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2018 was the best year for Pakistan pacers in terms of bowling average (91 wickets) since 1994!

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2018 saw Pakistan's pace bowlers take 91 wickets between them at an average of 23.00. In terms of bowling averages, it was the best year for Pakistani pacers since 1994 when Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were at their peak <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/uaME8Ilatj">pic.twitter.com/uaME8Ilatj</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1079795872857292802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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This is including the likes of Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Mir Hamza who combined average 241.

While the the 4As(Amir, Abbas, Ali and Afridi) average 19.73 with 84 wickets.
 
Pakistan's best bowlers in 2018 (Tests):

iihUYs5.png



Amazing by Amir, Abbas.
 
The key stat for Amir is that he has not taken more than 5 wickets in any game, and that is simply not good enough. He continues to prove that he is not a wicket-taker. For a strike bowler, maintaining a healthy average by taking a couple of wickets per innings and not running through lineups is not good enough.

Our bowling attack is pretty mediocre - Amir's performance has been discussed already, but Hasan is nothing special and is always on the brink of getting hammered. Abbas has was wonderful against some indisciplined batting, but the ease with which New Zealand tamed him was worrying. I fear that teams will be more watchful against him from now and he doesn't have the pace to make things happen.

Yasir was and always will be ordinary in unfavourable conditions. Shaheen is an exciting prospect, but he is too raw at the moment and there is a risk that he might breakdown. At the age of 18, he does not have to play every match in all formats.

Our bowling gets frequently overrated because in comparison to our comical batting, it will always look much better. However, it is hardly the world class bowling unit that some people perceive it to be.
 
Mamoon said:
The key stat for Amir is that he has not taken more than 5 wickets in any game, and that is simply not good enough. He continues to prove that he is not a wicket-taker. For a strike bowler, maintaining a healthy average by taking a couple of wickets per innings and not running through lineups is not good enough.

Our bowling attack is pretty mediocre - Amir's performance has been discussed already, but Hasan is nothing special and is always on the brink of getting hammered. Abbas has was wonderful against some indisciplined batting, but the ease with which New Zealand tamed him was worrying. I fear that teams will be more watchful against him from now and he doesn't have the pace to make things happen.

Yasir was and always will be ordinary in unfavourable conditions. Shaheen is an exciting prospect, but he is too raw at the moment and there is a risk that he might breakdown. At the age of 18, he does not have to play every match in all formats.

Our bowling gets frequently overrated because in comparison to our comical batting, it will always look much better. However, it is hardly the world class bowling unit that some people perceive it to be.
Click to expand...
It's futile to respond to this post, as down the line our players take offence to [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] getting trolled and try their darnest to prove him right :))
 
^^^I think even RAW takes inspiration from some of his posts lol
 
Abbas is good & since Steyn praised him , i watched him closely in last 2 or 3 Tests & he does seem to be in Philander mold who i incidentally regard as a fine bowler .
 
Probably one of the worst for our batting. The reason we lost so many games despite heroic bowling performances.

Cricket truly is a team game.
 
I think for some posters here, they read some keywords in title such as "Pakistan" "good" and then they busy themselves writing what they want to write instead of reading and understanding stats etc - understandable.
 
Our bowling as a unit is decent but not too quality [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] agreed with you regarding aamir.For me his main probelm is stamina, he goes down after first spell and it is due to his long absence from cricket. His h body is not responding the way it used to be ore ban. We can use him in bowling friendly conditions only because for me he is the bowler with some brain. More work needed to get two pacers like shahin and I hope this PSL give us one more. Shinwari would not be bad either.
 
I mean you can yap all you want, but stats don't lie.

Finally, Mickey has gotten rid of the deadweight that Misbah used to love.
 
Abbas has been phenomenal this year.

Shaheen has shown great potential as well.

Hassan has been very good. He was brilliant in the NZ series and even in the first SA test looked menacing.

