"Mohammad Zahid was the fastest bowler I have ever seen" : Tony Cozier

Saj

PakPassion Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 1, 2001
Runs
96,118
Interesting comment from Tony Cozier on commentary bearing in mind he must have seen a lot of fast bowlers over the years. "Mohammad Zahid was the fastest bowler I have ever seen."
 
Last edited:
Pakistan has easily produced most number of tearaways.
 
Shame he didn't play enough matches, mainly due to injuries.
 
Ramiz was the main reason for zahid's injury problems.

Akhtar himself said he had not seen a faster bowler than zahid.
 
^ zahid complained about back pains bowling in a test against SL, Ramiz insisted he bowl on, turns out it was a stress fracture and the rest as they say is history, as it happens with zahids build and action he would never have lasted anyway, so blaming ramiz completely is not totally fair imo.
 
I have seen some of his videos on youtube and he looked seriously quick. Sadly injuries stopped him.

Today I saw Tony after some years and he looked really old (I know he is 70+). A very fine commentator.
 
I watched his Debut match vs NZ, at that time all good bowlers were unfit/not playing that match. (dont remember actual reason) and he took 11 wickets.
A very very fast bowler.
 
in AUS watched his bowling in VB series, He was giving very tough time to LARA. and after that match LARA said I have never seen such a fastest bowler.
 
I remember Shoaib said it many times that zahid was more quick thn him...
 
He bowled around 90-95 MPH at Best.

He is a bit overrated as far as speed is concerned.

Akhtar from 2001-04 was easily the quickest bowler, just by watching him bowl you could tell.
 
Cricket will always miss Shane Bond and Mohammad Zahid, 2 very talented and seriously quick pacers gone in to shadows because of injuries...
 
He bowled around 90-95 MPH at Best.

He is a bit overrated as far as speed is concerned.

Akhtar from 2001-04 was easily the quickest bowler, just by watching him bowl you could tell.

But even the quickest Akhtar mentioned that Zahid was more quicker and these injuries destroyed his career...
 
He bowled around 90-95 MPH at Best.

He is a bit overrated as far as speed is concerned.

Akhtar from 2001-04 was easily the quickest bowler, just by watching him bowl you could tell.

Lara faced both and he is of the opinion that Zahid is quicker
 
He bowled around 90-95 MPH at Best.

He is a bit overrated as far as speed is concerned.

Akhtar from 2001-04 was easily the quickest bowler, just by watching him bowl you could tell.

Bro you serious?

The man was the quickest bowler Pakistan has produced. Overrated he was not.
 
Not sure if it's an urban myth but Brian Lara was also quoted saying Zahid was the fastest bowler he ever faced.
 
At what point of the match was this mentioned?

When Irfan was using his Pace, Tony even mentioned that Irfan and Zahid both are from same city Gagu Mandi...I was surprised how come he remember the name Gagu Mandi...
 
I think not having a high fitness level is one of the main weaknesses of a fast bowler,don't take away credit from those who lasted for years and Zahid could not...this "could have" thing is over rated... people often claim had Kambli been disciplined he would have scored 20000 test runs and blah blah.... move on!!! :facepalm: :facepalm:
 
I saw Zahid beat Lara with sheer pace at least 4 times in one over.

Zahid generated a lot of pace.
 
He is the fastest bowler to ever play , alot of people in pak say he was faster than akhtar too bad he got injured
 
I didn't see his debut Test, but most of his 11 wickets were bowled or LBW - batsmen beaten by pace. There was no Speed Gun, but in 1996/97 WSC, I think Zahid was easily faster than 161KM quite few occasions. I had never seen Brian to be beaten by pace, apart from that WSC. He was most definitely faster than Shohaib at peak, but Akhter was a better bowler for other attributes.

Zahid shouldn't blame anyone for his injury - a fast bowler himself has to take care of his body & I am not so sure Zahid helped himself much (& I believe he used to smoke, probably few other things than tobacco only). Also, those days, PCB's medical staffs were probably not up to that of ACB or Sussex County level (who brought Lillie & Imran back from career ending stress fractures, in early 70s & 80s).

