Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali & Mohammad Abbas : What's your take on this pace quartet?

[Ab Fan]

Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali & Mohammad Abbas : What's your take on this pace quartet?

I honestly do believe that the current pace bowling quartet of Pakistan has really good potential, particularly, with the inclusion of Shaheen, who has all the potential in the world to become a great great fast bowler.

Abbas is without the doubt the leader of pack currently and has got a golden start to his career. His line and length, accuracy and control is brilliant and in some way or other, he is an artist with the bowl.

Hasan Ali had great start and while his purple patch is over, he is still a very good bowler and has potential to turn tides when mattered.

Mohammad Amir, no doubt, hasnt been the same bowler as he was in 2010 but when he gets everything right, it is quite apparent how lethal can he be, particularly with the new ball. It is the consistency which is lacking.

Pakistan currently has this luxury of very good set of fast bowler who can run through sides if the conditions and the atmosphere around is not completely beyond any assistance from pace bowling. This attack has potential to be the best in the world in an year time, particularly, with more experience in their corner.

Discuss!

 

[Dark_Horse]

Muhammad Amir usually goes to economy mode whenever stepping up is required in first innings he showed some improvement but in the second innings same problem wider of crease not making the batsman to play. All others are doing fine with abbas’s Inclusion early breakthrows will be there. Anyone can argue that abbas is also econmy bowler but the difference is he always make the batsman play so better chance of getting him out. Hassan is new he always gets excited for wickets. Nevertheless abbas experience & intelligence will improve him and shaheen though I am not sure on Amir if he cannot do something fantastic he should retire from test face completion in odis from other bowlers rather continue to bowl at less than his potential we can afford only one 130ish bowler who is abbas due to his control.

 

[Dark_Horse]

Amir only turns on only against india whom we are not gonna play for another 4 yeas except 2-3 matches so we cannot let other performers to suffer for those matches I am in favour of picking up some younger bowlers who will have some eager to represnt the country and for name rather than some experienced players playing some useless t20 stuff

 

[Zakaz]

all mediocre except for abbas

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Amir only turns on only against india whom we are not gonna play for another 4 yeas except 2-3 matches so we cannot let other performers to suffer for those matches I am in favour of picking up some younger bowlers who will have some eager to represnt the country and for name rather than some experienced players playing some useless t20 stuff

So you want to drop the bowler averaging 19 this year(Amir) who has been second best after Abbas for Pakistan. He has bowled well against England and South Africa and so what makes you think he turns up against India only.

He has been brilliant in T20Is ever since his comeback, only his ODI performance in past year has gone down but still had good economy rates. He mostly bowls over 140+ Kph so don't judge over one innings.

 

[Stewie]

With half decent batting, more often than not this bowling will win you matches..

Our bowling average was second only to SA in terms of average in 2018.. we just need runs in the board to compete and thats where we struggle!

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Coming back to the thread, the combo of 4 A(Amir, Abbas, Ali and Afridi is pretty lethal and can be the reason Pakistan win overseas Test series in future.

 

[Ab Fan]

Coming back to the thread, the combo of 4 A(Amir, Abbas, Ali and Afridi is pretty lethal and can be the reason Pakistan win overseas Test series in future.

I agree, particularly, overseas, this quartet has got great potential but the batting might pull you down lots of times.

 

[Ab Fan]

Muhammad Amir usually goes to economy mode whenever stepping up is required in first innings he showed some improvement but in the second innings same problem wider of crease not making the batsman to play. All others are doing fine with abbas’s Inclusion early breakthrows will be there. Anyone can argue that abbas is also econmy bowler but the difference is he always make the batsman play so better chance of getting him out. Hassan is new he always gets excited for wickets. Nevertheless abbas experience & intelligence will improve him and shaheen though I am not sure on Amir if he cannot do something fantastic he should retire from test face completion in odis from other bowlers rather continue to bowl at less than his potential we can afford only one 130ish bowler who is abbas due to his control.

Amir bowled very well in first test vs SA, got 4 wickets in first inning. I think outside Asia, he is very lethal, his problem is he is not consistent in his line and length, can be effective at times and can look absolutely mediocre the other time.

Shaheen is a high quality bowler, he has all ingredients it takes but it's early days and while I do agree many started well but eventually faded, this guy can be fulcrum of bowling if taken care well in Pakistan setup.

 

[Dark_Horse]

So you want to drop the bowler averaging 19 this year(Amir) who has been second best after Abbas for Pakistan. He has bowled well against England and South Africa and so what makes you think he turns up against India only.

