Note: The interview was conducted in rather an informal manner, so pardon the minor bleeps. ThanksThe Nadeem Interview.
Umar says:
1. Care to tell us a bit about yourself?
nadeem says:
Well my name really is Nadeem lol. I am 35 and I live in London. I work for a Govt. organisation which shall go unnamed but primarily I am a software engineer.
nadeem says:
I've had a mixed upbringing. Partly here but formative years in Lahore which I am very thankful to Allah for.
Umar says:
2. I must say the guys have asked a few qs from you and so here goes
whose your all time favourite pakistan fast bowler?
whose your all time non-favourite pakistan bowler?
nadeem says:
These are two very good questions actually. Well my favourite Pakistani fast bowler has to be Imran. He was guts personified. From 1971 to 1976 he was in wildnerness cricketwise. He honed his skills at Oxford. He worked on his functional and mental strengths there with vigour and ambition. He came back with a bang in 1976 and decided to bowl fast as compared to military medium which was the order of the day in the subcontinent. People like Garth Le Roux and Mike Procter persuaded him that no matter what the PAK authorities said he just had to give express bowling his all. He never looked back. He played in the World series against the best quicks of the time and came out a great bowler. But then he discovered that the keeper and fielders could not cope with his constant barrage of 95 mph stuff. So he started practising 5 hours a day bowling at one stump to take fielders pitch and everything else out of equation. He developed indippers, leg cutters yorkers you name it. By 1982 his PWC ranking was 928 which is simply put awesome. Not only was he an amazing performer he also taught wasim and waqar everything he knew.
Umar says:
and now the bowler you dislike the most
nadeem says:
Ahahaha i should be diplomatic shouldn't i but i really can't lol. Because as long as I live Rashid Khan's ugly action will keep on playing in my mind. Due to dearth of fast bowlers in the subcon owing to dead pitches and institutionalized negativity we never really had another genuine quick until Wasim arrived. So till that time we experimented and trust me PCB threw some right weirdos our way. One such case was Rashid Khan of PIA whose action looked like he was losing all his limbs along his runup. It looked like his body parts were disintegrating after our own eyes. And the action was like Kermet fighting for his life in a toilet. I think those few batters who got out to him did so because they pi.ssed themselves laughing more than anything else before our own eyes*
Umar says:
would you say that wasim was faster than imran?
nadeem says:
Umar this is a very good question. Imran says that in their 1988 tour to WI waz was the fastest on either side during the series. Now although Imran was 36 the WI brigade had Grey, Patterson, marshall etc. To be honest I think that at their very quickest waz was quicker. Umar, waz was a phenomenon, a talent the likes of which have never been seen before.
Umar says:
Pls elaborate
nadeem says:
Let me put it this way. I was actually playing cricket at the same time wasim was. Word was theres a really nippy lad bowling in tape ball tourneys in innner Lahore. So i went along to see him. And trust me the 17 year old wasim was naturally better than several international bowlers of today. After that he was very fortunate to have a mentor like Imran Khan who polished his natural gifts. But Wasim's natural talent was just so off-the-scale that Imran had soon run out of things to teach. I mean this guy could bowl 7 different deliveries in an over. The 6th and seventh being one delivery which swung one way and seemed another lol. Many people dont talk about Akram's bouncer but let me reassure you that he had the most vicious bouncer in cricket history alongside Marshall.
Umar says:
acha??
nadeem says:
What people don't understand is the secret of Wasim's versatility and wizardry. Actually it was all in the wrist. He could do things mere mortals can't even dream of because his wrists were so flexible. His wrist action has been the best ever. People like Walsh and Mcgrath copied it off him. I mean, at the last moment, he could outswing it, inswing it, do anything. He could take your wicket at the last moment and that is genius. Plus there was his disguise. Due to his whippy action you could never tell whats happening next. Plus he was always shifting the ball from one hand to another during his runup. Thats another thing Imran taught him.