Only blame I can give to Rameez was that, as not being a fast bowling Captain, he couldn't understand the extent of Zahid's injury. & lot of blame goes to the 2 senior Ws, who behind the door, blocked the path of other top quality fast bowlers to preserve their legacy. The role Imran played for Akram, Waquar or Aaquib, unfortunately 2Ws didn't do that for the next generation.
 
When Irfan was using his Pace, Tony even mentioned that Irfan and Zahid both are from same city Gagu Mandi...I was surprised how come he remember the name Gagu Mandi...

I meant at what over? I have it recorded, trying to find it.
 
Have nothing against Zahid I have seen him bowling both before and after his injury indeed he was very very fast(before injury) but I still think Akhtar was quickest ever not only from Pakistan but in the world no one I have seen bowling constantly in 90s and he even use to biwl mid late 90s constantly when in rythem.

Secondly zahid never got enough chance maybe he could have been groomed into much better and quicker bowler than he was.

Another person we really underrate is Brett Lee he was seriously quick and definite competitor to Akhtar.
 
I remembered his first uting and his humble interview on ptv khabarnama after taking those 11 wickets ............. in those days Imran khan used to write articles in a newspaper .......... in one of his article he wrote if I remember correctly that zahid needs two things to do for a longer career .............. 1... change his bowling style ....... 2 .... or gain weight and muscles on his shoulders and .......... coz he was front on bowler with sheer pace .............. Imran wrote that zahid needs to swim more and more to strengthen his muscles ........... if not than he will be injured with back pain and his career will be over in couple of years ...........and that is what happened to zahid ......... shoaib , wasim , lara , taylor they all said that zahid was quickest .............. if lara is saying this thing than it should be having weightage because he had seen the glory days of waqar younis fearsome bowling , share pace of shoaib akhtar and lethality if lee but still according to him ZAHID WAS FASTEST ......
 
The thread is about fastest Bowler , not about longevity or consistency or any other parameter .... Thus I think Zahid is the fastest.

If you talk about skill probably there would be 50 better bowlers than him , but that is not the point of the thread.
 
That about 100 km rural Southern Punjab belt ;stretching from Burewala to Multan including rural areas of vehari ,Gagu mandi is historically a breeding ground for tearaways, but the problem there is poverty and lack of facilities(proper shoes, equipment etc as mentioned by Shoib Akhter in a show). Pakpassion should keep a close eye(as they have in case of Irfan) on cricketers from this area to protect them from big city bias/monopoly.
 
Last edited:
Zahid is on record for saying that he was touring New Zealand with the Pakistan u19 team in 1995 and he was still a few months away from turning 19. Pakistan played a couple of test matches and some one day games on that tour. During one of the matches at Wellington where speed guns were fitted He clocked 100mph a few times. No other bowler was getting close to that speed and it even made the papers the next day. Zahid still has those newspaper clippings with him.

As senior New Zealander who is aware of this ? Please share

Zahid said that the fastest he think he ever bowled was in a side game against New Zealand A where he says he only got 7 wickets but 7,8 catches were dropped of his bowling. Might be the slip cordon could not sight the ball ?

Is any player of new Zealand team who played that side match is on record of saying anything about Zahid's pace ?

When even Saleem Malik the senior most player personally talked to Ramiz that Zahid is injured he had a whiplash injury prior to match so don't bowl him further let him go out of the field why Ramiz did not listen to Zahid and Sameen and said don't worry it's just a niggle you will be fine. Carry On.
Ramiz is such an intellectual ?

Amir came back after two stress fractures of back and bowled more fast so did Cummins and Milne. So has the treatment of stress fracture evolved within last 20 years ? Why Zahid could not recover despite getting treatment from England? What was the difference in his case and Amir,Milne and Cummins case ?

Bowling 100 mph at U-19 level is an unbelievable ability if true.

Please contribute.
 
