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Pakistan produces far more and better quality fast bowlers than India says Imran Khan

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1. For disappointed Pak cricket fans good news is Pak has abundant cricketing talent. We need to get rid of the ******** cricket admin</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/817959453890932737">January 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2. So that domestic cricket can be reformed & restructured to allow our talent to be polished/honed in.</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/817960174703038464">January 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">3. For instance Pak, with a much smaller pop base than India, produces far more & better quality fast bowlers.</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/817961604985843713">January 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
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I open the floor for a good ol' Pak v India bash...
 
I agree with him somewhat. But off late, It seems the trend is not true anymore.

An attack of Shami, Yadav, Ishant/ Bhuvi, Ashwin/Jadeja is better than Amir, Imran/Rahat, Wahab/Junaid, Yasir anywhere in the world.
 
Rivalries aside, I used to really enjoy Pakistan play when they had Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib..... man.... it seemed a pipeline of never ending fast bowlers :D

Glad its is 2017 and not 1997 :kohli
 
He's living in the 80s and 90s.

At least post Amir and Asif, we haven't uncovered a single world class potential bowler .

Regressed to worst than neighbors.
 
Well, if the great Immy is taking India as a benchmark for Pace bowling by taking it into equation, then we can understand the sorry state of fast bowling resources in Pakistan...

Not sure, why he needed to put India into equation specially when you know India has such a bad record in producing quality fast bowlers...May be his political instincts came into flow?
 
Poor Imran.

Gonna get bashed in this thread.

But rightfully so.

He is so happily deluded.

It almost feels like someone is making parody posts or just trolling.
 
Well, if the great Immy is taking India as a benchmark for Pace bowling by taking it into equation, then we can understand the sorry state of fast bowling resources in Pakistan...

Not sure, why he needed to put India into equation specially when you know India has such a bad record in producing quality fast bowlers...May be his political instincts came into flow?

well his point was per capita Pak produces more fast bowlers and i think india is only cricket country with more people than us :))

kind of a self defeating point when there is only one example you can quote
 
Poor Imran.

Gonna get bashed in this thread.

But rightfully so.

He is so happily deluded.

It almost feels like someone is making parody posts or just trolling.

I dont think he has watched a whole cricket match since 2011 WC semi.

And even then he was getting paid to watch it and half the show was diverted discussing politics :))

i think he just doenst care but in times like these (bad results) awaam keeps going back to him thinking of the good times with him which keep becoming more mythical every decade.

Simple fact is he just doesnt care about cricket anymore and definitely doesnt watch enough to make informed opinions. For eg. he wanted YK to be a started in WC15
 
Poor Imran.

Gonna get bashed in this thread.

But rightfully so.

He is so happily deluded.

It almost feels like someone is making parody posts or just trolling.

He's not deluded, he just doesn't watch cricket any more, he probably doesn't have the time for it. I don't know why he doesn't just stop commenting on Pak cricket, since he thinks our cricket is still in the 90s.
 
1. "far more & better quality fast bowlers": Generally speaking, Pak's pace bowling has been better since I started watching in the 70s - supply has never been an issue. Going by talent (not current form), Wahab and Amir can definitely find a place in Indian X1 IMHO. Shami will nudge out your 3rd seamer I suppose. However, when it comes to supply in pace department, it is no longer "a problem of plenty". Don't see any young spinner on the horizon too.

2. "Good news is Pak has abundant cricketing talent" - I think this is a statement which can be challenged. I think Imran is frozen in time on this statement - if this were true, it is a crime to be playing with two of the oldest cricketers in the world. Don't see any replacement risk if the cupboard was brimming with talent.
 
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Imran is still living in the 90s. Talent has dried up or is too raw and is not getting polished properly.

Yea you can walk down the streets of Karachi or Lahore and find some very fast bowlers or some really big hitters playing with the tape ball. But it does not really matter. They say Brazil has the most talent in football, and rightfully so because there talent comes up and does well in internationals. They dip from time to time but always come back up. I can not say the same thing about Pakistan cricket for the last 5 years atleast. There is mediocrity every where unfortunately.
 
Public service announcement by a clueless ex cricketer to lift up the somber mood.

Tried n tested stuff being mentioned. And ofc, when in doubt.. throw in a comparison or two with India, and it ll tug the right kinda emotions.
 
I agree with him somewhat. But off late, It seems the trend is not true anymore.

An attack of Shami, Yadav, Ishant/ Bhuvi, Ashwin/Jadeja is better than Amir, Imran/Rahat, Wahab/Junaid, Yasir anywhere in the world.