He has been brilliant in T20Is ever since his comeback, only his ODI performance in past year has gone down but still had good economy rates. He mostly bowls over 140+ Kph so don't judge over one innings.

What about leeds test and centurion test plus he does not bowls in uae he gets tired/injured. In both theses tests he let his team down when bowling with venom was required he bowled with defensive attitude in lord’s test it was abbas and Hassan who won us don’t think anwhere else he played except ireland where Faheem and shadab were the main perrformers. It’s the impact which he lacks if he had provided early breakthroughs in both innings it would have been a better contest in the 4 tests he played this year all have been bowling paradise where I think every bowler have performed just like him. Furthermore I think he was content with his 4 wickets in first innings to have a place in next match

 

[Arsalan Pro]

What about leeds test and centurion test plus he does not bowls in uae he gets tired/injured. In both theses tests he let his team down when bowling with venom was required he bowled with defensive attitude in lord’s test it was abbas and Hassan who won us don’t think anwhere else he played except ireland where Faheem and shadab were the main perrformers. It’s the impact which he lacks if he had provided early breakthroughs in both innings it would have been a better contest in the 4 tests he played this year all have been bowling paradise where I think every bowler have performed just like him. Furthermore I think he was content with his 4 wickets in first innings to have a place in next match

His 4 wickets in this Test were the reason we restricted South Africa to 220 otherwise they would have scored 300+ in the first innings and we would have lost by an innings.

He was the best bowler at Lords in the second innings with 4/36 against England and finished any chance of recovery by them by taking 2 main wickets in one over and then cleaning out the tail which was threatening impose a big target for Pakistan which we would have definitely lost given how we chase. He also took the major wicket of Cook in the first innings with a beautiful delivery who was looking to score big

At Leeds too, he was best bowler until he got injured and also took the big wicket of Root. Abbas and Hasan weren't threatening at all.

 

[Abdullah]

I see a lot of potential in our test side, just need some1 to bring it all together and lead from the front
The pace bowling quartet is very very good. The younger batters interest me a lot.faheem and shadab did well in the overseas tests we played earlier in the year. We have a top spinner. (Some people just forget that spinners especially leggies need runs to play with.)
The senior cohort has let us down badly.
In fact most of the 6 defeats post misyou are down to them. They should have managed the SL and NZ chases on their own by themselves on those wickets, and this first test lies squarely with them.
In all 6 defeats bar one we have got ourselves seriously on top in all the games only to throw it away.
So it's good we are getting into strong positions

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

 

[Usman Chadda]

The key is to improve. Time and again we have seen pace bowlers perform well in their first year, only to sit back and relax on their laurels. That is a massive issue with every Pakistani player right now.

On potential, they are one of the best bowling attacks in the world. But let's see how they perform going forward, as consistency is very important.

The batting will continue to suck though.

 

[AAli98]

Apart from Abbas rest of them cannot bowl a consistent line & length hasan & co will give you at least 2 hit me balls per over, takes all the pressure off theyv bought Amla back into form.

 

[hadi123]

You know what, screw it. I was initially against this as I thought a spinner was a must but after seeing the stats for Cape Town in recent years, I think we can get by without either Shadab/Yasir and I think we should play all of them together. Very good bowling line up, shame our rubbish batting would let us down

 

[Ab Fan]

I see a lot of potential in our test side, just need some1 to bring it all together and lead from the front
The pace bowling quartet is very very good. The younger batters interest me a lot.faheem and shadab did well in the overseas tests we played earlier in the year. We have a top spinner. (Some people just forget that spinners especially leggies need runs to play with.)
The senior cohort has let us down badly.
In fact most of the 6 defeats post misyou are down to them. They should have managed the SL and NZ chases on their own by themselves on those wickets, and this first test lies squarely with them.
In all 6 defeats bar one we have got ourselves seriously on top in all the games only to throw it away.
So it's good we are getting into strong positions

Tried and tested failures should be dropped from the XI. There is no place for Shafiq and Sarfaraz in the XI. Sarfaraz can't be dropped but Shafiq must.

Babar, Azhar and Harris are three good batsmen in this team while Imam is decent. Shan looked improved a lot but will have to see more of him. I think Pakistan can build into a quality top team but for that, you need two prolific batsmen- Babar should be one while Harris is good but not yet at that level.

 

[Pete Rose]

The key is to improve. Time and again we have seen pace bowlers perform well in their first year, only to sit back and relax on their laurels. That is a massive issue with every Pakistani player right now.