Umar says:
this begs two qs and one mght be controversial in a way
nadeem says:
please go ahead
Umar says:
why imran over wasim then?
nadeem says:
Because in Imran's era there was no encouragement for express bowling. THe pitches were prepared for spinners.There were no facilities to train properly. Imran had no mentors. Yes people name Sarfraz but he was hardly a mentor. Plus Imran's mental toughness was just extraordinary. You and I would get discouraged if a 5 year old graft in England gave rise to increased speed only for the fielders and keepers to spilll everything because they had never seen 90 mph in PAK before. Instead what does he do? He goes out day after day in Lahores 45 degree temperatures and bowls to a stump for 5 hours at a stretch to take pitches and fielders out of the equation. Yes Sarfraz had discovered reverse but it was useless with his 75 mph speed. It was Imran who made fast bowling sexy. It was Imran who laid he legacy for the two Ws to the extent that he talked to various counties and negotiated contracts for them. Can you see Wasim dooing that for anyone?
Umar says:
well should that be taken into account if we are to judge the bowler and not the man?
nadeem says:
Plus Wasim learnt verything from Imran including slower delivery, conventionl swing, reverse swing vetc : No but i have detailed reasons above as to why i rate imran as better. Yes Wasim had more variety but the magnitude of imran's swing was always greater than wasim's and waqar's was greater than both of them put together. Essentially, in reverse swing the quicker you are the whippier you are the greater the magnitude of the swing. Unfortunately wasim had to vary his speed a lot as his action never allowed him to hit top speed constantly
Umar says:
the second q and dont be diplomatic: waqar or wasim
nadeem says:
Waqar without a doubt and when I say Waqar i mean Waqar pre injury. Pre 1991. After that we saw only a shadow of a shadow of a shadow of Younis. Do you know that for the first 33 tests Waqar's SR was only 36. Thats mind boggling mate. He hwas frightening. I have never seen anythin like it. If i were to say that I am privileged to see one player in my life that would be Waqar Younis.
nadeem says:
Umar injury and mismanagement robbed us of the greatest sight in fast bowling , the Bradman of fast bowling and trust me when i say mismanagement I am being very diplomatic to certain people. However facts being facts waqar did get injured
Hmm put it this way For mental toughness and never-say-die attitude imran is my favourite For wizardry, genius and variety wasim is the obvious king of swing but the way waqar swallowed every trick in the book before 20 and was numero uno by then is just amazing. I shudder to think what he would have achieved if he hd remained fit But the final truth is Imran and Botham say that Wasim was the most gifted cricketer ever since Sobers Truth is he never really performed to even 70% of his ability whereas waqar and imran did. If Wasim was to do that no one can come anywhere near him simply because, IMHO, he is the most gifted cricketer ever. Hope i have answered u properly lol
Umar says:
you indeed have sire
Umar says:
though this q comes late, whats your benchmark for a good bowler and do yu think Sami in particular fits the bill
nadeem says:
My benchmark for a good bowler is unpredictability. Sami is extremely gifted make no mistake. But whn hes not outswinging it he is so easy to play. On those days he starts bowling short as well. Sami needs a session or two with Imran and he'll be right as rain, trust me.
Umar says:
would you say hes a good thinking bowler
However let me add before I proceed, I told you just now that the sign of a good bowler is predictability right? now i'll tell you whats the sign of the greatest bowlers. It is the fact that although they are predictable you still can't do anything. I mean batters knew that Bond and Waqar, in their prime, would rain 95 mph reverse swingers on them but they couldn't do a thing. THat a sign of extreme greatness. Waqar took away people's manliness through sheer force of speed and accuracy. No tricks neded.
Sami was not a good thinking bowler but he has the heart of a lion. Now hes putting a lot of thought into his bowling in AUS. Long may that continue
Umar says:
Do you think he has improved as a thinker?
nadeem says:
Slowly but surely yes. He has recognized that his strength is outswingers outside off and hes bowling to his srength now. More skill will come if Imran spends a session or two with him. I mean look at the transformation in Shoaib after the thre hours he spent with Imran after Jubilee Cup.
Umar says:
your thoughts on Gul and Shabbir
nadeem says:
In 1999, Shabbir was a 6'7'', 150 kph bowler. Hats the stuff of dreams mate when you think about his bounce and accuracy. Now he is mediocre though which is a pity. But amazingly he is the only bowle in the world since wasim who can reverse it both ways. Gives you some idea about the fast bowling talent we have in PAK.
GUl, its early days yet. He has skills and patience. But he needs to add 6 to 8 kph of consistent pace once he comes back into the fold of things. And for that he'll have to sort out his lead arm.
