Mohammad Abbas in last three innings | A case of rivals neutralising him or a momentary loss of zip?

[Seen Sheen]

So from picking up atleast a wicket in his first 20 (?) innings to suffering the ignominy of no wicket in three consecutive innings; is it something concerning? I think NZ have figured out that you have to play him straight and avoid playing across. Abbas should take it as a motivation and maybe rethink his plan of action in the coming tests.


He mainly relies on the in-ducker to right handers/away going deliveries to the lefties. Somehow he needs to start seaming it the other way, atleast with the new ball.

That said, even though he couldn't pick up a wicket but he hardly bowled a bad ball and provided excellent control. Had batsmen play and miss multiple times as well. So I would say it's nothing too alarming and might even be back to his wicket-taking form in the next test at his favorite venue.

I am sure he still will be a handful in SA but something for him to work on in non-conducive conditions.

 

[aloo paratha]

Batsmen just played him very cautiously, which helped the others to pick up wickets at the other end. Imagine having wahab, giving away 4 runs an over instead of him.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Neutralised a bit because of his lack of pace I reckon.

 

[yasir]

Batsmen just played him very cautiously, which helped the others to pick up wickets at the other end. Imagine having wahab, giving away 4 runs an over instead of him.

Wasn't that was the case with Amir??

Everybody played him out, he was most economical bowler and Misbah/Sarfraz/Azhar used him to control the run rate, that did not worked very well for him(or Pakistan), he is now out of every format...

 

[Plumb]

Here we go again.... I was waiting for this, someone must have open a thread about this.. If people actually see the game and then comment then it would be better. He created chances and bowled really well. Unfortunate not to get a wicket simple is that.

 

[Dark_Horse]

Let’s start a trend of posts to drop him. Every time PPers have started this trend the player under criticism performs outstandingly

 

[Dark_Horse]

Wasn't that was the case with Amir??

Everybody played him out, he was most economical bowler and Misbah/Sarfraz/Azhar used him to control the run rate, that did not worked very well for him(or Pakistan), he is now out of every format...

No Amir was still goong around 3 rpo with being injured every other innings plus I think no of wickets taken by Abbas is more since amir returned( not quite sure but will be still comparable )

 

[Mirpur express]

just average cricket knowledge required to figure it out.....Pointless thread

 

[Pakhs]

Bit of everything, He will take wicket again in future for sure. Although he hasnt got wickets so far in the series in no way he has bowled badly.

 

[Kroll]

Nah, Yasir was grabbing all the wickets otherwise probably would have got a few himself.

 

[warcry]

good to see same people saying yasir was finished are now going after abbas.
UAE pitches are roads.
wait for abbas to tour south africa before making such statements

 

[aloo paratha]

Wasn't that was the case with Amir??

Everybody played him out, he was most economical bowler and Misbah/Sarfraz/Azhar used him to control the run rate, that did not worked very well for him(or Pakistan), he is now out of every format...

Amir was underwhelming for over a year, Abbas has been wicketless for 3 innings, and he hasn't even bowled that many overs.

 

[Fahdi]

Seamers running through lineups in the UAE doesn't happen too often especially guys like Abbas who don't have too much pace. We aren't going to see a repeat of the Australia series all the time. Abbas was very tight and the batsmen were super cautious against him. In the last test he picked up only 2 wickets but gave away just 44, so even when he 'failed' he averaged 22. His lack of pace hampers him to an extent, the batsmen have time to adjust to the ball on these slower pitches. A pitch with a little more juice would help him, like in the first test when he got 2 wickets bowling on a fresh pitch.

 

[MMHS]

This is quite normal - some Tests/series will go like this. Definitely, he didn't bowl that good to take like 16 wickets at 14 against AUS, and here also he isn't bowling that bad to go a full Test wicket less.

His initial figures of 5.8 wicket/Test at 16 was abnormal, hardly anyone can sustain that; therefore this was bound to happen. Still, he bowled really well, kept things tight and made sure that Yasir & Hasan's efforts are not leaked from other end. I am sure he'll get wickets at 3rd Test, and quite bag full in SAF.

 

[Abid Z]

As long as he only bowls inswingers he will be a one trick pony and easily defended against ( but not scored against) as soon as develops an outswinger and bowls a searching middle stump line he will be lethal. Needs a bit of time to develop

 

[Savak]

As long as he only bowls inswingers he will be a one trick pony and easily defended against ( but not scored against) as soon as develops an outswinger and bowls a searching middle stump line he will be lethal. Needs a bit of time to develop

I have seen him bowl outswingers with the new ball, just doesn't do it very often and with the old ball, he is one dimensional with the inswinger.

 

[Abid Z]

I have seen him bowl outswingers with the new ball, just doesn't do it very often and with the old ball, he is one dimensional with the inswinger.

So his outswinger is a work in progress? He’ll be lethal when it’s more regular. In fact I don’t see Hasan Ali taking it away from right Handers either.

 

[Savak]

So his outswinger is a work in progress? He’ll be lethal when it’s more regular. In fact I don’t see Hasan Ali taking it away from right Handers either.

Difference is Hasan Ali can crank the effort ball to 140-142 km/hr which makes a big difference in comparison to Abbass regular 127-130 km/hr stuff.

