40th anniversary of Imran Khan scoring his 1st Test century - Was that his best innings?

[Harsh Thakor]

Today on November 24th we commemorate a historic day when Imran Khan scored his 1st test century ever ,at Lahore.Above all it was against the West Indies,arguably the best test team ever.Pakistan were tottering in the grave at 95-5,before Imran Khan ressurected them with a fighting 123,to enable Pakistan to reach a respectable score of 369.

No knock defined Imran's batting prowess as this one,considering he was up against the great Calypso pacmen like Sylvester Clarke.It must have been a sight to behold Imran nurturing his team with the patience or skill of gardener or surgeon and the discipline and courage of a military commander rallying his troops.Rarely has an allrounder done a repair job so meticulously.Was it the best ever knock by any all-rounder versus the top West Indies pace attack?

I rank it as Imran's best ever batting performance.Ian Botham never scored a century against West Indies.Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee scored hundreds but not with their team's back to the wall.I rate it ahead of his 136 in Adelaide in 1989-90 ,his 135 at Madras in 1987 ,75 not out at Leeds in 1987 or his 64 at Bangalore in 1987.

Ironic it was performed when Imran was nether at his peak as a bowler or batsman.Without doubt one of the finest innings ever executed by an all-rounder.Hard to envisage even a Botham or Kapil,playing such calculating innings.It was also scored on a challenging wicket.

Arguably in building an innings like an architect Imran was the best batsman amongst allrounders of his time,even if not as flamboyant as Botham or Kapil.At his best Imran could be as handy as a very good batsman in a crisis.

 

[umarf76]

I think his best innings was his 135 vs. Australia at Adelaide in 1989 (same match that Akram played an unbelievable innings of 123). However if I recall right Imran rates his 21 runs vs. England in the 1979 world cup as one of his best innings ever (said so in his autobiography).

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...pakistan-12th-match-prudential-world-cup-1979

 

[Harsh Thakor]

I think his best innings was his 135 vs. Australia at Adelaide in 1989 (same match that Akram played an unbelievable innings of 123). However if I recall right Imran rates his 21 runs vs. England in the 1979 world cup as one of his best innings ever (said so in his autobiography).

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...pakistan-12th-match-prudential-world-cup-1979

Was not the bowling devastating at Lahore in 1980 with Clarke at his quickest?Remember opposition strength.

 

[szrana007]

Imran had a subpar batting average of 28 against the West Indies. So this century has to be his best.

 

[Savak]

Imran had a subpar batting average of 28 against the West Indies. So this century has to be his best.

That average should be pumped up a notch because that was one of the greatest bowling attacks in history

 

[moghul]

That average should be pumped up a notch because that was one of the greatest bowling attacks in history

And he used to skip playing against weaker teams on flat wickets in Pakistan, particularly in hot weather.

 

[Mamoon]

That average should be pumped up a notch because that was one of the greatest bowling attacks in history

Average cannot be pumped up or down based on what people want; it is reflective of his lack of consistency against the best bowling attack of his time. He clearly did not have the skill to cope with West Indians bowlers apart from this innings.

 

[Mamoon]

And he used to skip playing against weaker teams on flat wickets in Pakistan, particularly in hot weather.

Imran led Pakistan to an embarrassing defeat in Sri Lanka in 1986, where he was humiliated by the Sri Lankan bowlers to the point where he averaged 12 across the three Tests.

That is when he decided to skip matches against minnows.

Sri Lanka were the weakest Test team of the 80’s. They drew several times against big teams but they did not have the skill to win matches.

They only won 2 Tests throughout the 80s.

 

[Bhaijaan]

One of the greatest ever cricketers.

A definite Top 5 level AR and captain

A Top 20 level fast bowler. Arguably even Top 15.

As an overall package, added immense value to the team.

 

[saadsahabjee]

Contender for best cricketer ever.

Batting avg 52 bowling avg 19 as captain.

worst bowling average against any country is 28 against newzeland.