Zahid is on record for saying that he was touring New Zealand with the Pakistan u19 team in 1995 and he was still a few months away from turning 19. Pakistan played a couple of test matches and some one day games on that tour. During one of the matches at Wellington where speed guns were fitted He clocked 100mph a few times. No other bowler was getting close to that speed and it even made the papers the next day. Zahid still has those newspaper clippings with him.

As senior New Zealander who is aware of this ? Please share

Zahid said that the fastest he think he ever bowled was in a side game against New Zealand A where he says he only got 7 wickets but 7,8 catches were dropped of his bowling. Might be the slip cordon could not sight the ball ?

Is any player of new Zealand team who played that side match is on record of saying anything about Zahid's pace ?

When even Saleem Malik the senior most player personally talked to Ramiz that Zahid is injured he had a whiplash injury prior to match so don't bowl him further let him go out of the field why Ramiz did not listen to Zahid and Sameen and said don't worry it's just a niggle you will be fine. Carry On.
Ramiz is such an intellectual ?

Amir came back after two stress fractures of back and bowled more fast so did Cummins and Milne. So has the treatment of stress fracture evolved within last 20 years ? Why Zahid could not recover despite getting treatment from England? What was the difference in his case and Amir,Milne and Cummins case ?

Bowling 100 mph at U-19 level is an unbelievable ability if true.

Please contribute.

Treatment and rehab of fast bowlers in regards to stress fractures has improved by leaps and bounds. Imran had a shin injury in the 80s and was out for approx an year. Waqar had a stress fracture of the back before the 92 world cup and he was out for almost a year as well. Now it seems like it takes a few months to recover and they come back much better.
 
Shoaib was bouncier, Zahid had more air speed. Bunch of paindus like Ramiz ruined Zahid's career before his body even matured.
 
Meh. Srinath was faster.

That sarcasm just killed me

Also, the recent ODI between Sri Lanka and West Indies - Ian Bishop stated that Dushmantha Chameera reminded him of Muhammad Zahid the extreme quick pace bowler from Pakistan in the Late 90's.

That was actually so nice to hear ... Man, I still miss Zahid's run up.
 
That sarcasm just killed me

Also, the recent ODI between Sri Lanka and West Indies - Ian Bishop stated that Dushmantha Chameera reminded him of Muhammad Zahid the extreme quick pace bowler from Pakistan in the Late 90's.

That was actually so nice to hear ... Man, I still miss Zahid's run up.

Just imagine an under 19 cricketer bowling 100mph . Just incredible mind-blowing.
 
Zahid was defiantly the fastest bowler i have ever seen. No doubt about it. And ive seen a few.
Shoaib and Lee come second.

There were reports that many New Zealand Under 19 batsman were exposing all their stumps and shying away from the line of deliveries. Well being youngsta they were saving their lifes.

I believe he was one of the best fast bowler we produced. And we destroyed him.
 
Not sure about fast but Srinath was a better bowler than Zahid.


Stupid thing to say as Zahid wasn't able to play much coz of injury. The only thing Zahid is referred to is his speed, had he played long enough he would have been compared to other bowlers.
Srinath was the best ever Indian pacer and should be compared to other Indian pacers.
 
Stupid thing to say as Zahid wasn't able to play much coz of injury. The only thing Zahid is referred to is his speed, had he played long enough he would have been compared to other bowlers.
Srinath was the best ever Indian pacer and should be compared to other Indian pacers.

I didnt start the comparison. Read post # 41
 
lol...Indians are commenting about FAST bowlers...

As usually some bitter comments from the neighbours.

Go away and have some Diwali fun guys...
 
Amir came back after two stress fractures of back and bowled more fast so did Cummins and Milne. So has the treatment of stress fracture evolved within last 20 years ? Why Zahid could not recover despite getting treatment from England? What was the difference in his case and Amir,Milne and Cummins case ? - See more at: http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...r-seen-quot-Tony-Cozier&p=8156840#post8156840

He did come back but he was never the same, largely down to the fact that the injury was not treated properly and Zahid was left to his own devices by PCB.
 
