Imran Khan versus Sohail Khan : Who is the better bowler?

[Flat_Track_Bully]

So I like Sohail Khan, he has a very smooth action and can swing the ball. But what about Imran Khan? Lets have a look at the stats

Sohail Khan


Imran Khan


IK clearly has the better stats so why was he dropped?

 

[boomboom6]

So I like Sohail Khan, he has a very smooth action and can swing the ball. But what about Imran Khan? Lets have a look at the stats

Sohail Khan
View attachment 70071

Unfortunately

Imran Khan
View attachment 70072

IK clearly has the better stats so why was he dropped?

Sohail's stats are bit misleading as he made his debut back in like '08/'09 on absolute roads and he's a vastly improved bowler today then he was back then. So avg. of 41 doesn't really reflect his present wicket taking ability. He showed in England for that to be true.

Imran seems to be a similar bowler but Sohail also offers some ability with the bat and since modern cricket is moving towards versatility, Sohail edges Imran.

Ideally I'd like to have Aamir, Sohail, Sadaf and Imran ahead of Riaz & Rahat as our pace bowling core. But Riaz's sheer pace keeps him around though we'd improve further with inclusion of better wicket taking bowlers in the line up because that's what wins matches ultimately.

 

[Suleiman]

Because stats aren't everything and the stats you posted include 6-7 year old stats where he was inferior and got smashed by Sri Lanka:



Filtered stats are from the last 12 months where he has been superior.

When you just look at recent times he's done alright.

I still think though he doesn't have the fitness to last at this level, and for UAE IK is better. But Sohail Khan is the more attacking option.

This is why you take stats from 7 to 10 years ago with a grain of salt as players are human beings and can improve in that time period.

 

[Justcrazy]

Sohail can swing more than Imran and also can get some runs .

Imran is better with old ball , and is consistent throughout.

 

[dauntless]

I would take sohail ehsan mir and others over this mediocre imran.He doesn't swing the ball,really very poor bowler.neither has pace and his consistency is overrated too.

 

[moghul]

Sohail Khan is the most skillful fast bowler in Pakistan, may be after Amir, but his big negative is fitness, you never know when will he break down in 5 day game. Imran Khan is a workhorse and a decent bowler. I would prefer Imran over Sohail in a test and Sohail in ODI, just for that reason.

 

[Rayyman]

I'm not sure man. I think Rahat should be included in this debate. Amir is probably better than all of them. Wahab is just different.

 

[Ellipsism]

Sohail can swing the ball with decent pace on the other hand Imran doesn't offer anything with the ball apart from control and even that he hasn't perfected. Sohail is far better than Imran.

 

[naseem]

Iman is good with old ball...

Sohail is good with new and old

Rahat has good swingers but is erratic...and also a walking wicket..and poor fielder

 

[MenInG]

Imran Khan has done well in this innings - 3 wickets with lowest econ 2.51 - Well done.

 

[Rayyman]

Atm Sohail is better, but he's a bit older too. SK is quicker, stronger, better batsman, more swing and more variations. Imran is only better in line and length though he still can improve.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Both have like 24 wickets in 8 games but Imran Khan with the superior average which shows: IK has better control which is ideal for the third pacer in the side but SK can be more decisive because of his ability with the new ball.

An attack of Amir, Sohail, Imran isn't bad on seaming wickets.

 

[Slog]

Atm Sohail is better, but he's a bit older too. SK is quicker, stronger, better batsman, more swing and more variations. Imran is only better in line and length though he still can improve.

Imran is very tight and will be more useful on flat tracks

Problem when Sohail is that he has more skill but gets tired very easily and when he loses his radar or is not having a bad day he is a total liability and gets smacked all over

IK jr offers control atleast even when he doesnt get wickets

also he has a superior record eventhough prior to this match all his matches were in Asia

 

[Rayyman]

Imran is very tight and will be more useful on flat tracks

Problem when Sohail is that he has more skill but gets tired very easily and when he loses his radar or is not having a bad day he is a total liability and gets smacked all over

IK jr offers control atleast even when he doesnt get wickets

also he has a superior record eventhough prior to this match all his matches were in Asia

Yea I agree. It's good that our bowlers are different and not the same type of bowlers.

 

[Hawkeye]

Imran Khan is a poor man's Umar Gul: Gun barrel straight trundler with no skills with the ball.

He doesn't belong in Pak Test team.

 

[Amirforpresident]

Imran Khan is a poor man's Umar Gul: Gun barrel straight trundler with no skills with the ball.

He doesn't belong in Pak Test team.

Dont think thats true.
He got some nice movement of the seam yesterday which troubled the NZ batsmen.

 

[Hawkeye]

Dont think thats true.
He got some nice movement of the seam yesterday which troubled the NZ batsmen.

A ball or two, here and there, similar to UAE. Didn't see him do it on most occasions, consistently enough to take enough wickets.

 

[Jan Sher]

Imran Khan is a poor man's Umar Gul: Gun barrel straight trundler with no skills with the ball.

He doesn't belong in Pak Test team.

A ball or two, here and there, similar to UAE. Didn't see him do it on most occasions, consistently enough to take enough wickets.

Lol, as if others are the second comings of McGrath and Akram. One of the most biased and worst post ever

 

[aloo paratha]

Both have like 24 wickets in 8 games but Imran Khan with the superior average which shows: IK has better control which is ideal for the third pacer in the side but SK can be more decisive because of his ability with the new ball.

