Although I don’t disagree , your post is quite negative and has some gaps. There is a problem with bunching together formats.
I was not addressing white ball cricket simply because in a couple of weeks or so PSL will be finished. Then we have a test series in Bangladesh in may and and a test series in England in august. I’m simply referring to these two upcoming.
If Pak have an express pacer alongside a couple of medium pacers plus a couple of good spinners this is a handy squad to pick from. The question is who fits where. Given that we are discussing ihsanulla we should recognise his utility is alongside others not asa sole wicket taker in any format.
I will have to see the options in may tests but I do rate abbas, mohd Ali and Mir hamza. They just are not utilised properly. I do accept they barely touch 130. I do accept our boys are too fat, too thin , too injured, too inexperienced sometimes we even manage to have thin, fat, inexperienced and perennially injured yet playing in one bowler. SSA and Naseem for instance.
But let’s be positive we are not India or even New Zealand or Bangladesh.
There are no emotions in my post. It's not about being negative or positive. As a person I am an idealist and believe no matter what the situation is, there's nothing to worry as the only thing we control is effort. As long as we are putting in effort, nothing else matters.
My issue is that Pakistan is not putting in the necessary effort that is required. It's like the entire world is traveling at 100 kph and we are traveling at 80 kph. This is why we keep getting left behind and the distance continues to grow every year.
There is no test attack in the world that doesn't have proper fast bowlers except Pakistan.
There is a serious problem of balance in white ball cricket and we looked a mid-tier team in the recently concluded T20 world cup.
The ODI tournament we last participated was a Champions trophy and we were badly exposed.
The youngsters that we are producing start ok but disappear within a year after their first injury. Our bowlers in the past cleared that hurdle with sheer willpower and work ethic. Let's consider the case of our greats
Fazl: First true great but we don't really know much about him. His career ended in a whimper but when he was hot, he was hot.
Imran: Debuted as an inferior version of Fazl. Didn't have pace & had middling batting ability. Converted himself into a world beating fast bowler through an unparalleled work ethic. Had an injury at his cricketing peak but he endured it and came back stronger.
Wasim: Fought multiple injuries and even a debilitating health condition.
Waqar: Was fast and furious. Broke his back. Came back as a more than useful fast bowler who even continued to adapt till the end of his career.
Shoaib: Managed to play cricket with bad knees.
All of these evolved with the passage of time & managed to remain on top of their craft. The current generation isn't able to replicate it & that's the major issue.
Shaheen isn't a spring chicken. He's been playing age group cricket and already has accumulated almost a decade of playing experience. He has lost his pace and hasn't been able to learn the craft of bowling. He cannot set up batters, doesn't play domestic cricket, & is happy captaining Qalandars.
Akif has been my favorite for almost 4 years now. Look at his stats and see the lack of improvement. Been a fan of Ali Raza from the first ball that he bowled in PJL. He has a lot of potential but in terms of craft upgrade, there is none. He is also entering the phase of his career where a back injury is almost a normal occurrence so it is even more imperative for him to understand his growth. Ihsanullah is not even able to get a gig for Karachi. He was once a 150 kph fear factory.
A bowling attack is not built in a day. It requires years of meticulous nurturing and patience. When MRF academy was launched and Lillee started working with Indian fast bowlers, Pakistanis were debating the absence of meat in their diet that limited them from reaching high pace & making crass jokes. Now they almost have 4 or so bowlers who can touch 150 kph and even have pacers who can sustain their pace in test cricket.
We need to realize that winning is important in cricket. Our current trajectory has taken us to the island of irrelevance in test cricket. While we do okay against second tier teams in white ball cricket, the moment ICC tournaments come knocking, our team vanishes into thin air. Until and unless we start containing raw potential into excellence, our fortunes won't change.
Lastly, it's good that you have faith and belief in our bowling attack. My intention is not to make you feel bad about liking what we have. It's just that for me the story of potential to disaster has been repeated so many times that it is hard to not expect the same patterns and behaviors to repeat.