Agree , at the moment India has much better stock of fastmen than Pakistan. Remember , IK is a politician too, can't say anything politically not true.
 
well his point was per capita Pak produces more fast bowlers and i think india is only cricket country with more people than us :))

kind of a self defeating point when there is only one example you can quote

To be honest I myself always wondered about the seemingly unending pacers coming out of Pakistan in the 1990's early 2000s.

These days, it seems even Srilankan pacers are outbowling the Pakistani ones let alone the Indian bowlers. In England, if you take our Yasir and a few inspired spells of Sohail, Pakistani pacers were not much to talk about.
 
India's bowlers have performed better than Pakistan in Australia since 1999, unnecessary dig at India there from IK.

Look, Pakistan's pace bowling is living on myth and legend from the 80s and 90s. We seem to have forgotten how to bowl on flat tracks. Our use of the new ball has been woeful in recent times, failing to bowl the disciplined line and length needed to take early wickets. It seems every team is guaranteed flying start against us.

Again the issue goes back to domestic cricket. Our FC season is between Oct-Dec when conditions are at their most overcast. Grassy, seam-friendly wickets are the norm and pacers use the Grays ball that offers prodigious lateral movement.

That means all a seamer in FC cricket needs to do is land the ball on a good length and let the conditions do the work. So how can our seamers develop the skills needed for international cricket ?
 
1. "far more & better quality fast bowlers": Generally speaking, Pak's pace bowling has been better since I started watching in the 70s - supply has never been an issue. Going by talent (not current form), Wahab and Amir can definitely find a place in Indian X1 IMHO. Shami will nudge out your 3rd seamer I suppose. However, when it comes to supply in pace department, it is no longer "a problem of plenty". Don't see any young spinner on the horizon too.

2. "Good news is Pak has abundant cricketing talent" - I think this is a statement which can be challenged. I think Imran is frozen in time on this statement - if this were true, it is a crime to be playing with two of the oldest cricketers in the world. Don't see any replacement risk if the cupboard was brimming with talent.

Good comments - normally Khan's comments are taken negatively, hence I don't post much on that.

I don't find anything wrong in those one liners - it's difficult to manage twitter if one can't read between the lines.

Regarding the talent part - based on a little bit experience of mine, I actually think the talent pool in PAK is at least 10 times than say when Imran started playing cricket. Cricket in PAK has spread out from few major cities to every rural part which has brought the 200 mn base into the game. Today players like Asif, Amir, JK, Irfan & many others are actually coming from small towns, even villages - before 80s, show me 10 players coming from outside top 4/5 cities.



Talent is fundamental skills - which some human are born with extra ability than most - it's Balance, reflex, agility, speed, coordination between limbs, sharp eye sight, muscle power, genetical structure .... these are essential for every sports. You'll see at school, most kids good at cricket are actually good at 3/4 other sports as well - Table tennis, athelatics, soccer, badminton, hockey, tennis ..... even indoor spirts like carrom. That's till you are 15/16 - after that, it's all about system from age 16 to 23 - by than 99.99% of these kids will find another career - most goes for safer option (education); many are not physically capable, many are unlucky .... out of 3/4 mn kids every year; may be 20/30 will end up as pro sports man. That's - 450-500 in a decade; of which every decade you should find couple of Azhar Alis, Wahabs, Sarfus & MoHas & Imads - in few generation, you should get a Waquar, Ajmal, Mushtaq, Saeed Anwar, Inzi ... in history you get one Imran, one Akram ..... that talent base is now spread from 20 million to 200 mn; so he is absolutely spot on. Same in Bangladesh - Sakib comes from a town which didn't have a cricket stadium till 2000s; Mashrafe, Mustafiz, Miraj ...... these are all from lower middle class (Miraj's father is an Auto driver) family, coming from slams of small towns, even villages.

Now, he has posted one comment in 3 twits - the key one is the 2nd one. 1st & 3rd one is a little bit political statement; which is understandable. For the 2nd one - that's the universal truth in sports. Pro sportsman doesn't come as a mango in tree than good breed makes it sweet. I can tell you that without County cricket; PAKs record in 70s to 90s won't have been remotely close to what is now - and overall historical record would have been inferior to SRL by now.

My personal feeling is Umar or Babar or Sharjeel or Amir or Shehzad or Azhar or Asad are more skilled (won't use the word talent) at same age of U21 than the players of 70s & 80s - or easier way I can put it is without County Zaheer won't have been remotely close to Asad; Javed to Azhar, Mazid to Babar or Imran to Amir. You'll be surprised to know that - Mazid & Asif were medium pacers; Javed a leggi & Imran a trundler who was taken to UK, based on his family connection as a batting all rounder.