Umar says:
when fit should we play gul or kaneria
nadeem says:
Kaneria definitely. Gul will have to do something very special to dislodge kaneria. I am very excited about kaneria. Greatest leggie we've had since Qadir.
Umar says:
so what would your ideal test lineup be
nadeem says:
Imran nazir, Butt, Hameed, Inzi,YK, Youhana,Akmal, Sami, Azhar, Shoaib, kaneria
Umar says:
and three qs from Sameer
1)apart from imran nazir and salman butt who are your favourite young batsmans?which you think will be superstar for their countries in future.
2)what will be your advice for karachi express aka mohammad sami.
is he mentally weak or his problems are technical.
3)what do u think of shoaib malik?is he our best young player or will he continue to struggle on bouncy tracks.
nadeem says:
let me have a think please.
Umar says:
take your time sire
nadeem says:
FRom what i have seen Fawad Alam looked good to me but the record books suggest that Bin Nasir should be there right now. I have seen Bazid Khan, good leg side player. If you were to push me for an answer it would have to be a tie between Bin Nasir and Shoaib Khan depending on whether the selectors wanna go for wham bam or innings building approach.
Umar says:
whos shoaib khan?
nadeem says:
Shoaib Khan is a batter in our domestic.
Malik is very gifted but his stance needs to be a bit more side on. That way bowlers wont be able to open him up with short stuff. Our best player in AUS was a guy with a closed stance called Ijaz Ahmed. I am not recommending that but anything is better than Malik's open stance and pre judged lunges.
nadeem says:
Malik needs to play pace on merit. Simple as
Umar says:
so heres a q from Tapioca
Umar says:
he gets the feeling yorue short tempered and I have a tehroy that tall muscular men generally are, why do youthink so?
nadeem says:
Ahahahaha. I am a bit short tempered but nothing I am proud of. I often think and speak from the heart so when i see that its not being reciprocated i react. Its very naive but thats me lol. Well no harm done cos its not as if i'm running for office now is it lol
Umar says:
ha ha
Umar says:
so are tall muscular people generally short fused?
nadeem says:
Yes generally because the body is always in a ready-to-prowl tensed up condition. It gives u a non-nonsense mental attitude as well which is n
Umar says:
1. Care to tell us a bit about yourself?
nadeem says:
Well my name really is Nadeem lol. I am 35 and I live in London. I work for a Govt. organisation which shall go unnamed but primarily I am a software engineer.
nadeem says:
I've had a mixed upbringing. Partly here but formative years in Lahore which I am very thankful to Allah for.
Umar says:
2. I must say the guys have asked a few qs from you and so here goes
whose your all time favourite pakistan fast bowler?
whose your all time non-favourite pakistan bowler?
nadeem says:
These are two very good questions actually. Well my favourite Pakistani fast bowler has to be Imran. He was guts personified. From 1971 to 1976 he was in wildnerness cricketwise. He honed his skills at Oxford. He worked on his functional and mental strengths there with vigour and ambition. He came back with a bang in 1976 and decided to bowl fast as compared to military medium which was the order of the day in the subcontinent. People like Garth Le Roux and Mike Procter persuaded him that no matter what the PAK authorities said he just had to give express bowling his all. He never looked back. He played in the World series against the best quicks of the time and came out a great bowler. But then he discovered that the keeper and fielders could not cope with his constant barrage of 95 mph stuff. So he started practising 5 hours a day bowling at one stump to take fielders pitch and everything else out of equation. He developed indippers, leg cutters yorkers you name it. By 1982 his PWC ranking was 928 which is simply put awesome. Not only was he an amazing performer he also taught wasim and waqar everything he knew.
Umar says:
and now the bowler you dislike the most
nadeem says:
Ahahaha i should be diplomatic shouldn't i but i really can't lol. Because as long as I live Rashid Khan's ugly action will keep on playing in my mind. Due to dearth of fast bowlers in the subcon owing to dead pitches and institutionalized negativity we never really had another genuine quick until Wasim arrived. So till that time we experimented and trust me PCB threw some right weirdos our way. One such case was Rashid Khan of PIA whose action looked like he was losing all his limbs along his runup. It looked like his body parts were disintegrating after our own eyes. And the action was like Kermet fighting for his life in a toilet. I think those few batters who got out to him did so because they pi.ssed themselves laughing more than anything else before our own eyes*
Umar says:
would you say that wasim was faster than imran?
nadeem says:
Umar this is a very good question. Imran says that in their 1988 tour to WI waz was the fastest on either side during the series. Now although Imran was 36 the WI brigade had Grey, Patterson, marshall etc. To be honest I think that at their very quickest waz was quicker. Umar, waz was a phenomenon, a talent the likes of which have never been seen before.