On potential, they are one of the best bowling attacks in the world. But let's see how they perform going forward, as consistency is very important.

The batting will continue to suck though.

Yaar, please don’t fall in to this trap that so and so player is failing or will fail because they will let the success get to their head. Let’s leave this kind of analysis for our esteemed explayers.
I think Pakistan’s test attack is very very good and while it can improve, the least of it has to do with attitude

 

[QalandarFan]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

Good Post, our bowling has been excellent just because our bowlers were unable to defend 150 people are out here attacking the bowlers. The batsman should have done better.

 

[WengerOut]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

This list looses its importance when you see WI, Ban, SL above Eng, NZ and Aus.

 

[jnaveen1980]

This list looses its importance when you see WI, Ban, SL above Eng, NZ and Aus.

NOt the right stat to use as it includes spinners as well. Yasir shah did well in a few tests.

 

[Khalistani99]

This list looses its importance when you see WI, Ban, SL above Eng, NZ and Aus.

Spot on. With small data set, quality of opposition and pitches make big difference. I think England and Australia have best bowling attack

 

[leg-side-flick]

V good bowling unit, will get 20 wickets in most conditions but they need to pull up a bit in bowling conditions as they start with a handicapped batting unit

 

[BlackShadow]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

Filter this for pacer stats, and it will be more relevant to the thread.

Abbas had 4 good matches, and looks promising. Rest of the pacers are average/below-average I am afraid.

 

[leg-side-flick]

Filter this for pacer stats, and it will be more relevant to the thread.

Abbas had 4 good matches, and looks promising. Rest of the pacers are average/below-average I am afraid.

Pacers can't do much in middle East....

 

[Savage]

Shaheen is good addition to Pakistan team.

 

[Syed1]

Next match I would like them to drop Shah and play Abbas instead since the pitches do not aide spin at all. I also want to fit Harry Sohail in there somewhere to bring solidity in the middle order and also give a spinning option. Perhaps Shafiq will be dropped for Sohail, but I'm not in favour of dropping a batsman (albeit a faltering one) and weakening our already weak batting lineup.

 

[BlackShadow]

Pacers can't do much in middle East....

Hasan's best stats are in UAE, has struggled in England and South Africa.

Amir too has struggled outside UAE ever since his return.

Abbas is the new hope, and I wish him luck.

 

[shariqnoor]

Average attack.

You cannot continue to rate Mohammad Amir on his exploits 8 years ago during the English summer. He was a different bowler then. What we're seeing now is not even 5% of that bowler. He has dramatically tailed off with the exception of one or two spells. In Tests, he's completely toothless as I believe he has lost the art of taking wickets because of his drop in skill levels. He still has the brain to set up batsmen but doesn't have the skills anymore to follow through on that set-up and get batsmen out. Also his second and third spells in Test cricket are 125-130kph. Not good enough.

Hasan Ali will have his moments and when it is reverse swinging, he's more than good. But as a fast bowler you cannot simply rely on reverse swing. He is pretty wayward in most of his spells but gets away in ODIs and T20s because batsmen are looking to attack all the time and he benefits from that. In Test matches, not good enough again.

Shaheen Afridi is better than the above two. However he needs to learn two things: consistency to bowl in the same spot and secondly, patience. At the moment he is raw potential. Until he learns those two things, he'll go the same way as Hasan. In the 2nd innings in the 1st test against SA, his first 4 overs were outstanding. He was making Elgar look like a bunny because he was bowling that 4th stump line consistently. But when Elgar didn't nick his deliveries time and again, he grew impatient and started bowling towards the body of Elgar. He needs to understand that if he remains on that 4th stump channel and be patient enough, wickets will come to him.

Mohammad Abbas so far has been the best out of the four man attack. However, like I had said before the NZ series, we have to wait and assess whether Abbas is the real deal or not. This is because it is only after he got ten wickets against Australia that the world stood up and noticed Abbas. He was flying under the radar until that time and opposition took him lightly and usually prepared for Yasir. And as i feared, New Zealand definitely worked on Abbas and we saw how easily he was neutralized because they prepared for him. He still is Pakistan's best bowler but he needs to perform against SA now to show people that he is not an early stage wonder that so many Pakistani cricketers have turned out to be only to fade away once they are found out.

Overall, it's a pretty average attack I would say.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Filter this for pacer stats, and it will be more relevant to the thread.

Abbas had 4 good matches, and looks promising. Rest of the pacers are average/below-average I am afraid.