Spirts talent is everywhere - nature didn't deprive any nation, it's the system that makes the difference. If Germany starts playing cricket seriously today - by 2035; they'll beat Ind/PAK in Test series.
 
And Aus, Eng & SA have better fast bowlers than Pak even though they have smaller pop ( ?). It's almost as if countries with better resources & understanding of developing fast bowlers produce better fast bowlers.
 
Akhtar and Asif were the last true good quality fast bowlers Pakistan produced. Unfortunately for Pakistan they didn't play many test matches. After that bowlers like Gul , Amir , Junaid bowl well for a short span of time but lacked the consistency of previous greats.

Pakistan still might be producing raw talented fast bowlers. But they are not nurtured/guided like previous bowlers.
 
He has become a true politician now.

Talking about India to pander to the fans.:ma

Atleast it's a nice and exciting change from the usual "Pakistan still has the best talent in the world but not getting utilised" lines..
 
Don't see anything wrong with what Imran said. There is no lack of talent, heck when a kid with no proper training or nutrition can clock 147 kph in a camp held in Quetta you know there is no dearth of talent.

However, there is no system in place to polish that talent. If your daddy knows someone higher up then you will make the first-class and international teams, otherwise you may not even go past club cricket level.

Read transcripts of Wasim's interviews, he was picked by Imran not because of his domestic numbers but what he himself saw while doing net practice. More recently read how Amir got selected for the first time.


There is absolutely no system in place to and you cannot expect political appointees like Najam and Shahryar to fix it.

People ignoring Imran's message and bashing him just because they don't like the person. As they say, don't shoot the messenger.
 
If you are comparing your bowlers to Indian bowlers, it's actually a sad state.

You are getting happy by comparing to mediocrity.
 
Don't see anything wrong with what Imran said. There is no lack of talent, heck when a kid with no proper training or nutrition can clock 147 kph in a camp held in Quetta you know there is no dearth of talent.

However, there is no system in place to polish that talent. If your daddy knows someone higher up then you will make the first-class and international teams, otherwise you may not even go past club cricket level.

Read transcripts of Wasim's interviews, he was picked by Imran not because of his domestic numbers but what he himself saw while doing net practice. More recently read how Amir got selected for the first time.


There is absolutely no system in place to and you cannot expect political appointees like Najam and Shahryar to fix it.

People ignoring Imran's message and bashing him just because they don't like the person. As they say, don't shoot the messenger.

Is there talent in Pakistan that can come up with a proper system?

Absolutely. If a country has passion for sports and has the right system in the grass root levels, players will emerge.

Is there such amazing talent in pace bowling that the only reason they are not making is because the system is so bad?

Unlikely because a few should have made it.

Imran's statement points to the latter more than former.
 
Used to be a huge gap and no comparison but these days things are a lot closer.

India has invested in it's pace bowlers, Pakistan has invested in freebies for officials and their friends.
 
If you are comparing your bowlers to Indian bowlers, it's actually a sad state.

You are getting happy by comparing to mediocrity.

Be realistic, Indian fast bowler are much better now than they used to be and ours are not at all close to where we used to be. At the moment Indian fastmen are shade better than ours.
 
We don't need to compare our bowling with India. Need to look at how we can produce better than what we have currently. This means looking at what's going on at NCA and improving domestic cricket in all aspects.
 
Absolutely true. However, it's another story that because of nepotism and p-archi system these talented players find it hard to get into under 16 and under 19 sides. Those who make it and perform in domestics are not picked until they're old and past their prime (Sohail Khan, Ali Imran Pasha etc).
 
In fast bowling, our role model should be Australia and NZ. If they can produce fast bowlers consistently so can we.
 
The world has moved on from 90mph bowlers feasting on Bastmen. Batters have not much issue with pace if its Gun Barrel straight. They can dispatch it to the boundary day in and day out.


The issue is taking raw Talent and enhancing it to be International Cricket standard and India by far exceeds Pakistan in this department.

Even the Ex-Players like Shoaib have nothing insightful to offer just keeps repeating "Have Guts, have courage..." Swinging the ball or seaming it has little to do with courage, its technical aspects which need to be mastered
 
Cricket in PAK has spread out from few major cities to every rural part which has brought the 200 mn base into the game. Today players like Asif, Amir, JK, Irfan & many others are actually coming from small towns, even villages - before 80s, show me 10 players coming from outside top 4/5 cities.

The same is even more true for India. It has everything to do with economics. 20 years ago Pakistan used to have a larger per cap GDP. Now India is wealthier and the wealth gap is increasing. Higher incomes mean more people are able to afford equipment and receive training.
 