He did come back but he was never the same, largely down to the fact that the injury was not treated properly and Zahid was left to his own devices by PCB.

He had signed with Nottinghamshire County that season. He went to England immediately after getting injured and His county offered him to be treated at UK on their cost.(They might have players insured)

When Zahid told PCB that he has been diagnosed with stress fractures of back the chairman pcb majid khan said they won't bear the treatment cost at UK and he should come back to Pakistan and PCB doctors will check him and see what the problem is and than they will see whether he should be treated here or abroad .

While all this was happening Zahid was advised that wasting time and travelling would worsen his injury further so he better get treated immediately through his county contract and you never know whether PCB will pay for his treatment later or not .

Now I don't know Zahid made the right choice or whether pcb was right than.

Shouldn't the PCB have withdrawn the NOC for playing county cricket on medical grounds ?

And I am perplexed that so many players have returned after stress fractures of back but it is said that with Zahid the issue was back got stiff and flexibility of back decreased and after few overs it used to get more stiff. What can be the reason ? Was there slight minor disc dislocation too ? Or Ramiz asking Koi nai Koi nai shabash jaan maar it's just a niggle resulted in degradation of vertebraes of his back ?

Immense loss for us.

I hope Zahid you are reading :( :'(
 
lol...Indians are commenting about FAST bowlers...

As usually some bitter comments from the neighbours.

Go away and have some Diwali fun guys...

Which comment you found bitter? That Srinath was better bowler than Phasst Zahid? Its a fact.

As far as poor comment is concerned, read post#41 and get some perspective who started. But I know you will ignore it.

And yes we may never had express FAST bowlers but we always have few Ajay Jadeja's ready for all Waqar Younises you can dish out ;-)
 
Akhter for me is comfortably the quickest I seen followed by patrick Patterson
 
Which comment you found bitter? That Srinath was better bowler than Phasst Zahid? Its a fact.

As far as poor comment is concerned, read post#41 and get some perspective who started. But I know you will ignore it.

And yes we may never had express FAST bowlers but we always have few Ajay Jadeja's ready for all Waqar Younises you can dish out ;-)

And we had Saleem malik to trash Kapil dev, Afridi to hammer Zaheer,Kumble and Bhajji, do this mean that all you legends were nothing coz they had some bad days?

Continuous stupid posts.
 
The only time I saw him bowl was in Sahara Cup, Canada. He was quick, but didnt look to me as quick as Akhtar ( Akhtar, after 2000 was bowling at his full pace ). But I might be wrong and I totally can believe if Zahid was actually much quicker.
 
Which comment you found bitter? That Srinath was better bowler than Phasst Zahid? Its a fact.

As far as poor comment is concerned, read post#41 and get some perspective who started. But I know you will ignore it.

And yes we may never had express FAST bowlers but we always have few Ajay Jadeja's ready for all Waqar Younises you can dish out ;-)

All of them. We are talking about pace and not trundlers!
 
Which comment you found bitter? That Srinath was better bowler than Phasst Zahid? Its a fact.

As far as poor comment is concerned, read post#41 and get some perspective who started. But I know you will ignore it.

And yes we may never had express FAST bowlers but we always have few Ajay Jadeja's ready for all Waqar Younises you can dish out ;-)

As for who started it I've gone through almost every post.

Now coming to your last point about Jadeja, sure Vicky had bad QF but how many times afterward he was embarrassed by latter, more specifically in Sharjah. And btw how many times did Jadeja repeated his QF show again Waqar?
 
The pont of this post was ?

To take a dig at the Rice eating Indian bowler .... how dare we even call him a phasht bowler when he freakin does not even eat any kind of meat .... totally the mistake of us Indian fans.
 
Such a natural as well. Loved this about West Indians as well. While Lillee, Akhtar clearly seemed tp put in that extra effort to crank it up, Marshal, Holding, Zahid seemed to do it with such ease. So beautiful. Forget everything, would have been so good to the eye if Zahid had taken 300 + test wickets.
 