Pacer's average is even more impressive, it's the spinners that have made this average worse.

Pacer's average 23 with 91 wickets including likes of Rahat, Wahab and Hamza who combined average 241.

If you consider only the above 4 pacers then the average drops down to 19.73 with 84 wickets.

Abbas averages 14
Amir averages 19
Hasan averages 26
Shaheen averages 32 with only 2 matches.

 

[Abdullah719]

Filter this for pacer stats, and it will be more relevant to the thread.

 

[babajee]

Bhai filter it without Abbas so it is even more relevant

 

[Usman Chadda]

Hasan's best stats are in UAE, has struggled in England and South Africa.

Amir too has struggled outside UAE ever since his return.

Abbas is the new hope, and I wish him luck.

[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] please do the honours.

 

[Hasan123]

This has the potential to be a very good attack.

 

[Dark_Horse]

The solution to Hassan ali wayward bowling is giving him long spells 7+ overs he will become consistent he has done in uae else if he is not that fit then small bursts could be option as Abbas is always consistent. Ask Hassan to go full throttle in a spell of 4 overs. Stop runs from oneside using abbas and amir and ask Hassan and shaheen to go in attcking mode with attacking fields . Attacking these two will surely make the batsman play the wrong shots. Abbas never gives batsman anything and amir can also do this for I hope. In this way the quartert can have proper rest. In these conditions batting team usually lasts 60-70 overs atmost so not much of the fifth bowling option required

 

[a_tahir]

Bhai filter it without Abbas so it is even more relevant

Is Abbas not part of the bowling attack?

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

This list looses its importance when you see WI, Ban, SL above Eng, NZ and Aus.

Why?

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Thanks!

Now let's take out Abbas and Hasan Ali from these numbers. Maybe Shaheen as well. Let's zero in on Amir and possibly Faheem Ashraf and condemn the entire pace attack.

People are looking in the wrong area.

 

[Plumb]

Hasan Ali shouldn’t be in test squad. His line is not made for test cricket or you asking too much from him to become a test bowler. Wayward n all over the place.

Abbas n Mir hamza a made for test. Amir looked promising after his comeback. Shaheen need a long way to become test bowler.,

 

[topspin]

Excellent bowling stats from Pakistan. One shouldn't forget the team has played in both good and poor conditions for pace bowling. In 2018 they have played 5 tests in UAE and 4 in friendly bowling conditions:

1. England - two tests
2. Ireland - one test
3. SA - one test

As a few have mentioned, the criticism of the pace attack is misplaced and I can tell you it is certainly not an "average attack" but I suspect this is a reaction due to the lack of wickets during SA's chase.

What is more worrying is the quality of spin. Yes Yasir has been impressive in Asia and is the fastest to 200 wickets however if we probe in to this further you'll find the one of the reasons for it is because Pakistan lacks a quality second spinner and is no longer producing world class finger spinner since the ICC clamp down on suspect actions.

Outside Asia, Yasir isn't that impressive and that comes as no surprise since he lacks variations and isn't a big turner of his leg break. His googly is no good and doesn't have any other tricks up his sleeve like because he relies heavily on his top spin.

Pace bowling is the least of our worries.

 

[ShahidDar08]

All same type of bowlers, at least 2 bowlers should have been 145+.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Thanks!

Now let's take out Abbas and Hasan Ali from these numbers. Maybe Shaheen as well. Let's zero in on Amir and possibly Faheem Ashraf and condemn the entire pace attack.

People are looking in the wrong area.

What are you talking about?

Amir is the second best bowler after Abbas.

Averages:

Abbas 14
Amir 19
Hasan 26
Shaheen 32

 

[Abdullah719]

What are you talking about?

Amir is the second best bowler after Abbas.

Averages:

Abbas 14
Amir 19
Hasan 26
Shaheen 32

I think that was sarcasm.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

I think that was sarcasm.

Nope, sarcasm was for selecting individuals but he was assuming Amir and Faheem have been poor.

 

[aloo paratha]

Bowling attack for the next match should be Hasan, Shaheen, Abbas and Yasir.

 

[rhony]

Amir only turns on only against india whom we are not gonna play for another 4 yeas except 2-3 matches so we cannot let other performers to suffer for those matches I am in favour of picking up some younger bowlers who will have some eager to represnt the country and for name rather than some experienced players playing some useless t20 stuff

Amir only turns up against India. Yes remember that time when Amir blasted India in tests. Oh wait, is it the ODIs? Did you watch the Asia cup?
"Amir is a pressure player and always performs against India. Fakhar can't play on slow wickets but is bouncy pitch gladiator." Only on PP!!