 

[Abid Z]

Difference is Hasan Ali can crank the effort ball to 140-142 km/hr which makes a big difference in comparison to Abbass regular 127-130 km/hr stuff.

That is true. But two right armers predominantly bowling inswing makes me worried for the South Africa tour. Would love to have a steady left armer able to swing it both ways without being a spray gun.

 

[Stewie]

Why are we so quick when it comes to writing player obituaries?

 

[Saj]

He's doing fine.

Every bowler has quiet periods when it comes to taking wickets. He'll be back taking wickets sooner rather than later.

 

[Stewie]

I am thinking NZ will now attack him more because they dont want to let Yasir come on and mow them down.. they would want to score quickly up front before the twirler comes on to bamboozle them..


.. and thats where Abbas will be dangerous.. you cant go after him.. not with his attack the stumps bowling.. i have a feeling he has yet to play his big role in this series..

 

[gazza619]

He is still not leaking runs which means the batsmen are giving him a lot of respect. He is doing alright.

 

[Hasan123]

He will bounce back. NZ batsmen are use to facing Abbas type bowlers due to the nature of NZ pitches. Australian batsmen struggle against bowlers who make them play on the front foot. So he was always likely to have success against them.

He will be back.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I don't care if he takes wickets in UAE or not. We have Yasir here. I expect him to take wickets in South Africa, which he will. Let's just hope he can take enough to make a difference.

 

[JibranAnsari]

They played him very cautiously , look at his economy.

 

[gazza619]

They played him very cautiously , look at his economy.

Exactly! I have no concerns about his performance.

 

[TeamPak95]

Like you said, nothing alarming. Abbas will be nearly unplayable if he develops deliveries nipping away from the right handers (in to the left handers).

 

[JibranAnsari]

He has bowled 59 overs in 4 innings , gave away 93 runs only. 1.57 runs per over. This is extra ordinary , not to mention that one catch was dropped off his bowling.

 

[Bob Marley]

Happy that this question was brought up to kill it forever! Abbas bowled brilliantly and built lot of pressure from one end and that made other bowlers successful. He played his part well.

 

[Bob Marley]

Agree 100%! it was great bowling from him!

 

[Sirris]

When yasir picks up 8nwickets in span of like 12 overs there isn't much you can do.

Though it is interesting how the wonder kid Aamir could go wicketless the whole series and nobody would raise an eyebrow.

 

[Ozeirk]

It was easy to play cautiously against him and not to give away any wickets on these conditions. It will not be the case in South Africa, he will most probably be our most successful bowler. I remember when Asif last played in south Africa how difficult they were finding batting against him bar Kallis

 

[Monsee]

One of the more prominent examples of Abbass bowling an Outswinger is when he got Kevin Obrien out on the first ball of the morning after he was not out overnight at 118:

https://youtu.be/4VJuzjU-vE0?t=78

He has the ability to bowl it and I have seen him bowl it more in his first few tests especially against WI but for some reason of late he has not done the same at all

 

[Monsee]

Here is another video showing one he bowled against WI: https://youtu.be/c8vXCZ2Sw60?t=25

 

[Monsee]

And this one was pretty decent too: https://youtu.be/c8vXCZ2Sw60?t=268

 

[humzy]

One of the more prominent examples of Abbass bowling an Outswinger is when he got Kevin Obrien out on the first ball of the morning after he was not out overnight at 118:

https://youtu.be/4VJuzjU-vE0?t=78

He has the ability to bowl it and I have seen him bowl it more in his first few tests especially against WI but for some reason of late he has not done the same at all

Swing comes into play based on conditions.

Conditions of the ball, conditions of the weather and conditions of the pitch.

No bowler can swing it in all conditions.

 

[Monsee]

Swing comes into play based on conditions.

Conditions of the ball, conditions of the weather and conditions of the pitch.

No bowler can swing it in all conditions.

I know that, been watching/playing cricket for quite a while...but the fact that he did not even try to use the seam to seam it away is really surprising especially the fact that it is not as if it was only for one innings for one match only. And also, I am sure, with his impeccable control, he could have gotten some wickets too

 

[humzy]

I know that, been watching/playing cricket for quite a while...but the fact that he did not even try to use the seam to seam it away is really surprising especially the fact that it is not as if it was only for one innings for one match only. And also, I am sure, with his impeccable control, he could have gotten some wickets too

He doesn't use seam to seam it away. Pay close attention next time, he uses a wobbled seam which makes the ball unpredictably move either way. The only other bowler I have seen do this effectively is Mohammed Asif.

 

[cricketindiafan]

Can happen to the best of best. Will be lethal in SA with his impeccable line and monk like control.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

When yasir picks up 8nwickets in span of like 12 overs there isn't much you can do.

Though it is interesting how the wonder kid Aamir could go wicketless the whole series and nobody would raise an eyebrow.

When did that happen?

Amir hasn't gone wicketless in any series since his career has started.

The max Amir has gotten wicketless in consecutive innings is only 2. While Abbas who is being hailed as an ATG has gone 3 times wicketless consecutively (more than Amir), why won't people question?

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Out of the next test, would have surely surged back in that Test with bundle of wickets. I hope he recovers to tour South Africa where he will probably be the highest wicket taker.