Dravid hadn't earned the name 'The Wall' back then but still, amazing delivery to get a talented young up coming batsman out . :)


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dc3Le88Jzyk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
As for who started it I've gone through almost every post.

Now coming to your last point about Jadeja, sure Vicky had bad QF but how many times afterward he was embarrassed by latter, more specifically in Sharjah. And btw how many times did Jadeja repeated his QF show again Waqar?

Nobody remembers these ODI's unless something dramatic happens (Eg JM Last ball 6 or Rajesh Chauhan hitting Saqlain for 6 in the last over ) . Waqar taking the wicket of Jadeja isnt a earth shattering event.
 
Nobody remembers these ODI's unless something dramatic happens (Eg JM Last ball 6 or Rajesh Chauhan hitting Saqlain for 6 in the last over ) . Waqar taking the wicket of Jadeja isnt a earth shattering event.

Oh really. then what happened in QF isnt an earth shattering event too.
 
Shoaib was bouncier, Zahid had more air speed. Bunch of paindus like Ramiz ruined Zahid's career before his body even matured.

I once heard Ramiz saying that Zahid bowled a super fast spell at him at domestic level (Ramiz was returning from an international tour) and that he had never faced anything like that before. The keeper was standing way back and collecting everything above his head. May be something happened that day?
 
I am wondering how he managed to generate so much pace with such a lanky frame. I have always wondered how Sami, Zahid etc were able to generate so much pace. Akhtar/ Waqar at least looked to have strong upper body/ shoulders.
 
I once heard Ramiz saying that Zahid bowled a super fast spell at him at domestic level (Ramiz was returning from an international tour) and that he had never faced anything like that before. The keeper was standing way back and collecting everything above his head. May be something happened that day?

Don't know but Ramiz was captain in Sri Lanka when Zahid was forced to bowl despite back pain.

I won't solely blame it on Ramiz but the whole group of selfish idiots from PCB management to the players. I'm sure Zahid wasn't the only career they ruined.

Anyway, I don't wanna dwell on the past now. It was just a passing comment.
 
Dravid hadn't earned the name 'The Wall' back then but still, amazing delivery to get a talented young up coming batsman out . :)


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dc3Le88Jzyk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Crazy speed and this was post-injury as well.
 
lol...Indians are commenting about FAST bowlers...

As usually some bitter comments from the neighbours.

Go away and have some Diwali fun guys...

Funny thing is it's a A Pakistani who took an Indian name.
 
Don't know but Ramiz was captain in Sri Lanka when Zahid was forced to bowl despite back pain.

I won't solely blame it on Ramiz but the whole group of selfish idiots from PCB management to the players. I'm sure Zahid wasn't the only career they ruined.

Anyway, I don't wanna dwell on the past now. It was just a passing comment.

Don't put it on others. Zahid said let me go off the field . Sakun malik advised Ramiz Raja not to bowl Zahid. Team management pcb weren't involved. Ramiz's ans was don't worry keep bowling it's just a niggle you ll be fine soon.

Ramiz didn't have sense that apart from shoaib and Zahid he had not seen such a quick bowler in his last 20 years so how to treat him irrestive of match state ?

Koi worldcup final nai horaha tha k partnership break kero tou can win worldcup.

Now he criticises others etc as if a great intellectual and cricketing brain. Wasim was sick so Ramiz was captain for one match and look what he did :( :'(
 
Funny thing is it's a A Pakistani who took an Indian name.

And its quite funny when they all get bent out of shape when their accomplishments are pointed out ... for example the wkt tally in WC matches : http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...eam=7;template=results;trophy=12;type=bowling

Or this one vs all teams:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...eam=7;template=results;trophy=12;type=bowling

Too many bowlers from India have way better bowling figures than some superstar phasht bowlers from Pak and it doesnt sit well with these jingoistic posters for obvious reasons :)
 
Don't put it on others. Zahid said let me go off the field . Sakun malik advised Ramiz Raja not to bowl Zahid. Team management pcb weren't involved. Ramiz's ans was don't worry keep bowling it's just a niggle you ll be fine soon.