Amir has phenomenal stats but taking things in context he has been above average at best and average at worst. In the Hassan Ali vs Amir debate I'd give it to Hassan. Amir played 4 matches all of which came in helpful conditions of Ireland, England (early season) and South Africa. And I agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] on one thing; the key stat for Amir is indeed the lack of 5ers. Even over the course of the match his best is 5 wickets. These are not the stats of a strike bowler. When his team needed him to stand up and produce breakthroughs he did nothing whereas Hassan almost had South Africa 2 down for less than 20 runs defending 149. It may be hard for some people to admit but Amir is now a support bowler, he'll keep things quite and may be pick up a few wickets here and there. Hassan may go for runs at times but he'll produce game changing spells many times more.

In the next match if it comes down to it I would go with Abbas, Hassan and Shaheen over Amir, Abbas and Shaheen.
 
Great pace attack which will once again keep Pakistan among the favorites in England this world cup.
 
Fahdi said:
Abbas has been phenomenal this year.

Shaheen has shown great potential as well.

Hassan has been very good. He was brilliant in the NZ series and even in the first SA test looked menacing.

Amir has phenomenal stats but taking things in context he has been above average at best and average at worst. In the Hassan Ali vs Amir debate I'd give it to Hassan. Amir played 4 matches all of which came in helpful conditions of Ireland, England (early season) and South Africa. And I agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] on one thing; the key stat for Amir is indeed the lack of 5ers. Even over the course of the match his best is 5 wickets. These are not the stats of a strike bowler. When his team needed him to stand up and produce breakthroughs he did nothing whereas Hassan almost had South Africa 2 down for less than 20 runs defending 149. It may be hard for some people to admit but Amir is now a support bowler, he'll keep things quite and may be pick up a few wickets here and there. Hassan may go for runs at times but he'll produce game changing spells many times more.

In the next match if it comes down to it I would go with Abbas, Hassan and Shaheen over Amir, Abbas and Shaheen.
Click to expand...

Helpful conditions argument doesn't work. In each of the Tests that Amir and Hasan have played together this year, Amir has averaged better and had looked more threatening without leaking runs because Amir is a better bowler out of UAE as he relies on swing while Hasan is a better bowler in UAE as he relies on reverse swing, so anyone looking at the results and ability would select Amir ahead of Hasan for the next match unless it's a pitch where reverse swing comes into play. Also when has Hasan run through a lineup outside UAE?

Stats in Tests they have played together this year:

Amir: 11 wickets at 21.36
Hasan: 9 wickets at 33.33

Hasan's economy is also higher than Amir.
 
Amir, Abbas, Hasan, and at the end their Shaheen have been excellent this year. They still have a lot to learn and improve on especially Hasan and Shaheen as they are still very young. Exciting times ahead for our pace attack!
 
Fahdi said:
Abbas has been phenomenal this year.

Shaheen has shown great potential as well.

Hassan has been very good. He was brilliant in the NZ series and even in the first SA test looked menacing.

Amir has phenomenal stats but taking things in context he has been above average at best and average at worst. In the Hassan Ali vs Amir debate I'd give it to Hassan. Amir played 4 matches all of which came in helpful conditions of Ireland, England (early season) and South Africa. And I agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] on one thing; the key stat for Amir is indeed the lack of 5ers. Even over the course of the match his best is 5 wickets. These are not the stats of a strike bowler. When his team needed him to stand up and produce breakthroughs he did nothing whereas Hassan almost had South Africa 2 down for less than 20 runs defending 149. It may be hard for some people to admit but Amir is now a support bowler, he'll keep things quite and may be pick up a few wickets here and there. Hassan may go for runs at times but he'll produce game changing spells many times more.

In the next match if it comes down to it I would go with Abbas, Hassan and Shaheen over Amir, Abbas and Shaheen.
Click to expand...
Not taking a 5-fer, yet having more wickets means the bowler is consistently taking wickets and doing damage. Taking a five-wicket haul, and going wicketless in other innings is useless for a team.

