IPL 2018: Top 5 Fastest balls bowled in the first week of the season

The 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is proving to be a highly entertaining season already. The season has commenced just a week ago and the entertainment quotient has already been on the nail-biting level. Some of the matches have gone down the wire and have been absolute thrillers. The fans have already seen a target over 200 being breached successfully, the bowlers scalping three wickets in an over and many such packages.

Conventionally, the IPL has always been a tournament renowned for the batting might. The batsmen have often been the talking points during the tournament every year. The shorter boundaries and the flat tracks are largely the reasons for this. When it comes to the bowlers, it has always been the spinners, and the leggies have dominated that sub-section even further in the hierarchy.

Very rarely do we see the IPL being highlighted for the fast bowling performances. But the 2018 edition has certainly been different. The pacers are coming up with impressive shows. The likes of Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, Ben Laughlin, Deepak Chahar, and many more have already made an imprint this season. With the first week of the tournament done and dusted, here we pick the top five fastest balls of the season thus far.

Here are the top five fastest balls of the first week of IPL 2018:

5. Ben Stokes (Rajasthan Royals) – 148.43 kmph

The Rajasthan Royals have a revamped setup in the tournament this year. Among all the players they have, the name that has made the biggest buzz is Ben Stokes. Stokes has been an impact player in world cricket. The Englishman is a tremendous all-rounder who can be impactful in all departments of the game.

In the tournament this year, he is yet to leave an impression. However, with the ball in hand, he has managed to clock some serious pace. Albeit he does not boast of too many wickets in the first week of the season, he does feature in the list of bowlers with fastest deliveries. He has clocked speeds in excess of 147 kmph on two occasions thus far.