Umar says:
Pls elaborate
nadeem says:
Let me put it this way. I was actually playing cricket at the same time wasim was. Word was theres a really nippy lad bowling in tape ball tourneys in innner Lahore. So i went along to see him. And trust me the 17 year old wasim was naturally better than several international bowlers of today. After that he was very fortunate to have a mentor like Imran Khan who polished his natural gifts. But Wasim's natural talent was just so off-the-scale that Imran had soon run out of things to teach. I mean this guy could bowl 7 different deliveries in an over. The 6th and seventh being one delivery which swung one way and seemed another lol. Many people dont talk about Akram's bouncer but let me reassure you that he had the most vicious bouncer in cricket history alongside Marshall.
Umar says:
acha??
nadeem says:
What people don't understand is the secret of Wasim's versatility and wizardry. Actually it was all in the wrist. He could do things mere mortals can't even dream of because his wrists were so flexible. His wrist action has been the best ever. People like Walsh and Mcgrath copied it off him. I mean, at the last moment, he could outswing it, inswing it, do anything. He could take your wicket at the last moment and that is genius. Plus there was his disguise. Due to his whippy action you could never tell whats happening next. Plus he was always shifting the ball from one hand to another during his runup. Thats another thing Imran taught him.
Umar says:
this begs two qs and one mght be controversial in a way
nadeem says:
please go ahead
Umar says:
why imran over wasim then?
nadeem says:
Because in Imran's era there was no encouragement for express bowling. THe pitches were prepared for spinners.There were no facilities to train properly. Imran had no mentors. Yes people name Sarfraz but he was hardly a mentor. Plus Imran's mental toughness was just extraordinary. You and I would get discouraged if a 5 year old graft in England gave rise to increased speed only for the fielders and keepers to spilll everything because they had never seen 90 mph in PAK before. Instead what does he do? He goes out day after day in Lahores 45 degree temperatures and bowls to a stump for 5 hours at a stretch to take pitches and fielders out of the equation. Yes Sarfraz had discovered reverse but it was useless with his 75 mph speed. It was Imran who made fast bowling sexy. It was Imran who laid he legacy for the two Ws to the extent that he talked to various counties and negotiated contracts for them. Can you see Wasim dooing that for anyone?
Umar says:
well should that be taken into account if we are to judge the bowler and not the man?
nadeem says:
Plus Wasim learnt verything from Imran including slower delivery, conventionl swing, reverse swing vetc : No but i have detailed reasons above as to why i rate imran as better. Yes Wasim had more variety but the magnitude of imran's swing was always greater than wasim's and waqar's was greater than both of them put together. Essentially, in reverse swing the quicker you are the whippier you are the greater the magnitude of the swing. Unfortunately wasim had to vary his speed a lot as his action never allowed him to hit top speed constantly
Umar says:
the second q and dont be diplomatic: waqar or wasim
nadeem says:
Waqar without a doubt and when I say Waqar i mean Waqar pre injury. Pre 1991. After that we saw only a shadow of a shadow of a shadow of Younis. Do you know that for the first 33 tests Waqar's SR was only 36. Thats mind boggling mate. He hwas frightening. I have never seen anythin like it. If i were to say that I am privileged to see one player in my life that would be Waqar Younis.
nadeem says:
Umar injury and mismanagement robbed us of the greatest sight in fast bowling , the Bradman of fast bowling and trust me when i say mismanagement I am being very diplomatic to certain people. However facts being facts waqar did get injured
Hmm put it this way For mental toughness and never-say-die attitude imran is my favourite For wizardry, genius and variety wasim is the obvious king of swing but the way waqar swallowed every trick in the book before 20 and was numero uno by then is just amazing. I shudder to think what he would have achieved if he hd remained fit But the final truth is Imran and Botham say that Wasim was the most gifted cricketer ever since Sobers Truth is he never really performed to even 70% of his ability whereas waqar and imran did. If Wasim was to do that no one can come anywhere near him simply because, IMHO, he is the most gifted cricketer ever. Hope i have answered u properly lol
Umar says:
you indeed have sire
Umar says:
though this q comes late, whats your benchmark for a good bowler and do yu think Sami in particular fits the bill
nadeem says:
My benchmark for a good bowler is unpredictability. Sami is extremely gifted make no mistake. But whn hes not outswinging it he is so easy to play. On those days he starts bowling short as well. Sami needs a session or two with Imran and he'll be right as rain, trust me.