Amir has been better than Hasan in the matches they have played. Which is why Hasan will be dropped for Abbas, not Amir.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
Helpful conditions argument doesn't work. In each of the Tests that Amir and Hasan have played together this year, Amir has averaged better and had looked more threatening without leaking runs because Amir is a better bowler out of UAE as he relies on swing while Hasan is a better bowler in UAE as he relies on reverse swing, so anyone looking at the results and ability would select Amir ahead of Hasan for the next match unless it's a pitch where reverse swing comes into play. Also when has Hasan run through a lineup outside UAE?

Stats in Tests they have played together this year:

Amir: 11 wickets at 21.36
Hasan: 9 wickets at 33.33

Hasan's economy is also higher than Amir.
Click to expand...

Ever since Amir has returned people have just had their problems with him and no matter how much he performs those people will not change their minds. Yes in UAE tests Amir is not the bowler to pick unless he puts on some muscle, but outside UAE he is the leader of our pace attack. He clearly showed that in this Test he was so tight with his line and lengths.
 
leg-side-flick said:
To be completely honest, I don't think world cricket loses a lot of sleep over the performance of fast bowlers from SL and BD
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter but they haven't been good, In context Pakistani pacers have been better than Indians pacers.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
It doesn't matter but they haven't been good, In context Pakistani pacers have been better than Indians pacers.
Click to expand...

Pak Pacers have always been better than Indian ones, but am not sure if they have outperformed India in 2018.

Do you have any stats to substantiate
 
Mamoon said:
The key stat for Amir is that he has not taken more than 5 wickets in any game, and that is simply not good enough. He continues to prove that he is not a wicket-taker. For a strike bowler, maintaining a healthy average by taking a couple of wickets per innings and not running through lineups is not good enough.
Click to expand...

Not a great logic that. Amir's been consistent, and performing better than others when playing together.


Fahdi said:
Abbas has been phenomenal this year.

Shaheen has shown great potential as well.

Hassan has been very good. He was brilliant in the NZ series and even in the first SA test looked menacing.

Amir has phenomenal stats but taking things in context he has been above average at best and average at worst. In the Hassan Ali vs Amir debate I'd give it to Hassan.
Click to expand...


A classic example of actually taking things out of context, just because of being biased.

When you tried to take thing in "context", at that moment you started to have different standards for judging bowlers.

Anyway, inaccurate post -- look below:


Arsalan Pro said:
Helpful conditions argument doesn't work. In each of the Tests that Amir and Hasan have played together this year, Amir has averaged better and had looked more threatening without leaking runs because Amir is a better bowler out of UAE as he relies on swing while Hasan is a better bowler in UAE as he relies on reverse swing, so anyone looking at the results and ability would select Amir ahead of Hasan for the next match unless it's a pitch where reverse swing comes into play. Also when has Hasan run through a lineup outside UAE?

Stats in Tests they have played together this year:

Amir: 11 wickets at 21.36
Hasan: 9 wickets at 33.33

Hasan's economy is also higher than Amir.
Click to expand...

Usman Chadda said:
Not taking a 5-fer, yet having more wickets means the bowler is consistently taking wickets and doing damage. Taking a five-wicket haul, and going wicketless in other innings is useless for a team.

Amir has been better than Hasan in the matches they have played. Which is why Hasan will be dropped for Abbas, not Amir.
Click to expand...

Excellent posts based on facts.

Just goes to show just how much HATE Amir gets here. Why, oh why?

Truly can't understand why people dislike him to the extent they'd go to every length to twist facts, present things out of context and make him look like a mediocre bowler.

He's doing FAR FAR FAR better than even the likes of Mitchel Starc. But no, these folks would go all gaga over bowlers like Starc.

Ghar ki murghi daal barabar.

They want Amir to take 5W and 10W hauls every other match. Else, he's mediocre.

Probably too high a standard Amir has set.
 
leg-side-flick said:
Very little difference there.... Pak are better but not by a heavy margin.....
Click to expand...
Who here said Pakistan bowlers have been far better than Indian bowlers?