Ramiz didn't have sense that apart from shoaib and Zahid he had not seen such a quick bowler in his last 20 years so how to treat him irrestive of match state ?

Koi worldcup final nai horaha tha k partnership break kero tou can win worldcup.

Now he criticises others etc as if a great intellectual and cricketing brain. Wasim was sick so Ramiz was captain for one match and look what he did :( :'(
I wasn't specifically talking about this incident but the overall ignorance of PCB on managing genuine fast bowlers especially at a young age and the jealousy of seniors who didn't want youngsters taking their spots.

Ramiz had seen Wasim and Waqar who were both genuinely quick in the early 90s but both were managed by Imran otherwise we could've lost them to injuries as well.
 
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63752.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63753.html

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1996-97/PAK_IN_SL/PAK_SL-BOARD-XI_16-17APR1997.html

Zahid Bowled a total of 52 overs in that entire tour of Sri Lanka which covers 2 test matches and a warm up match. Akhtar has bowled as many as 25 overs in one innings in one test match.

Not sure why Ramiz is being blamed for Zahid's career ending injuries. Waqar in an interview long back during his playing days had mentioned that Zahid had a very stressful, demanding action and it would be very tough for him to stay fit with that bowling action.

Even Shoaib Akhtar has said Zahid did not manage himself properly and should have worked hard in the Gym to strengthen his back muscles.
 
I am wondering how he managed to generate so much pace with such a lanky frame. I have always wondered how Sami, Zahid etc were able to generate so much pace. Akhtar/ Waqar at least looked to have strong upper body/ shoulders.

He put so much stress on his back. Those who criticize fast bowlers for weight training and going to the gym, here is an example of where Zahid had he worked hard on adding muscle and strengthening his back could have stood a much better chance of avoiding back problems.
 
He had signed with Nottinghamshire County that season. He went to England immediately after getting injured and His county offered him to be treated at UK on their cost.(They might have players insured)

When Zahid told PCB that he has been diagnosed with stress fractures of back the chairman pcb majid khan said they won't bear the treatment cost at UK and he should come back to Pakistan and PCB doctors will check him and see what the problem is and than they will see whether he should be treated here or abroad .

While all this was happening Zahid was advised that wasting time and travelling would worsen his injury further so he better get treated immediately through his county contract and you never know whether PCB will pay for his treatment later or not .

Now I don't know Zahid made the right choice or whether pcb was right than.

Shouldn't the PCB have withdrawn the NOC for playing county cricket on medical grounds ?

And I am perplexed that so many players have returned after stress fractures of back but it is said that with Zahid the issue was back got stiff and flexibility of back decreased and after few overs it used to get more stiff. What can be the reason ? Was there slight minor disc dislocation too ? Or Ramiz asking Koi nai Koi nai shabash jaan maar it's just a niggle resulted in degradation of vertebraes of his back ?

Immense loss for us.

I hope Zahid you are reading :( :'(

I am just amazed at the PCB ignorance of the fact at the time that they had the fastest bowler in the world at their realm and they just did not give a damn.
 
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63752.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63753.html

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1996-97/PAK_IN_SL/PAK_SL-BOARD-XI_16-17APR1997.html

Zahid Bowled a total of 52 overs in that entire tour of Sri Lanka which covers 2 test matches and a warm up match. Akhtar has bowled as many as 25 overs in one innings in one test match.

Not sure why Ramiz is being blamed for Zahid's career ending injuries. Waqar in an interview long back during his playing days had mentioned that Zahid had a very stressful, demanding action and it would be very tough for him to stay fit with that bowling action.

Even Shoaib Akhtar has said Zahid did not manage himself properly and should have worked hard in the Gym to strengthen his back muscles.

Not a matter of overs. Zahid was forced to bowl despite back pain. Ramiz due to his ignorance figured bowling a few more wouldn't make a difference.

Zahid's action could've easily been modified.

Lol at the bolded part, do you have any clue what you're talking about?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top