Umar says:
would you say hes a good thinking bowler
However let me add before I proceed, I told you just now that the sign of a good bowler is predictability right? now i'll tell you whats the sign of the greatest bowlers. It is the fact that although they are predictable you still can't do anything. I mean batters knew that Bond and Waqar, in their prime, would rain 95 mph reverse swingers on them but they couldn't do a thing. THat a sign of extreme greatness. Waqar took away people's manliness through sheer force of speed and accuracy. No tricks neded.
Sami was not a good thinking bowler but he has the heart of a lion. Now hes putting a lot of thought into his bowling in AUS. Long may that continue
Umar says:
Do you think he has improved as a thinker?
nadeem says:
Slowly but surely yes. He has recognized that his strength is outswingers outside off and hes bowling to his srength now. More skill will come if Imran spends a session or two with him. I mean look at the transformation in Shoaib after the thre hours he spent with Imran after Jubilee Cup.
Umar says:
your thoughts on Gul and Shabbir
nadeem says:
In 1999, Shabbir was a 6'7'', 150 kph bowler. Hats the stuff of dreams mate when you think about his bounce and accuracy. Now he is mediocre though which is a pity. But amazingly he is the only bowle in the world since wasim who can reverse it both ways. Gives you some idea about the fast bowling talent we have in PAK.
GUl, its early days yet. He has skills and patience. But he needs to add 6 to 8 kph of consistent pace once he comes back into the fold of things. And for that he'll have to sort out his lead arm.
Umar says:
when fit should we play gul or kaneria
nadeem says:
Kaneria definitely. Gul will have to do something very special to dislodge kaneria. I am very excited about kaneria. Greatest leggie we've had since Qadir.
Umar says:
so what would your ideal test lineup be
nadeem says:
Imran nazir, Butt, Hameed, Inzi,YK, Youhana,Akmal, Sami, Azhar, Shoaib, kaneria
Umar says:
and three qs from Sameer
1)apart from imran nazir and salman butt who are your favourite young batsmans?which you think will be superstar for their countries in future.
2)what will be your advice for karachi express aka mohammad sami.
is he mentally weak or his problems are technical.
3)what do u think of shoaib malik?is he our best young player or will he continue to struggle on bouncy tracks.
nadeem says:
let me have a think please.
Umar says:
take your time sire
nadeem says:
FRom what i have seen Fawad Alam looked good to me but the record books suggest that Bin Nasir should be there right now. I have seen Bazid Khan, good leg side player. If you were to push me for an answer it would have to be a tie between Bin Nasir and Shoaib Khan depending on whether the selectors wanna go for wham bam or innings building approach.
Umar says:
whos shoaib khan?
nadeem says:
Shoaib Khan is a batter in our domestic.
Malik is very gifted but his stance needs to be a bit more side on. That way bowlers wont be able to open him up with short stuff. Our best player in AUS was a guy with a closed stance called Ijaz Ahmed. I am not recommending that but anything is better than Malik's open stance and pre judged lunges.
nadeem says:
Malik needs to play pace on merit. Simple as
Umar says:
so heres a q from Tapioca
Umar says:
he gets the feeling yorue short tempered and I have a tehroy that tall muscular men generally are, why do youthink so?
nadeem says:
Ahahahaha. I am a bit short tempered but nothing I am proud of. I often think and speak from the heart so when i see that its not being reciprocated i react. Its very naive but thats me lol. Well no harm done cos its not as if i'm running for office now is it lol
Umar says:
ha ha
Umar says:
so are tall muscular people generally short fused?
nadeem says:
Yes generally because the body is always in a ready-to-prowl tensed up condition. It gives u a non-nonsense mental attitude as well which is n