Although I have heard Pakistan pace bowlers are no match for Indian bowlers on this forum :))
 
leg-side-flick said:
Very little difference there.... Pak are better but not by a heavy margin.....
Click to expand...

Don't want to get dragged into the inane India-Pakistan comparisons.

I think India's pace attack had an excellent year and did really well on the overseas tours.

Pakistan's pacers should get better in future as it's a relatively inexperienced attack at the moment.
 
It is a terrific line up, add in a fit Shinwari and with a possible return for Raees (and finally bowling in tests) and there is a lot of depth. Add in spinners like Shah and Shadab and it is a very good line up.
 
Imagine the games these guys can win if they had a decent score to defend?

Next match, Somehow conjure up 250 runs in the first innings and leave the rest to Amir and Afridi.

Plus if it's a green top again no point in having a spinner as there is no holding job to be done. 4 pacers and 60 odd overs is all thats needed to get 10 SA wickets!

The batsmen have to step up.
 
A world class bowling attack, particularly after Shaheen establishes himself in international arena.

However, batting has been a comical one for Pakistan except what I saw of Babar during those three overs of Steyn.
 
Great achievement.!!!!

I hope Abbas is fit for the secnd test, cant wait to see him in action against the Saffers.
 
Abdullah719 said:
BphtUrK.png
Click to expand...

look at the No. of matches. India has bowled in almost double the No. of innings Pakistan bowled. Twice as many wickets. still only .7 is difference in avg with a better SR.
so, if Pakistani bowlers did "best performance in a year since 1994", Indian bowlers have got similar results in much larger sample size, which makes their performance even better considering their workload and longevity.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
Helpful conditions argument doesn't work. In each of the Tests that Amir and Hasan have played together this year, Amir has averaged better and had looked more threatening without leaking runs because Amir is a better bowler out of UAE as he relies on swing while Hasan is a better bowler in UAE as he relies on reverse swing, so anyone looking at the results and ability would select Amir ahead of Hasan for the next match unless it's a pitch where reverse swing comes into play. Also when has Hasan run through a lineup outside UAE?

Stats in Tests they have played together this year:

Amir: 11 wickets at 21.36
Hasan: 9 wickets at 33.33

Hasan's economy is also higher than Amir.
Click to expand...


Point conceded.

Usman Chadda said:
Not taking a 5-fer, yet having more wickets means the bowler is consistently taking wickets and doing damage. Taking a five-wicket haul, and going wicketless in other innings is useless for a team.

Amir has been better than Hasan in the matches they have played. Which is why Hasan will be dropped for Abbas, not Amir.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Strike bowlers come up with big performances. Amir's best in a match is 5 wickets in total. He couldn't manage one instance where he took 6-7 wickets over the course of the match. These are the performances of support bowlers who looks to keep things quite and nip away a couple of wickets. Which is my problem with Amir; he had and still has the makings of a top bowler but he has bowled like a support bowler in all his matches the previous year, very rarely has he bowled attacking lines and lengths often enough.

Hassan has poor stats mostly because he lacks discipline and experience of these conditions. He gives away plenty of hit me balls which release the pressure. But despite that he has bowled attacking lines and lengths and has had more venom in his bowling as compared to Amir. The last match was a perfect example, while Amir kept to his usual stuff Hassan steamed in and almost had South Africa 2 down for less than 20. Amir looks like he'll be happy with 2/40 whereas Hassan is someone who wants 4-5 wickets every time.

Amir is the safer option for the next match no doubt and its a safe bet that he may do better than Hassan but knowing what Hassan can do if he is a bit more disciplined with his bowling I'd go with Hassan.
 
Even the current Amir is a good bowler. Probably better than anyone from Pakistan. Abbas has had Asif like start. May be Pakistan can find someone to replace Hasan. Shaheen will take a while to become a good test bowler. Yasir will continue haunting opposition at Dubai. But like India batting depth is poor because of these bowlers.
 
So-called best attack continues to get exposed.

This unit is a busted tyre. They huff and puff for the first few overs before resorting to harmless trundling.
 