Main issue with Pakistani fast bowling are the dismal pitches in domestic cricket.

It is a much better topic to discuss than the ramblings of a failed politician who doesn't follow the game.
 
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Pakistani bowlers - if they are claimed to be so skillful and great - should be compared to the Rabadas, Starcs, Steyns or Andersons of this world.

When they are pitted against the Kumar & Sharma Brigade (TM), one can conclude that they probably aren't too flash, at least at the current time.
 
Imran Khan and then Wasim, Waqar legacy kept motivating young men to take fast bowling but that would not last for ever. Shoaib was the last fast bowler from Pakistan who would motivate and glamorize the fast bowling, no one anymore. In 2010 we hoped Asif and Amir would carry on the legacy but that took a wrong turn.

Now to produce quality fast bowler , we have to do lower our expectation of emergence of some Waqar or Wasim from nowhere. Have to "produce" new fast bowler , the Indian way, pick up the talented ones, bring them to academies and coach them early and then throw them in deep and let them swim.

Also performance in domestic cricket neads to be rewarded.
 
Minor blip here, we'll still produce world-class fast bowlers, that thing will never die in our country.
 
Minor blip here, we'll still produce world-class fast bowlers, that thing will never die in our country.


If trundles like Rahat, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan are our first choice fast bowler, then there is something wrong with the claim. I'm sure Namibia has better fast bowlers than them in their team.
 
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Have to say Imran has come back to earth now when he's comparing Pak quick bowlers with the Indians (and not against SA, England, Aus, WI, ...). There used to be a time when he had compared Pak batsmen with India -- even going to the extent of calling Inzi more talented that Sachin!

Old age does make you wiser!
 
This is what a good leader does, backs his men in private and public when all the chips are down.
 
Have to say Imran has come back to earth now when he's comparing Pak quick bowlers with the Indians (and not against SA, England, Aus, WI, ...). There used to be a time when he had compared Pak batsmen with India -- even going to the extent of calling Inzi more talented that Sachin!

Old age does make you wiser!

Imran Khan had his own unique but successful way of bringing best out of his players. Yes he used to exaggerate their talent to boost up their confidence and that worked for him. Yes, he saw world's best player of fast bowling in Inzimam, a Botham in Manzoor Ilahi , most lethal bowler in Waqar before he actually became one and so on.
 
Pakistani bowlers - if they are claimed to be so skillful and great - should be compared to the Rabadas, Starcs, Steyns or Andersons of this world.

When they are pitted against the Kumar & Sharma Brigade (TM), one can conclude that they probably aren't too flash, at least at the current time.

One can also conclude that he was comparing Pakistan's population to that of India's.
 
Imran Khan still seems to be living in the 1980s.

BTW, for instance, NZ, with a much smaller pop base than Pakistan, produces far more & better quality fast bowlers, batsmen, and fielders.
 
If trundles like Rahat, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan are our first choice fast bowler, then there is something wrong with the claim. I'm sure Namibia has better fast bowlers than them in their team.

Some of us are clearly overreacting. If Dhoni or Kohli captained a side with Pak bowlers then they'd run through most sides. They know how to make use of Indian pacers considering their limitations. Our own captain made the most absurd fielding decisions, fielders dropping catches etc.
 
Same old rubbish by Imran.

Pakistan is a country with over 190 million and cricket is by far the most popular and widely played sport in the country, with a heritage that goes back 60 years. Of course, there will be 'talent' in Pakistan.

However, that doesn't mean anything at all. Producing cricketers or athletes in any sport, is a process, and this is where we have failed.

India on the other hand, is ahead of us in this department and have better 'available talent', i.e. players in domestic cricket who are ready to step up and perform.

We enjoyed superiority in the bowling department for generations, but through hard work and investment, India has overtaken us in bowling as well, be it pace or spin.
 
:)) imran with his "Pakistan has talent" statement again. Only if i got a dollar everytime he said this. :yk
 
If trundles like Rahat, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan are our first choice fast bowler, then there is something wrong with the claim. I'm sure Namibia has better fast bowlers than them in their team.

In terms of raw talent for fast bowlers we are miles ahead of India. It's just that India have the better finished product due to them following the modern criteria in nurturing them and utilising them in games. If young Pak bowlers were selected in Indian domestic cricket and worked their way up to the national side they'd rip apart a lot of batting sides.
 
About time Pakistan Cricket rids itself of sifarishi culture and unleashes all these beastly fast bowling talents we hear about.
 
What Imran needs to do is focus on winning the election and wiping out corruption from all levels of the Pakistani government. Once the corruption is wiped out, all the weight holding every area of Pakistan back will go away and all boats will rise.