 

[barah_admi]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

Exactly.

Pakistan's bowling is very good, at times, it even looks special and I am not sure how many attacks have restricted batting sides, so often, to less than 250 in a test.

The batting MUST step up.

 

[Hawkeye]

Filter this for pacer stats, and it will be more relevant to the thread.

To what length are you willing to go? Abdullah bhai on a roll here:

Bhai filter it without Abbas so it is even more relevant

) ) )

Epic!

IND is in that list for the first time, and suddenly all the other premier bowling attacks are average!

Here, they're getting lucky against Aus D batting side.

 

[Mainul]

Amir is mediocre. Rest are awesome.

 

[a_tahir]

He took 4 wickets in the first and second innings he was bowling really well in the initial 10 overs.

 

[cricket_cfa]

Is abbas fit for 2nd test

 

[Bewal Express]

Good solid bowlers but nothing special. If Afridi can learn to swing the ball back into right handers then he could become a top 5 bowler, but like Wahab his seam won't allow that and in 10 years time we talk about another wasted talent.

 

[Pete Rose]

Very good. but will need the batting to give them the cushion to show their talents.

 

[BlackShadow]

To what length are you willing to go? Abdullah bhai on a roll here:








) ) )

Epic!

IND is in that list for the first time, and suddenly all the other premier bowling attacks are average!

Here, they're getting lucky against Aus D batting side.

Lol,why so excited?

So it's basically Abbas and bunch of decent pacers, so much for the quartet.

 

[BlackShadow]

Amir is mediocre. Rest are awesome.

Don't get the hype around Shaheen either. No pace and didn't do much on what his captain called a "bowler's paradise".

 

[Usman Chadda]

Don't get the hype around Shaheen either. No pace and didn't do much on what his captain called a "bowler's paradise".

He picked up four wickets in the first innings, to restrict South Africa to a low total. Your posts are unbelievably embarrassing )

 

[Mamoon]

Abbas - very impressive so far, but he has played very few games and was negated by New Zealand with ease.

Shaheen - very exciting but raw and inexperienced.

Hasan - just about decent, nothing special.

Amir - mediocre.

Overall, it is a pretty average attack and not close to South Africa, India and Australia.

 

[a_tahir]

Abbas - very impressive so far, but he has played very few games and was negated by New Zealand with ease.

Shaheen - very exciting but raw and inexperienced.

Hasan - just about decent, nothing special.

Amir - mediocre.

Overall, it is a pretty average attack and not close to South Africa, India and Australia.

Pace bowling averages for this year say otherwise.

 

[JattMaula]

Very good attack.

Abbas was missed in first test.

Amir needs increase his endurance. Was trundling in his later spells in his first test in forever.

 

[a_tahir]

What do u even mean by trundling?

 

[Mamoon]

Pace bowling averages for this year say otherwise.

They also take the crown for the worst fourth innings bowling performance of the year.

 

[a_tahir]

His pace has always been at 135-140kpmh after the ban.

 

[a_tahir]

Mate Shan Masood has an average of 6 in the fourth innings no one can compete with that

 

[TeamPak95]

Pakistan's bowling is not the problem. Wrong conversations all over PP. All bowlers are delivering when given a chance. It's the batting that is putting too much pressure on them.

Pretty much. More times than not, our bowling isn't something to fret over. It's the fact that our batsmen most of the time are mental midgets, especially our recent history of "senior" players. Also add to the fact that these seniors are undroppable and inducting young batting talents seems as difficult as finding a cure for cancer for the selection committee.

 

[Abid Z]

Average attack.

You cannot continue to rate Mohammad Amir on his exploits 8 years ago during the English summer. He was a different bowler then. What we're seeing now is not even 5% of that bowler. He has dramatically tailed off with the exception of one or two spells. In Tests, he's completely toothless as I believe he has lost the art of taking wickets because of his drop in skill levels. He still has the brain to set up batsmen but doesn't have the skills anymore to follow through on that set-up and get batsmen out. Also his second and third spells in Test cricket are 125-130kph. Not good enough.

Hasan Ali will have his moments and when it is reverse swinging, he's more than good. But as a fast bowler you cannot simply rely on reverse swing. He is pretty wayward in most of his spells but gets away in ODIs and T20s because batsmen are looking to attack all the time and he benefits from that. In Test matches, not good enough again.