The disappointing thing is they can't even keep it tight. Just give away too many boundary balls.
 
Feel it's kind of flattering. Abbas is quality and he's having a bad game today, but he's just come back from injury. Yasir's pretty good too. These two I don't have issues with.

The rest are questionable. Hasan has hardly played many tests, bowls too many bad balls despite the occasional terrific ball. Amir slows down his bowling, and bowls defensive, sometimes it just feels he's going through the motions. Shaheen Afridi too inexperienced, has hardly played any tests and isn't consistently accurate enough yet.

I think maybe it's best to get in the test specialist bowlers. Hasan,Amir, Afridi main focus is LOI, just let them be. I don't think we'll get the return we want in tests and they'll just get injured (which has already happened to Hasan and Amir). I was really surprised by the 1st innings 1st test by Afridi, but watching more of him, just don't think he's ready yet.
 
ads101 said:
Feel it's kind of flattering. Abbas is quality and he's having a bad game today, but he's just come back from injury. Yasir's pretty good too. These two I don't have issues with.

The rest are questionable. Hasan has hardly played many tests, bowls too many bad balls despite the occasional terrific ball. Amir slows down his bowling, and bowls defensive, sometimes it just feels he's going through the motions. Shaheen Afridi too inexperienced, has hardly played any tests and isn't consistently accurate enough yet.

I think maybe it's best to get in the test specialist bowlers. Hasan,Amir, Afridi main focus is LOI, just let them be. I don't think we'll get the return we want in tests and they'll just get injured (which has already happened to Hasan and Amir). I was really surprised by the 1st innings 1st test by Afridi, but watching more of him, just don't think he's ready yet.
Click to expand...

Which Test specialist bowlers do you have in mind?
 
In hindsight, Wahab would have been a handful on these pitches. As it is he was Pakistan's best bowler in Australia.
 
Savak said:
In hindsight, Wahab would have been a handful on these pitches. As it is he was Pakistan's best bowler in Australia.
Click to expand...

He had much more pace back then, now he is also a 135-140 Kph bowler with no accuracy. He would have been manhandled by Saffers going at 6+ runs per over.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Which Test specialist bowlers do you have in mind?
Click to expand...

Amir, Hasan and Shaheen are delivering more often than not, I don't know what results he want. They were just involved in a record that stood since 1994.

Maybe, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan would be better options.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Which Test specialist bowlers do you have in mind?
Click to expand...

Whoever are the leading bowlers in domestic. Guys who have ridiculous averages in first class and have led charts for years. Guys like Sadaf and Mir Hamza spring to mind. Guys who already know what to do in first class/test cricket and used to bowling accurately and hitting the right line and length for days on end. They might not look impressive, but I'd like to see what they can do if given the chance especially after Abbas's exploits. I'm sure there are others out there to try to.

I think if can find one more test specialist bowler like Abbas we'll be fine. Our 3rd pacer then can be someone who's more pacy and can be swapped around when needed (e.g. we could swap around with Amir, Hasan etc when needed).

Not saying we should completely do away with Hasan, Amir, Afridi intests, but if they're going to be playing LOI regularly every match, it's not worth playing regularly in tests, it's their worse suit which they're having to try to adapt to and get injured. And I'm sure watching these guys Amir and Hasan are in no way choosing tests over LOIs.

Afridi my stance may change, my biggest worry is he's got too much to handle. Only 18, yet he's already trying to get things right in LOI before the world cup, and now we're adding test responsibility despite he hasn't even played much first class. And at his age and his build, he could easily pick up injuries with overwork. If he can handle it fair enough, but we need to be careful.
 
Bad start to 2019.

And this is why I insist Amir is a support bowler unless the conditions are really in his favor. Abbas also seems to be a similar case, at least here. They both keep it really tight but don't threaten enough. Abbas doesn't have the pace nor the experience on these wickets and Amir doesn't attack enough. They need someone else to be the main threat and a young Shaheen has had to fill the void. The attack needs Hassan.
 
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