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

India vs Australia Test

However, an interesting incident occurred during this match. When Australia were batting, Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj bowled the 24th over. The scoreboard showed him bowling at a speed of 181.6 kph (181.6 kph) in that over. Everyone was surprised to see this.

This is because former Pakistan player Shoaib Akhtar holds the record for the fastest ball bowled in cricket. He bowled at a speed of 161.3 kph. That still stands as a record. So, netizens started praising Siraj on social media for breaking Akhtar's record by bowling at 181.6 kph.

Siraj's Bowling Speed: India vs Aus 2nd Test

But Siraj did not actually bowl at 181.6 kph. Due to a technical error in the automatic scoreboard, Siraj was wrongly shown to have bowled at 181.6 kph. It is said that Siraj must have bowled that ball at a speed of 147 kph. However, cricket lovers went wild on social media with posts claiming that Siraj had bowled the fastest ball in world cricket.