On this Day in 1976: Pakistan Off-Spinner Saqlain Mushtaq was born

[Sakss]

Happy Birthday to the master spinner and the creator of the doosra.

Saqlain played 49 Tests taking 208 wickets and 169 ODIs taking 288 wickets at an average of 21.

 

[justarslan]

Happy Birthday Saqi!

 

[AZ]

one of my all-time favorite Pakistan players and a true genius, happy birthday Saqi bhai.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Legend Saqi.

 

[hk031992]

Brilliant player, miss watching him

 

[Junaids]

It's funny, I consider the displacement of Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi in the Test team by Saqlain Mushtaq to be one of the biggest disasters to befall Pakistan in modern times.

Saqlain was a great ODI bowler and a useful bowler in Asia in Tests, especially when he had Wasim Akram's footmarks to bowl into.

But outside Asia he really was of little use, as seen in the 95-96 tour of Australia and the 97-98 tour of South Africa. In essence, the two times Pakistan really needed penetration in major series outside Asia he could not deliver.

Legspin is usually more penetrative outside Asia, but Saqlain's ODI performances saw him elevated to Test number 1, even though he really was a very limited asset in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.

I look at the hundreds of wickets that Mushtaq Ahmed took in First Class cricket during the period after his displacement by Saqlain Mushtaq, and at the wasted Test career of Shahid Afridi, and just regret the rise of Saqlain Mushtaq.

 

[zabalestmsm]

Happy birthday to the best ODI spinner of all time!

 

[Kakar]

Could have easily played so much more. Heck, he could have been playing even now. While you can debate about how good he was in tests, he is probably the best ODI spinner of all time

 

[Cricket_Engineer]

Could have easily played so much more. Heck, he could have been playing even now. While you can debate about how good he was in tests, he is probably the best ODI spinner of all time

He was, Wisden are very selective and rate him as the #1 ODI spinner of all time. In an era of fast bowling he was the fastest to 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 wickets and performed pretty much everywhere. A legend

 

[Bhaijaan]

It's funny, I consider the displacement of Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi in the Test team by Saqlain Mushtaq to be one of the biggest disasters to befall Pakistan in modern times.

Saqlain was a great ODI bowler and a useful bowler in Asia in Tests, especially when he had Wasim Akram's footmarks to bowl into.

But outside Asia he really was of little use, as seen in the 95-96 tour of Australia and the 97-98 tour of South Africa. In essence, the two times Pakistan really needed penetration in major series outside Asia he could not deliver.

Legspin is usually more penetrative outside Asia, but Saqlain's ODI performances saw him elevated to Test number 1, even though he really was a very limited asset in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.

I look at the hundreds of wickets that Mushtaq Ahmed took in First Class cricket during the period after his displacement by Saqlain Mushtaq, and at the wasted Test career of Shahid Afridi, and just regret the rise of Saqlain Mushtaq.

Afridi was never a threat as a spinner. Mushy although pretty good wasn't Saqlain's level who was pretty threatening.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Doosra hasnt been mastered since he retired.

 

[Firebat]

Happy 44th birthday!

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&#55356;&#57119; Pioneer of the 'doosra'<br>&#55356;&#57283;* Fastest to 200 ODI wickets<br>&#55356;&#57257; Two hat-tricks in men's ODIs<br><br>Happy birthday to one of Pakistan's finest spinners, Saqlain Mushtaq &#55356;&#57218; <a href="https://t.co/l3LMhFO4Gt">pic.twitter.com/l3LMhFO4Gt</a></p>— ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1343902094290530304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Ab Fan]

It's funny, I consider the displacement of Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi in the Test team by Saqlain Mushtaq to be one of the biggest disasters to befall Pakistan in modern times.

Saqlain was a great ODI bowler and a useful bowler in Asia in Tests, especially when he had Wasim Akram's footmarks to bowl into.

But outside Asia he really was of little use, as seen in the 95-96 tour of Australia and the 97-98 tour of South Africa. In essence, the two times Pakistan really needed penetration in major series outside Asia he could not deliver.

Legspin is usually more penetrative outside Asia, but Saqlain's ODI performances saw him elevated to Test number 1, even though he really was a very limited asset in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.

I look at the hundreds of wickets that Mushtaq Ahmed took in First Class cricket during the period after his displacement by Saqlain Mushtaq, and at the wasted Test career of Shahid Afridi, and just regret the rise of Saqlain Mushtaq.

Saqlain's record is brilliant outside Asia.

 

[szrana007]

Saqlain's record is brilliant outside Asia.

Mushi won Pakistan matches everywhere. In SA,Aus,Eng and NZ. Saqlain only managed 1 win in in Eng in 2001.

 

[Ab Fan]

Mushi won Pakistan matches everywhere. In SA,Aus,Eng and NZ. Saqlain only managed 1 win in in Eng in 2001.

A great man once said, "Winning is a function of team, not individuals."

