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POTW : Madplayer

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If you wanted to end the Mitchell Starc v Mohammad Amir (Who's the best debate), you need to look no further than the following excellent post!

Congratulations to [MENTION=131678]Madplayer[/MENTION] for winning this week's award!



Starc and Amir are two players who are performing two different roles for their teams now. This is the reality and it needs to be appreciated.

Michell Starc is a strike bowler. An out and out aggressive pacer who gives it his all. He pitches the new ball up and lets it swing and swing it he does. He looks to get batsmen out lbw and bowled and his primary aim is to look for wickets all the time. His late swing at that pace is rivaled by a mere few in the modern era. He isn't afraid to bowl yorkers and boy, does he bowl a mean yorker. His yorker has venom and moves around like a snake and sneaks past under the bat or between the bat and pad of the batsmen. It has become a common sight when he is bowling. When he bowls a bouncer he doesn't look to shorten the length too much. He bangs it in just a little short of good length with all his might. This makes it all the more difficult for the batsman to negotiate it because reading the length and anticipating the bounce becomes a tricky ask. This is what the Pakistani bowlers of the past used to do. Wasim akram, Waqar younis and Shoaib Akhtar have all mentioned it a plenty of times in their interviews that Pakistani bowlers nowadays bowl too short when they bowl bouncers. It is because they don't want to put pressure on their shoulders and hence take the easier route. However, starc is different. He uses his height, strength and pace quite efficiently.

Adding to all that, starc's performance in the World cup 2015 was one of the most dominant display of fast bowling you will ever see in the modern era of cricket. An economy rate of 3.5 and an average of 10.1 in the premier cricket tournament of the world was an effort of legends. No wonder he was awarded man of the tournament being the single biggest factor in Australia's triumph in 2015 world cup.

Starc is yet to find his feet completely in the test format. He has not been ordinary by any stretch of imagination but there is a lot more to be done. The potential he has displayed thus far makes it a question of when and not if. Being the professional cricketing set up that Cricket Australia is, they take care of his work load and allow to play him little t20 cricket. Hence, he hasn't had an opportunity to showcase his ability completely in that format of the game. Overall, Starc is a brutal force of nature who bamboozles batsmen with his sheer ability to bowl jaffas and So far he hasn't really shown a lot of belief in trying to set up the batsman.

Muhammad Amir, since his comeback, has not been the bowler people thought he would be. In his teens he clocked 152 kph in Australia and swung the ball miles in England. The best batsmen of that era like Ponting, watson, Cook and the legends of yesteryears like Imran, wasim and Michael Holding sang praises of him. Since he came out of the whirlpool of spot fixing, he has looked a shadow of himself. Dwelling into the reasons for it or blaming his luck isn't going to hide the fact that he has failed to produce consistent results.

Muhammad Amir, post comeback, is a defensive bowler. His Raison D'etre seems to be not to get hit by the batsmen. He bowls a shorter length with the new ball and is reluctant to pitch the ball up. His lack of confidence is evident if you look at the spot where his foot lands while bowling. His pace isnt the same anymore, not that it was his primary weapon ever but his late swing is also a rare occurance now. He doesn't bowl the yorkers too often and relies on bowling away from the batsman which again displays a defensive mindset. The role of a strike bowler has been taken over by Hasan Ali. Hasan Ali's meteoric rise has reduced Amir to nothing but a support bowler who blocks one end. Amir's bouncer lacks the brute force to the point that the most dangerous delivery of a fast bowler seems gentle at times when he bowls it. Its not to say that he doesn't or can't bowl a mean bouncer to bamboozle the batsman. He can and once in a blue moon, he does. However, that doesn't make it a norm.

Amir's feat in the Champion's trophy final remains one of the peak points of his career so far and is reminiscent of what he could have become or what he can become if he puts his heart into it. In the test arena, Amir has been thoroughly average since his comeback. Apart from a couple of performances of note in Australia and West Indies, he has been off colour. His pace in UAE tests was depressingly low and it has raised concerns about his commitment towards the longest format. However, in his defence the abysmal wickets of UAE must be mentioned. One thing which has not changed and still remains Amir's big weapon is his ability to set up the batsman. He has a brains and he puts them to use. However, without the heart, the brain can only take you so far.

To sum it all up, Amir has become a tamed tiger who is unwilling to express his real nature while on the other hand, Starc unleashes the beast within like a free lion in the jungle. To the disappointment of many Pakistani fans, Starc's roar is louder and scarier than Amir's.
 
Nice post agree on Stac compared to Lion :starc playing like one.

No sure about Amir 2.0 for comparing with Tiger :amir
 
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Oh wow this was really unexpected. Thank You so much :)
 
Great post man. Congrats.

