Mushtaq Ahmed and his impact versus other Asian spinners

[DeadlyVenom]

The recent retirement of Ashwin got me thinking about the legacy of Asian spinners. There has been a lot of debate throughout Ashwins career about how ineffective he was overseas and how the pitches were at times rigged in a way that majorly assisted him.

Whatever side you stand on that debate - Some things cant be denied for all Asian spinners.

1. For an Asian spin bowler bowling in Asia is not the most difficult test of skills.
2. It is therefore more difficult to bowl in SENAW ( W is debatable but let's just keep it in for now).
3. When playing away in SENAW the chances of pitches being rigged to favour a touring Asian spinner is negligible - so we can use this as a leveller.

And point number 4

Five wicket hauls are the hall mark of a great bowler.

Many of these parameters have already been set on PP when measuring other bowlers. I hope you agree that this isn't a departure from any established norms.

Mushtaq's overall record is quite mediocre. He just didn't play enough matches, had an average over 30 and less than 200 wickets.

His overall career numbers slot in at the same level as Mehidy Miraz.



Now let's apply the filters - which again I hope it is seen as not doing anything too drastic.


Mushtaq has a decent record outside of Asia. Up there with more well known bowlers and a considerable level of 5 wicket hauls.

Let's go one step deeper and see how many outside of Asia wins he may have contributed to.


Thats an exceptional record. Mushtaq has 5 5fers in SENAW in winning Causes.

Now for the final point. W in SENAW is perhaps being generous because the team quality has dropped over the years and it might not do too much justice across eras to consider them.

Outside of Asia record of Asian Spinners without West Indies


Outside of Asia Record ( excluding WIndies) in wins


Ashwin completely drops out the list.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Mushtaqs records in 5fers for outside Asia.

MOTM performance in AUS, NZ, Eng and South Africa.

based on this analysis in these posts should his legacy be reevaluated.

 

[KB]

View attachment 148851
Mushtaqs records in 5fers for outside Asia.

MOTM performance in AUS, NZ, Eng and South Africa.

based on this analysis in these posts should his legacy be reevaluated.

I wrote a post here a few years ago linked to this:

It is perhaps not appreciated enough but between 1995 and 1998, Mushtaq Ahmed was Pakistan’s greatest match-winner in Test match cricket. In those golden years, starting from that series in 1995 in Australia where he took 18 wickets in just two Tests to the Durban Test in 1998, which was the site of his last great performance for Pakistan, he left batsmen frequently bewildered. In that period the only two batsman to really dominate him were Carl Hooper and Mark Waugh. All his 5 wicket hauls in the long form came in this period.

His decline after 1998 was abrupt. Maybe he lost his way in life. Happily it did not end there. Having found meaning in religion he became the main agent in the greatest era for Sussex. He became "statistically, romantically and emotionally the best player to ever pull on a Sussex shirt," in the words of Chris Adams.