 

[SensiblePakFan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wishing you a very happy birthday <a href="https://twitter.com/Saqlain_Mushtaq?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Saqlain_Mushtaq</a>!<br>Have a blessed and healthy year ahead. <a href="https://t.co/G3gfmdxeJH">pic.twitter.com/G3gfmdxeJH</a></p>— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) <a href="https://twitter.com/sachin_rt/status/1343910914051862528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Mamoon]

He was born a good 5-6 years before 1976. Nevertheless, happy birthday.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He was born a good 5-6 years before 1976. Nevertheless, happy birthday.

Are you sure of that?

 

[happydavy]

Saqlain was simply awesome, i remember first time i saw his bowling (on tv) was during that series in Singapore and he got Manjrekar out when he tried to sweep him. I told my dad at that time that his bowl turned the other way but my dad was like naah he's an offspinner and manjrekar anyway is a terrible player. Loved his bowling action, i modeled my action like his and i was a big big fan of him.

 

[Hasan123]

What a bowler man. We need a spinner like this .

 

[MMHS]

It's funny, I consider the displacement of Mushtaq Ahmed and Shahid Afridi in the Test team by Saqlain Mushtaq to be one of the biggest disasters to befall Pakistan in modern times.

Saqlain was a great ODI bowler and a useful bowler in Asia in Tests, especially when he had Wasim Akram's footmarks to bowl into.

But outside Asia he really was of little use, as seen in the 95-96 tour of Australia and the 97-98 tour of South Africa. In essence, the two times Pakistan really needed penetration in major series outside Asia he could not deliver.

Legspin is usually more penetrative outside Asia, but Saqlain's ODI performances saw him elevated to Test number 1, even though he really was a very limited asset in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.

I look at the hundreds of wickets that Mushtaq Ahmed took in First Class cricket during the period after his displacement by Saqlain Mushtaq, and at the wasted Test career of Shahid Afridi, and just regret the rise of Saqlain Mushtaq.

Mushi was finished before even Saqline. He got tons of wickets for Sussex in County .... do I need to explain more?

Saqline was a fantastic spinner - the one & only who tamed Indian batting lineup in India which even Murali & Warne failed. His decline was for three reasons - 1. Faking age, at least by 5 years if not more 2. Too much focus on LO cricket which eventually took out the beautiful loop from his bowling 3. His poor fitness even for PAK standards.

It’s not true at all that he struggled in SENA - actually he played very little. I am not sure if he had played in SAF 1998, but bowled well in Australia 1999, England 2001. By the time they went to SAF in 2003, he was a spent force even in Asia where next series Sehwag ended his career. And, guy would have batted at 7, if not 6 in this PAK lineup ......

 

[Mamoon]

Are you sure of that?

Yes, both Saqlain and Waqar were massive age cheats.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Yes, both Saqlain and Waqar were massive age cheats.

The ones I thought were massive age cheats were Waqar, Razzaq and Aqib. Saqi looked young even in 2003 but yeah maybe you are right.

 

[szrana007]

Mushi was finished before even Saqline. He got tons of wickets for Sussex in County .... do I need to explain more?

Saqline was a fantastic spinner - the one & only who tamed Indian batting lineup in India which even Murali & Warne failed. His decline was for three reasons - 1. Faking age, at least by 5 years if not more 2. Too much focus on LO cricket which eventually took out the beautiful loop from his bowling 3. His poor fitness even for PAK standards.

It’s not true at all that he struggled in SENA - actually he played very little. I am not sure if he had played in SAF 1998, but bowled well in Australia 1999, England 2001. By the time they went to SAF in 2003, he was a spent force even in Asia where next series Sehwag ended his career. And, guy would have batted at 7, if not 6 in this PAK lineup ......

How was Mushi finished before Saqlain debuted? Salain debuted in 1995 I think. Mushi was MoM in Pakistan's last Test win in 1995, destroyed NZL in Christchurch in 1995, demolished England at the Oval in 1996 and won
pakistan the Durban test in SA in 1998. So thats in all the SENA countries he won Pakistan matches. How many in SENA, did Saqi win for Pak ?

 

[ChennaiFan]

Happy Birthday Saqlain!

One of my most favorite off spinners. I first saw him on TV in a match between Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka. Pakistan lost the match, but this guy bowled so well. Of course, the test match at Chennai where he took Sachin's wicket was heartbreaking. I was at the stadium and felt bad to lose. But my friends and I agreed that Pakistan as a team played well in that match.

 

[MMHS]

How was Mushi finished before Saqlain debuted? Salain debuted in 1995 I think. Mushi was MoM in Pakistan's last Test win in 1995, destroyed NZL in Christchurch in 1995, demolished England at the Oval in 1996 and won
pakistan the Durban test in SA in 1998. So thats in all the SENA countries he won Pakistan matches. How many in SENA, did Saqi win for Pak ?

Not debut, read it like before Saqline was finished.

 

[szrana007]

Not debut, read it like before Saqline was finished.

Mushi was done by 1999, I think when Saqi delivered in India. Till 1998 though Mushi was winning Pakistan matches everywhere in SENA.