Starc has a long way to go in test cricket to be considered among the greats. That’s a great point you made while praising his talent and aggression.
 
Mubarak Jinaab
Wene chu waarya brounth pakun, tuhund post chu lajawaab te shandaar...
touhe aasev myoun support hamaeshe.

Very well done my bouy.
Brilliant post
 
Congrats ,first one! Do you feel since you joined PakPassion you have more clarity of thought now?
 
Congratulations! Great and informative! Well done!

Congratulations!

Great post man. Congrats.

Starc has a long way to go in test cricket to be considered among the greats. That’s a great point you made while praising his talent and aggression.

Good post and a good read from a good poster. Congrats!

Congratulations! :)

Top post.

Well said and deserved!!

Congratulations, fantastic post!

thank you so much guys. really appreciate it.
 
Congrats [MENTION=131678]Madplayer[/MENTION].:) Cha gaye hou jabbkey idhar humare haan taweel ar’se badal chaye hue hain.
 
Congrats ,first one! Do you feel since you joined PakPassion you have more clarity of thought now?

absolutely. I personally feel that i have come a long way and Pakpassion has surely done its bit in shaping up opinions in my mind.
however, in all of my posting history, i never really tried to write a post aiming to get a POTW. This was one of the rare times i wrote a long post.
 
Congrats [MENTION=131678]Madplayer[/MENTION].:) Cha gaye hou jabbkey idhar humare haan taweel ar’se badal chaye hue hain.

shukriya bhaijaan. badal to mehmaan hain, kab tak rahen ge
 
So happy for my Kashmiri bro Maddy.... off the mark with a brilliant cover drive :hafeez2
 
The zoology in this post is amazing. Was thinking about an African Jungle, with the rain in the backdrop :))

Congratulations man. top post.
 
Congratulations

Great post :salute

Congrats man

Congrats! Great post
Thanks brothers
So happy for my Kashmiri bro Maddy.... off the mark with a brilliant cover drive :hafeez2
Thank you syed sahab.

The zoology in this post is amazing. Was thinking about an African Jungle, with the rain in the backdrop :))

Congratulations man. top post.

:))) come on, only a snake, a tiger and a lion. I was watching animal planet while writing it :yk jk
 
Thanks brothers

Thank you syed sahab.



:))) come on, only a snake, a tiger and a lion. I was watching animal planet while writing it :yk jk

If that's the reason, we shall pass a decree and make it necessary to watch animal planet while making any post on pp

Imagine the sharp increase in the quality of posts - just like the increase in rohit sharma's batting average the moment he gets a chance to bat in India
 
Great post mate really enjoyed it, like how you used metaphors as well unlike the usual boring POTW's :mv

Someone needs to light a fire under Amirs behind, am hoping he brings it when it matters most
 
If that's the reason, we shall pass a decree and make it necessary to watch animal planet while making any post on pp

Imagine the sharp increase in the quality of posts - just like the increase in rohit sharma's batting average the moment he gets a chance to bat in India

Why pass a decree when we can win all the POTWs for ourselves? :srini:
 
Great post mate really enjoyed it, like how you used metaphors as well unlike the usual boring POTW's :mv

Someone needs to light a fire under Amirs behind, am hoping he brings it when it matters most

Thanks brahhh! Aprreciate it.

Yes, Amir needs to stop waiting for big occassions to turn up. As fans, we need him to go bonkers every single time.
 
Thanks brothers

Thank you syed sahab.



:))) come on, only a snake, a tiger and a lion. I was watching animal planet while writing it :yk jk

Why watch a Snake, a Tiger and a Lion separately when you can just watch Mushfiqar Rahim run like a tiger, roar like a lion and dance like a snake after playing gem of an innings? :inti
 
Why watch a Snake, a Tiger and a Lion separately when you can just watch Mushfiqar Rahim run like a tiger, roar like a lion and dance like a snake after playing gem of an innings? :inti

Because i dont wanna see a snake shaking its booty :ashwin:
 
On the whole Starc is a league above Amir...

I don’t believe Amir is just living on past hype. He’s a good LOI bowler, very good in T20s - particularly when the pressures on.

Test wise, bit puzzling as he did bowl very well in England (where the drops were), good spells throughout the series.

Afterwards it fell away, especially in tests - Australia being a poor tour for us, we struggled with 12 tests in 6 months (Windies in the UAE inbetween the tours above).

I often feel when watching him bowl, he doesn’t pitch it up, and for long enough - giving the new ball its due.

Hasan and Abbas do this more consistently, wicket to wicket early on - Amir is already working angles shortly into his spells.
 
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