 

[umarf76]

Contender for best cricketer ever.

Batting avg 52 bowling avg 19 as captain.

worst bowling average against any country is 28 against newzeland.

Do not forget that he refused to play against weak opposition because it did not challenge him enough. One of a kind!

 

[Heisenberg111]

Average cannot be pumped up or down based on what people want; it is reflective of his lack of consistency against the best bowling attack of his time. He clearly did not have the skill to cope with West Indians bowlers apart from this innings.

To add perspective, Javed Miandad averages 29.79 against the Windies, so not much better than Imran. Botham averages 21 against them and from allrounders only Kapil averages more with the bat (30.83). But Imran's bowling average against WI (21) is better than Kapil's average of 24 against them.

 

[saadsahabjee]

One of the greatest ever cricketers.

A definite Top 5 level AR and captain

A Top 20 level fast bowler. Arguably even Top 15.

As an overall package, added immense value to the team.

top 20 ? probably in top 5 best bowlers ever , his worst bowling avg is 28 against new Zealand.
overall bowling avg 22
bowling avg as captain 19.
highest peak as a fast bowler.
avg around 14 for 8 years.

 

[Slog]

Imran led Pakistan to an embarrassing defeat in Sri Lanka in 1986, where he was humiliated by the Sri Lankan bowlers to the point where he averaged 12 across the three Tests.

That is when he decided to skip matches against minnows.

Sri Lanka were the weakest Test team of the 80’s. They drew several times against big teams but they did not have the skill to win matches.

They only won 2 Tests throughout the 80s.

This is simply a lie that he skipped matches against minnows due to that. There is literally no evidence of that and you just making up stuff and repeating it doesn’t make it true.

Anyways Sri Lanka team was weak in the 80s but that’s a relative thing and overall it was certainly a decent team nonetheless which was competitive in most series.; winning series against India and drawing tests in most away venues including Australia, England and Pakistan along with being generally competitive.

But you can carry on to support your agenda. Good luck with that.

 

[Varun]

To add perspective, Javed Miandad averages 29.79 against the Windies, so not much better than Imran. Botham averages 21 against them and from allrounders only Kapil averages more with the bat (30.83). But Imran's bowling average against WI (21) is better than Kapil's average of 24 against them.

Wow - really puts Gavaskar's 65 average against them (and 70 in the West Indies) into perspective. He was an opener too.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

top 20 ? probably in top 5 best bowlers ever , his worst bowling avg is 28 against new Zealand.
overall bowling avg 22
bowling avg as captain 19.
highest peak as a fast bowler.
avg around 14 for 8 years.

Agreed. Batting average of 52 and bowling average of 19 as captain is like putting an ATG batsman and a GOAT bowler in the same team but they only take up one spot in the XI.

This guy was the greatest cricketer of all time, next to Donald Bradman.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Wow - really puts Gavaskar's 65 average against them (and 70 in the West Indies) into perspective. He was an opener too.

Indeed. Gavaskar for me is the greatest opener of all time.

 

[wajid]

Imran led Pakistan to an embarrassing defeat in Sri Lanka in 1986, where he was humiliated by the Sri Lankan bowlers to the point where he averaged 12 across the three Tests.

That is when he decided to skip matches against minnows.

Sri Lanka were the weakest Test team of the 80’s. They drew several times against big teams but they did not have the skill to win matches.

They only won 2 Tests throughout the 80s.

It has happened multiple times now. Just when I start to acknowledge some kind of authenticity and reliability for mamoon after reading some really insightful and honest comments on other threads, some total nonsense like this pops up. Really sad.

Anyway, everyone judges performance against the quality of opposition. That’s why heroics like Pant at Gabba, many laxman knocks and imran against WI are rated high. Numbers can lie and clearest example is probably Imam’s odi average. He still has time and potential to add substance to it but everyone acknowledges that hard fought scores are still lacking there.