An attack of Amir, Sohail, Imran isn't bad on seaming wickets.

No yaar we need Rahat for his "jaffas"

 

[aloo paratha]

A ball or two, here and there, similar to UAE. Didn't see him do it on most occasions, consistently enough to take enough wickets.

He moved them much more than just once or twice If you had your blind bias taken away maybe you'd see...

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Sohail is far better. Not even a comparison.

 

[Syed1]

Sohail Khan is only good for the half-hour that he isn't aching and paining or huffing and puffing. After that he is like Imran Khan.

 

[Jan Sher]

Imran Khan is our best Test fast bowler.

 

[Mainul]

These two are almost equal in quality.

Both are seam bowlers.Both can swing the ball in both ways.

I always recommend to play these two in the same eleven together.

These two have better wicket taking capabilities than Wahab, Rahat and even Amir.

 

[Speedster777]

No comparison. Sohail is a wicket taking bowler. Imran Khan is strictly mediocre. Mir Hamza should be selected over him.

 

[Hawkeye]

Imran Khan is our best Test fast bowler.

Dude, why so biased? Just because he's from your area?

Can he swing the ball? No.

Can he seam the ball consistently? No.

Does he have pace? No.

Everything goes against him. In short, a poor version of Umar Gul, who himself was poor.

 

[Slog]

Dude, why so biased? Just because he's from your area?

Can he swing the ball? No.

Can he seam the ball consistently? No.

Does he have pace? No.

Everything goes against him. In short, a poor version of Umar Gul, who himself was poor.

On the contrary you have to look at his numbers and not just ignore them totally esp considering he has played all his tests in Asia

I do think that players like him or fawad alam who don't look the part or don't have any USP about them shouldn't be given long ropes but still when the numbers are backing them they deserve the chance

 

[Speedster777]

Atleast Sohail Khan can bat a bit. Imran Khan as a specialist bowler over Rahat Ali is unjustified.

 

[QalandarFan]

In swinging conditions I'd take Sohail Khan.

In Subcontinent or flat/dry wickets I'd take Imran Khan.

 

[Jan Sher]

Dude, why so biased? Just because he's from your area?

Can he swing the ball? No.

Can he seam the ball consistently? No.

Does he have pace? No.

Everything goes against him. In short, a poor version of Umar Gul, who himself was poor.

Lol. Yes, he is from my area, and my area is Pakistan

Had you seen his out swinging delivery to Ian Bell in UAE? It proves he can swing the ball.

Seam movement wise he is decent, and I don't know what do you mean by consistently here? Lol.

If he hadn't any pace, then how would he bowl in the first place?

Lol @ a poor version of Umar Gul. He is way better than Umar Gul in Test cricket, in fact our current best Test fast bowler. Deal with it

 

[Kakar]

IK is a workhorse. He is more consistent than Sohail. From our current lot, he'd always be my 3rd pacer whenever we play a 3 man pace attack.

 

[Pakprideuk]

Imran khan can consistently move the ball off the seam. He was doing it in the 50th over against Nz too. Sohail can move the new ball but struggles with the softer older ball which is why he gets phainty.

As for Imran, the reason his pace is only 130 is because he hasn't had much game time. If he keeps playing test matches and keeps bowling, i expect his pace to be up at around 133-135 consistently. You can bowl for months on end in nets but real game time is so much more physically stressful due to the competitive nature. You're putting so much more in with your body and i say this as a bowler in club cricket.

 

[shah_1]

It's a shame Sohail Khan didn't play during 2010-2015 when he was at his peak(fitness wise) when crappy bowlers like Umar Gul, Bilawal Bhatti, Azeem Cheema, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali got so many matches.


I'm not say he is great but he is 28-30 average bowler.

 

[Slog]

It's a shame Sohail Khan didn't play during 2010-2015 when he was at his peak(fitness wise) when crappy bowlers like Umar Gul, Bilawal Bhatti, Azeem Cheema, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali got so many matches.


I'm not say he is great but he is 28-30 average bowler.

he wasnt as good at that time

he wasnt as skilled before

i saw his debut in 2009 and he was gun barrel straight and same happened few years later when he played in Zimbabwe

his story is a good story of hard work improving a player

 

[shah_1]

he wasnt as good at that time

he wasnt as skilled before

i saw his debut in 2009 and he was gun barrel straight and same happened few years later when he played in Zimbabwe

his story is a good story of hard work improving a player

The story is that you keep on dropping player after 2 or 3 matches and the result will be zero. Ben Strokes had rubbish stats at start but England persisted with him.

Bhai the problem with our culture is that we judge a player after 2 or 3 matches then discard him for good. Same thing happened with Misbah when Faisal Iaqbal was getting a free run in the team. Politics hoti hai

 

[Hasan123]

Sohail is better but Imran is a good bowler

 

[PakLFC]

Sohail for me.

 

[Mamoon]

Sohail easily.

 

[Junaids]

Mohammad Asif.

 

[uberkoen]

Mohammad Asif.

Someone needs to go back to school to learn reading and comprehension.

 

[Junaids]

Someone needs to go back to school to learn reading and comprehension.

Harsh!

Let me answer in football terms.

Sohail Khan is English second tier level.

Imran Khan is English third tier level.

Mohammad Asif is like a veteran at Barcelona, like Xavi was.

 

[umer187]

I find Sohail better