The problems of Pakistan cricket are the problems of Pakistan as a whole. There's plenty of potential and talent in every field, but there's lack of investment(education, training, promoting honest business) in the right places.

I have said before that it will take 5-10 years for Pakistan to return to true elite world status in cricket. There's no point in rushing things, we should keep Arthur as long as necessary-he can only do so much until the development teams coming in before him at NCA and domestic cricket get fixed. I was pleased that we drew in England and even showed a bit of fight in Australia, but that's all we have. The casual fans will continue to show up, I assure you-they are so starved for cricket that even once or twice a year sighting of the men in green in Lahore or Karachi will appease them.
 
Same old rubbish by Imran.

Pakistan is a country with over 190 million and cricket is by far the most popular and widely played sport in the country, with a heritage that goes back 60 years. Of course, there will be 'talent' in Pakistan.

However, that doesn't mean anything at all. Producing cricketers or athletes in any sport, is a process, and this is where we have failed.

India on the other hand, is ahead of us in this department and have better 'available talent', i.e. players in domestic cricket who are ready to step up and perform.

We enjoyed superiority in the bowling department for generations, but through hard work and investment, India has overtaken us in bowling as well, be it pace or spin.

That's not true, we are plain rubbish ATM, India is marginally better than us, they have not improved a whole lot in fast bowling...Spin is still not a whole lot of worry for either team, little less politics and giving more opportunity to young guys can deliver more spinners...Fast bowling is in major Crisis for us.

This claim is sort of people make claim that others have caught up to the level of WIs fast bowling, which is not true reflection of reality, they have decline way more than others have caught up...India is not producing Styen, Strac, HW, Anderson, Broad quality pacers, they still have average pacers, although those are better than our rubbish pacers...But back in the days our pacers were world class, not average...
 
Not one current fast bowler in the Pak side who can create fear in the opposition. Not had one since Shoaib required. Pak having so much talent is a myth, prove it!
 
Imran Khan in pretty ignorant when it comes to modern day cricket

not saying he's wrong on this statement, but overall in the past few years in general.

Whether India produces better fast bowler or Pakistan TODAY is very debatable, they are both doing a pretty horrible job nowadays
 
Not one current fast bowler in the Pak side who can create fear in the opposition. Not had one since Shoaib required. Pak having so much talent is a myth, prove it!

dunno about fear, but Amir and Asif definitely made batsmen think in 2010
any maybe Umar Gul in 2011/12

since then thou, batsmen around the world have pretty much bullied Pakistani fast bowlers, expect maybe the occasional Wahab burst
 
dunno about fear, but Amir and Asif definitely made batsmen think in 2010
any maybe Umar Gul in 2011/12

since then thou, batsmen around the world have pretty much bullied Pakistani fast bowlers, expect maybe the occasional Wahab burst

I meant Shoaib retired by the way. Amir and Asif at their peak made it swing for sure. I am seeking sheer pace that excites me.
 
That's not true, we are plain rubbish ATM, India is marginally better than us, they have not improved a whole lot in fast bowling...Spin is still not a whole lot of worry for either team, little less politics and giving more opportunity to young guys can deliver more spinners...Fast bowling is in major Crisis for us.

This claim is sort of people make claim that others have caught up to the level of WIs fast bowling, which is not true reflection of reality, they have decline way more than others have caught up...India is not producing Styen, Strac, HW, Anderson, Broad quality pacers, they still have average pacers, although those are better than our rubbish pacers...But back in the days our pacers were world class, not average...

India's bowling has certainly improved a lot. Shami at the moment is easily the best pacer in Asia, and is on his way to becoming India's best ever pace bowler. The most noticeable area where India has improved in terms of pace bowling is the pace itself. A lot of Indian bowlers can bowl 90 mph effort balls and are no longer trundlers. That was not the case in previous eras.
 
India's bowling has certainly improved a lot. Shami at the moment is easily the best pacer in Asia, and is on his way to becoming India's best ever pace bowler. The most noticeable area where India has improved in terms of pace bowling is the pace itself. A lot of Indian bowlers can bowl 90 mph effort balls and are no longer trundlers. That was not the case in previous eras.

I am not sure if Shami is easily the best pacer, Wahab has won us test in Asia too (Against ENG,SL and BD). Wahab's performance is patchy so is the Shami... Again there is no standout bowler nor their is any world class seamer or pacer in Asia ATM, the one who can be named along Styen, Anderson, Strac, Rabada, HW in Asia... My point is back in the days, Pakistan used to have world class fast bowlers, not just best pacer in Asia...Last world class fast bowler in Asia was Asif, it has been 6 years and India has not produced one either.
 
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