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Rate this current Pakistan Test bowling attack from 1 to 10

syedahsan

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Mar 5, 2008
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This Pakistani bowling attack is 4 or barely 5 vs looking at the bowling attack from India , Australia and New Zealand who I see are above 8. No wonder we are struggling, because batting issues are not new on away series. Since Miandad days to Yunus Khan days our batting has always been fragile on away series but our bowlers were good enough to bail us out.Today our batting is as usual or no different from past but our bowlers are looking very very ordinary. To make the matter worst bias selection and no good bowlers in domestic circuit makes the future series dull ,boring and most matches to be all one sided. T20 we might win here and there. Im One day against weak sides or against a good sides we might win a test match home. Now we have started loosing home series against formidable sides. Good that India or we are not playing eachother otherwise more loss and humiliation would have come our way. The only outcome from IndoPak matches historically had been cricketers who had flopped ended their careers completely never to be a part of recycle selection. Under the garb of senior and exp players who got senior and experienced after flopping series after series due to recycle process , mainly prevalent in Pakistan selection process, when they play any country but India.


from IndoPak matches were
 
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Shaheen Shah Afridi - 7/10
Muhammad Abbas - 5/10
Yasir Shah - 5/10
Faheem Ashraf - 5/10
Naseem Shah - 0.0001/10

This gives an average of 4.4/10
 
It's not great by our standards.

I would give it a 6.5 but it should improve.

The obvious weak link is Naseem. He just isn't ready. He neither has the skills nor the game plan.

Faheem is a very good 4th seamer bowler.

Shaheen is a bowler with a very high ceiling. Abbas needs to come up with a solution for batsmen batting outside their crease to him.

I'm sure we can find a better spin bowler than Yasir Shah.
 
It’s very sad that after years of trolling other countries for having trundlers, we are now unable to produce anyone who is actually fast and lethal. Shaheen aside.

Rahat Ali’s, Mohammad Abbas, and an Amir after comeback- all operating at 120-135 max.

Something changed from 70s-90s, that we haven’t been producing quality pacers like we used to.

I don’t know what it is, need a domestic cricket wiz to weigh in.
 
Shaheen: 7/10, can end up being a 9/10 if he learns to properly swing the ball both ways. Will probably end up at 8/10

Abbas: 5/10, used to be 8/10

Faheem: 5/10, can at best be 6/10 during a purple patch in helpful conditions

Naseem: 7/10 at full pace, with the potential to be 8/10, currently 4/10 as long as he tries to bowl line and length at 135kph without any short balls or bouncers

I would like to add Hassan Ali who should be selected for the SA series:
8/10 on current form with the potential to be an 8.5/10
 
Shaheen Shah Afridi - 8/10( potential of 9)
Muhammad Abbas - 5/10
Yasir Shah - 6/10
Faheem Ashraf - 4/10
Naseem Shah - 4/10

Overall 5.5/10.
 
Recent form:

Shaheen - 6.5/10
Abbas - 6/10
Faheem - 5.5/10
Yasir - 6.5/10
Naseem - 10/10 (the version that bowls 150+, instills fear in the opposition, takes multiple 10-fers in a single series)
 
If Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib and Saqlain is a 10/10 attack (Just for comparisons sake) then:

Shaheen - 7. Good but not consistently threatening.
Abbas - 6. Good at what he does but not fearsome enough
Naseem -2. Distinctly not test match level.
Yasir - 4. Below average leg spinner
 
Based on recent performance:

Shaheen 7/10
Abbas 5/10
Faheem 5/10
Naseem 2/10
Yasir 3/10

Summary: 1 good bowler, 2 average/mediocre ones and 2 that are garbage
 
Shaheen 7- Our best bowler by a country mile but still has some strides to make at test level.

Abbas 4- At 120 K your not troubling anyone regardless of how skilful you are. Keeps things tight so isn’t a 3.

Naseem 3- He’s down on pace which reduces his margin for error, and he can’t land two balls in the same spot. A recipe for disaster.

Faheem 5- Threatening at times and can keep things tight. Performs his role adequately without being spectacular.
 
We're still good but I will not have over expectations from teenagers who're still learning the art of setup and consistent bowling. We will reap rewards in the next cycle of overseas tours. Just have to be patient and stick during tough times.
 
This is the worst collective bowling attack i have ever seen pakistan take on a tour.

The only worse one was when Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir played together in a test match I think
 
Recent form:

Shaheen - 6.5/10
Abbas - 6/10
Faheem - 5.5/10
Yasir - 6.5/10
Naseem - 10/10 (the version that bowls 150+, instills fear in the opposition, takes multiple 10-fers in a single series)

Trolling?
 
This is the worst collective bowling attack i have ever seen pakistan take on a tour.

The only worse one was when Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir played together in a test match I think

This is the second worst for me. The worst was the attack in Australia last year also featuring the great Imran Khan Senior and Musa Khan! Soooo painful to watch.
 
Pakistan is a bowler short due to Naseem Shahs ordinary bowling. He appears way short of international class in this series. I feel bad for the kid but Waqar Yunus is to be blamed. Waqar Yunus comes in the team for the 3rd or 4th time and appears progressively getting worst as a coach. For the effort the batsmen have put up the bowlers have not responded.
They need to find a good bowling coach. Waqar has a history of not being an average coach let alone a great one. Just because one was great medical student does not always make you equally a great doctor. He should let this coaching business pass by. Its just not his cup of tea.
 
This attack should not be rated more than 4 (being very generous). Only good bowler in this attack is Shaheen and even he isn't the fittest and probably will be bowled to ground by the captain and management.

Abbas - Decent bowler. Bowls wicket to wicket and controls runs but does not take many wickets and his pace does not trouble the batters on these true surfaces. May be good on slow/low wickets of sub continent.

Naseem Shah - Nothing much to say here. Just needs work on his bowling a lot. Does not look a bowler for this level of cricket. Right now only way for him to get anyone out is if the batters overconfident against him and throw their wickets away.

Faheem - Decent bowler who can be a good support if he has good pacers around him. But cannot bowl out oppositions by himself.

Gohar - Just his first game so need to cut him some slack.
 
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Shaheen: 7/10, can end up being a 9/10 if he learns to properly swing the ball both ways. Will probably end up at 8/10

Abbas: 5/10, used to be 8/10

Faheem: 5/10, can at best be 6/10 during a purple patch in helpful conditions

Naseem: 7/10 at full pace, with the potential to be 8/10, currently 4/10 as long as he tries to bowl line and length at 135kph without any short balls or bouncers

I would like to add Hassan Ali who should be selected for the SA series:
8/10 on current form with the potential to be an 8.5/10

Yeah ofcourse.
 
Man more than Pak's bowling I am thinking of Kane piling up a mountain of soft runs without anyone pointing it out.
 
This must be an anomaly, the batsmen gave too little runs to defend, Pak batting is the main culprit. Right? Sir @Colourblind Genius?
 
5 in Asia because Yasir is the fourth best spinner in Test cricket.

1 outside Asia, because Shaheen can be threatening with the new ball.
 
If Waqar needs world class bowlers to show results then what is the point of him being there in the first place then? Waste of an appointment
 
4/10 in UAE
5/10 in PAK
1/10 Rest of the World

And I have faith that these numbers will hold up 2 years later too.
 
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