Players you feel apologetic about misjudging earlier

[Bhaijaan]

Asalwalekum dosto no matter what we say we all have bias and we all are quite judgemental at a level speaking about the game we so passionately love.

Has this feeling of guilt ever hit you that you totally misjudged a player's calibre or character earlier and you were so certain that the player was a hopeless case but then miraculously that player started growing on you. Initially you are in denial you still think thatthe good run is a fluke and the player will be back to being awful but that didn't happen and that player continued getting better and better till a point comes you feel guilty of being unfair and totally wrong.

Remember dosto it takes a gigantic heart to admit you were wrong. It's not a weakness it's a strength.



I want to use this platform to offer my apology to the following :-

1. Mohammad Hafeez - I never backed his captaincy i always thought his appointment as captain was an embarrassment to Pakistan. He looked nervous, clueless but i must say he's grown over the last few years to become one of Pakistan's better LOI batsmen. He plays match winning knocks. He is still not elite batsman and he never will be probably but he's not as bad as i thought.

 

[Greenstorm]

Iftikhar Ahmed.

 

[JaDed]

Rohit, Ishant

I’m still biased against Rohit.

 

[Kaptan]

Steve Smith and Rohit comes to mind, hope someday I can add Pant to this list as well.

 

[Bel_Homme]

Proven wrong in a good way
Virat Kohli - When he made his debut, I didnt rated him that highly at all. Always felt (at that time) likes of Raina, Manoj Tiwari, S.Badrinath etc had higher ceiling than him. Infact, I was furious with Dhoni for playing Kohli in every match. Then 2011 happened and reality stuck to me.

Proven wrong in a bad way
Rishabh Pant - Always thought he has got that x factor and will be the next big thing in Indian cricket. But with every passing day, he is proving me wrong. Not only he has become a brainless slogger but he has also got fat and his keeping got worse.

Its tough to judge Dilli boys it seems

 

[msb314]

Proven Wrong
- Haris Sohail
- Imam Ul Haq
- Rohit Sharma
- Steven Smith
- MS Dhoni
- Alex Hales

Proven Right
- Umar Akmal
- Shadab
- Fakhar
- Asif Ali
- Faheem Ashraf

 

[Varun]

Prithvi Shaw

^There is more to his ban than meets the eye, and those in the know realize what I'm talking about.

* Not match-fixing.

 

[Hamza_]

Azhar Ali

 

[ahmadharis1]

Imam ul-Haq... at first I saw it as a case of blatant nepotism, but i'm not gonna argue against 7 centuries, all except 1 from foreign conditions. He definitely has a lot to improve on and his attitude seems suspect but he's definitely proven me wrong.

 

[TeamPak95]

For me it would have to be Til. Dilshan and Steven Smith. To me, they were both meh batsmen in the beginning and I really questioned both SL and AUS why they kept playing them. Now, one has over 10k ODI runs and the other is arguably the greatest test bat of all time

 

[Abdullah]

Shaan masood

 

[Bhaijaan]

Joe Root

I thought he was a kid and belonged to women's cricket once upon a time.

It was me at my homophobic worse and i will never be proud of it.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Jason Holder

Till 2015 he was mediocre
The 3rd test in UAE that year was the turning point of his career. Took me a while to accept that his brilliant run in test wasn't fluke.


Umar Akmal(in opposite direction)

Felt he would be the next great batsman from Pakistan. Even when he was struggling ,I thought he would make a comeback but he just became worse.

 

[JaDed]

Prithvi Shaw

^There is more to his ban than meets the eye, and those in the know realize what I'm talking about.

* Not match-fixing.

2 more days and he is going to be back.

 

[Titan24]

Prithvi Shaw

^There is more to his ban than meets the eye, and those in the know realize what I'm talking about.

* Not match-fixing.

Explain please, or atleast some hints.

 

[Titan24]

Shaan masood

Proven right or wrong?

If you are saying you underestimated him the guy still averages 26 in tests.

 

[Titan24]

Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain for me.

I thought he will become a really good captain for Pakistan across the formats but post CT 17, clueless leadership against NZ in ODIs, in Asia cup and then against Srl in tests pretty much gave the answer.

 

[Danyaalr01]

Iftikhar Ahmed is disproving me. Of course he still has a bit more to do, but he actually looks like a good prospect.

 

[KingKhan12]

Iftikhar Ahmed. Now thinking we lacked a decent consistent hitter over the years and where has he been why wasn't he given a chance before regular

 

[Abdullah]

Proven right or wrong?

If you are saying you underestimated him the guy still averages 26 in tests.

Trust me he has it in him. I didn't think he was capable of playing like he did in SA.

 

[PakLFC]

Muhammad Asif. I thought the man was clean and ready to be a legend in the game. Amir too is another one most misjudged as well together with all other cheats like Azharuddin, Cronje and Srisanth. In regards to the longevity of a Cricketers career I expected Dhoni to play very few matches when he started out

 

[angrypathan]

Steve Smith, Imam-ul-Haq in ODIs so far, Ifti chacha for now

 

[Boiz Played Well]

Umar Akmal. A long, long, long time ago before the beginning of time I was one of many who thought he'd do what Babar is doing now.