Shaheen Afridi is better than the above two. However he needs to learn two things: consistency to bowl in the same spot and secondly, patience. At the moment he is raw potential. Until he learns those two things, he'll go the same way as Hasan. In the 2nd innings in the 1st test against SA, his first 4 overs were outstanding. He was making Elgar look like a bunny because he was bowling that 4th stump line consistently. But when Elgar didn't nick his deliveries time and again, he grew impatient and started bowling towards the body of Elgar. He needs to understand that if he remains on that 4th stump channel and be patient enough, wickets will come to him.

Mohammad Abbas so far has been the best out of the four man attack. However, like I had said before the NZ series, we have to wait and assess whether Abbas is the real deal or not. This is because it is only after he got ten wickets against Australia that the world stood up and noticed Abbas. He was flying under the radar until that time and opposition took him lightly and usually prepared for Yasir. And as i feared, New Zealand definitely worked on Abbas and we saw how easily he was neutralized because they prepared for him. He still is Pakistan's best bowler but he needs to perform against SA now to show people that he is not an early stage wonder that so many Pakistani cricketers have turned out to be only to fade away once they are found out.

Overall, it's a pretty average attack I would say.

This is a fantastic post. Well done. I think you are being too kind though.

 

[BlackShadow]

He picked up four wickets in the first innings, to restrict South Africa to a low total. Your posts are unbelievably embarrassing )

I can recall similar response from predictable members in Bumrah, Asia Cup, Amir, bowling-speed etc threads, but we know how it turns out in the end.

Shaheen looked harmless gentle medium in the 4th inning, and while I do see potential, he stills seems too raw for international Cricket. Amir had a good 2018, but one good season doesn't turn a mediocre bowler into a world class talent. Look at Ishant, no one rated him even though he had some exceptional series. He repeated his performance again and again to be recognized as a World class Test bowler today, same is the case with Amir.

Currently Pakistan have one exceptional new-comer in Abbas, and two decent bowlers in Amir and Hasan. Shaheen may be promising for future, but what I see today is nothing special.

 

[topspin]

I can recall similar response from predictable members in Bumrah, Asia Cup, Amir, bowling-speed etc threads, but we know how it turns out in the end.

Shaheen looked harmless gentle medium in the 4th inning, and while I do see potential, he stills seems too raw for international Cricket. Amir had a good 2018, but one good season doesn't turn a mediocre bowler into a world class talent. Look at Ishant, no one rated him even though he had some exceptional series. He repeated his performance again and again to be recognized as a World class Test bowler today, same is the case with Amir.

Currently Pakistan have one exceptional new-comer in Abbas, and two decent bowlers in Amir and Hasan. Shaheen may be promising for future, but what I see today is nothing special.

Shaheen was the main reason why SA were restricted to 223. Remember those two wickets in two balls that left them at 43/4? He also added another two wickets in that innings to claim a 4fer.

In the second innings he looked very good in the first few overs but lost patience and ended up banging it short. His inexperience showed here. Overall he had a good game. He's made remarkable progress from U19 cricket to cementing a first XI spot in Pakistan's LOI sides and I'm sure he will do the same in tests. He won't be an ATG overnight.

 

[Sherlock]

All would go all-out seam attack and drop Yasir.

 

[Shandarchowka]

Really good bowling attack. I hope we play this. Ideally we should play one of these combinations -

Faheem
Amir
Hasan
Yasir
Abbas

(or)

Shadab
Amir
Hasan
Shaheen
Abbas

I'd go with the latter to Capetown

 

[Usman Chadda]

I can recall similar response from predictable members in Bumrah, Asia Cup, Amir, bowling-speed etc threads, but we know how it turns out in the end.

Shaheen looked harmless gentle medium in the 4th inning, and while I do see potential, he stills seems too raw for international Cricket. Amir had a good 2018, but one good season doesn't turn a mediocre bowler into a world class talent. Look at Ishant, no one rated him even though he had some exceptional series. He repeated his performance again and again to be recognized as a World class Test bowler today, same is the case with Amir.

Currently Pakistan have one exceptional new-comer in Abbas, and two decent bowlers in Amir and Hasan. Shaheen may be promising for future, but what I see today is nothing special.

He is an 18 year old, and the quickest of the Pakistani bowlers in this test I believe. You are comparing an 18 year old rookie to a player with 89 test matches to his name. Ishant was a joke, rightly so, but he has finally improved to a point where he is decent. Bumrah is the actual match-winner in your bowling attack, and to a certain extent Shami.