 

[Last Monetarist]

The three players about whom I've been proven horribly wrong are Steve Smith, Hashim Amla, and VVS Laxman. My first impression about all three was that they were mediocre batsmen with no hope of succeeding at test cricket. To a lesser extent I was also completely wrong about Misbah-ul-Haq during the 2000s. Some good bowlers on that list would include Trent Boult and Vernon Philander. I thought both were average trundlers who'd be found out quickly.

In terms of players that I thought would succeed but eventually never cracked international cricket: Mark Ramprakash, Marlon Samuels, and Jacques Rudolph. Another who is on that list is Rohit Sharma (albeit still in with a shout of proving me right) as I thought he'd be comfortably India's best batsman once Tendulkar and Dravid retired. Whereas, a bowler that I thought would successfully take up the mantle from Walsh and Ambrose but due to a mix of off-field issues and poor fitness never quite made it was Jerome Taylor.

 

[msb314]

The three players about whom I've been proven horribly wrong are Steve Smith, Hashim Amla, and VVS Laxman. My first impression about all three was that they were mediocre batsmen with no hope of succeeding at test cricket. To a lesser extent I was also completely wrong about Misbah-ul-Haq during the 2000s. Some good bowlers on that list would include Trent Boult and Vernon Philander. I thought both were average trundlers who'd be found out quickly.

In terms of players that I thought would succeed but eventually never cracked international cricket: Mark Ramprakash, Marlon Samuels, and Jacques Rudolph. Another who is on that list is Rohit Sharma (albeit still in with a shout of proving me right) as I thought he'd be comfortably India's best batsman once Tendulkar and Dravid retired. Whereas, a bowler that I thought would successfully take up the mantle from Walsh and Ambrose but due to a mix of off-field issues and poor fitness never quite made it was Jerome Taylor.

Not sure why Rohit Sharma is on this list?

He is arguably one of the greatest ever ODI batsman. Brilliant to watch him in full flow and a huge appetite for big runs. Arguably - even more talented than Kohli...

 

[Last Monetarist]

Not sure why Rohit Sharma is on this list?

He is arguably one of the greatest ever ODI batsman. Brilliant to watch him in full flow and a huge appetite for big runs. Arguably - even more talented than Kohli...

I am a smug traditionalist who doesn't rate batsmen that don't succeed at test level. I genuinely thought Rohit would be able to play more than a hundred tests with a batting average close to 50.

 

[jeetu]

Saurav Ganguly. He turned out much better player than anyone expected. Later one of India's finest captain. He got lucky break because Sidhu quit England tour midway due to tiff with Azhar. Scored a away century on debut and never looked back.

 

[andy0204]

Vernon Philander
At the start of his career he outbowled Steyn so many times and i thought he will be a real deal.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Wow after all these revelations some of people in this thread disgust me. How could you be so unfair and wrong. Shame on you and never talk to me again.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Proven wrong: Kumble, Kohli - thought neither would do well.

 

[Finisher]

Yasir Shah- I thought he wouldnt succeed without a good Googly.

 

[Hasan123]

Proven wrong

Rohit Sharma- can remember mocking him to an Indian fan when I was at college. Now I will admit he is one of the greatest LO players of all time

Chris Woakes- didn’t think he was good enough at all. He has proven to be a very good bowler for England.

Azhar Ali- thought he would be one of our best test bats, won’t be the case

Amir- never thought he would be as good as Wasim, other than his WC campaign and CT final he hasn’t really lived up to the hype.

Shadab- looks bang average. Thought he would be a world class all rounder.

David Warner- never thought he would make it as a test player.

Proven right

Sarfaraz- called it for months that he was bang average as player and captain. Was told I had an agenda and mocked by other posters. Now look at Sarfraz.

Babar Azam- always knew the kid was class, just worried about his lack of intensity and his strike rate. But I convinced after the WC he will be one of the best batters in the world.

Ben Stokes- can remember when he was in poor form thinking he will come good.



I think Pant and Pandya will come good eventually. I am hopeful Shaheen and Hetmyer develop into world class players.


At the end of the day we all get some wrong and we get some right.

 

[King_Kohli]

Proven Wrong:
Ravindra Jadeja
Chandimal (Expected him as next Asian star from lanka)
Dhoni (Underestimated him because of his Technic)
Rohit Sharma
Hasan Raza (People used to compare him with Sachin)
Kamran Akmal

Proven Right:
Ganguly
Kohli (I decided he is here to stay and rule the cricket after watching U19WC)
Babar (After watching first few matches I decided he is going to be pak superstar)
Rabada
Boult

 

[Shazzam]

Misbah Ul Haq

 

[tyron_woodley]

wahab riaz. I love that guy and I seriously though he would become as good as waqar but he disappointed me alot.


ishant sharma - Opposite to wahab. I though he was going to fail but boy he turned his career around in the last few years.