Shaheen Shah Afridi versus Shoaib Akhtar in his prime: who would you prefer in Test cricket?

[Rana]

I ask you all now (those who have seen Shoaib Akhtar play Test cricket), who would you prefer as your bowler in the sub-continent and flat decks out of the two? I am 100% in favour knowing that I witnessed a great bowler with the new and old ball on seriously hard decks. This version of Shaheen Afridi is currently unfit to tie the shoe laces of the legendary express talisman of Pakistan cricket. He was the pride of our nation and it hurts me to see people disrespect his contributions to Pak cricket because he only took 178 wickets!

 

[Ashmal]

Let Shaheen finish his career then we can compare.....no point in comparing a 21 year old to a retired player.

 

[Major]

Shaheen every day.

Akhtar is way overated, especially in test. Akhtar would get you 1 or 2 wickets and for the whole day he would do nothing. He was only effective in spells thats it.

Even in odis once he started to miss his lengths, he wohld give you pacy pies to hit.

Shaheen atleast useses the pitch and is threatning with the ball movement.

 

[Rana]

Shaheen every day.

Akhtar is way overated, especially in test. Akhtar would get you 1 or 2 wickets and for the whole day he would do nothing. He was only effective in spells thats it.

Even in odis once he started to miss his lengths, he wohld give you pacy pies to hit.

Shaheen atleast useses the pitch and is threatning with the ball movement.

The guys who do not understand modern day cricket will prefer Shaheen

Those who do will know the value of Akhtar

 

[NishanKonar]

Shaheen Shah has no craftmanship for test cricket. SHoaib Akhtar was a proper test cricketer. Knew how to set up batsmen and get them out

Shaheen is basically go for a quick yorker and pray. Very one dimensional bowler otherwise. Good for T20s and ODI but will struggle in test cricket

 

[Cric1234]

Shaheen every day.

Akhtar is way overated, especially in test. Akhtar would get you 1 or 2 wickets and for the whole day he would do nothing. He was only effective in spells thats it.

Even in odis once he started to miss his lengths, he wohld give you pacy pies to hit.

Shaheen atleast useses the pitch and is threatning with the ball movement.

Interesting comment Shoaib has bowled match winning spells against Australia New Zealand England South Africa and India.

Shaheen has yet to show he can win a match against a decent team he can play 100 tests he won’t have the fear factor or pure match winning ability of Shoaib who injured himself just to bowl quick he’s not even well ahead of Amir check his record against the top 5 teams.

 

[Buffet]

Afridi is just starting his career. It's unfair to put him in comparison against prime Akhtar.

Akhtar is not really a test great or anything due to his poor test career, but in his prime, he was far more skillful and had pace. Any comparison should be made once Afridi hangs his boot or at least get to 150-200 wickets.

 

[Rana]

Let Shaheen finish his career then we can compare.....no point in comparing a 21 year old to a retired player.

Unless you haven’t seen SA bowl, the discussion is totally valid

Some people need to be reminded about the value of ex legends who have built the PCB brand.

 

[Major]

The guys who do not understand modern day cricket will prefer Shaheen

Those who do will know the value of Akhtar

So if we dont accept your opinion that means we dont understand modern day cricket?

What is the purpose of thread than? To have discussion or to say that akhtar is best whoever disagrees knows nothing

 

[Rana]

So if we dont accept your opinion that means we dont understand modern day cricket?

What is the purpose of thread than? To have discussion or to say that akhtar is best whoever disagrees knows nothing

The purpose of this thread is to teach respect to those who have forgotten how to respect legends of the past.

 

[tired1]

Shoaib was something else. He made you fall in love with the sport. Never felt adrenal after him for any other Pakistani player.

 

[Major]

Interesting comment Shoaib has bowled match winning spells against Australia New Zealand England South Africa and India.

Shaheen has yet to show he can win a match against a decent team he can play 100 tests he won’t have the fear factor or pure match winning ability of Shoaib who injured himself just to bowl quick he’s not even well ahead of Amir check his record against the top 5 teams.

What is match winning? Playing good cricket for 4-5 overs?

In test cricket you need to be quality from the word go. You cant just bowl 3-5 overs of good bowling and than be rubbish the whole day.

A very good example is Mohammad Amir. Before his match fixing crime was caught, the guy bowled good overall. He kept placing pressure on the opposition.

After he got banned and came back, amor was only good in spells, thats about it. Being good in spells means score off the player and just survive him when he is bowling a good spell.

There is a match where akhtar was bowling pace at ponting, but ponting surviced and ended up racking up 197 runs against pakistan.

Bowling shear pace is always useless if you aint gonna set up or take wickets

 

[Major]

The purpose of this thread is to teach respect to those who have forgotten how to respect legends of the past.

Than why did you use the above thread title? You could had just said akhtar is better than shaheen, dont dicuss, just praise akhtar in the thread.....

Akhtar is not even a legend, i doubt he guy would ever get into the hall of fames of icc

 

[Shafi]

What an insult to Shoaib? Shaheen can compare players like M Akram, Aaqib....Its same like Babar to Kohli/tendulqar. No match apart from hype

 

[Rana]

Than why did you use the above thread title? You could had just said akhtar is better than shaheen, dont dicuss, just praise akhtar in the thread.....

Akhtar is not even a legend, i doubt he guy would ever get into the hall of fames of icc

It’s good to leave it as a discussion because it exposes the thought process of those who do not understand modern cricket, yet claim to be experts. I will mention the exact quote by the poster who has offended me and my love for a great of Pakistan cricket.

 

[Buffet]

Akhtar had skill and pace, but his career was poor. The match-winner tag is just absurd for Akhtar.

When all said and done,

Akhtar played for Pakistan only in 10 test wins against Ind, Aus, Eng, SA, and NZ in his entire career. That's home and away combined.

When you are featured in grand total of 10 test wins against the top 5 opponents in your entire career then the tag of match-winner etc seems hollow. Match winners tag should be reserved for players who helped their team to win in 25-35 tests.

 

[Rana]

“Shaheen too would wreak havoc with those heavily doctored balls that our bowlers bowled with in the 80s and 90s.

Had Waqar bowled today, he would not fare much better than Shaheen. In fact, he would definitely be more expensive.

So in my view, he is already the third best fast bowler produced by Pakistan (yes, ahead of Akhtar as well) and the best Pakistani cricketer today because potential wise he is good as any fast bowler around today. “

Any guess who is the expert here?

 

[sweep_shot]

I would take a prime Shoaib Akthar. His pace was always handy.

 

[Cric1234]

Akhtar had skill and pace, but his career was poor. The match-winner tag is just absurd for Akhtar.

When all said and done,

Akhtar played for Pakistan only in 10 test wins against Ind, Aus, Eng, SA, and NZ in his entire career. That's home and away combined.

When you are featured in grand total of 10 test wins against the top 5 opponents in your entire career then the tag of match-winner etc seems hollow. Match winners tag should be reserved for players who helped their team to win in 25-35 tests.

It’s a team game in 29 tests against those 10 wins is not a bad ratio considering they were the toughest opponents.

He can take a 5 wicket haul but the batsmen or other bowlers don’t support he had Sami Kaneria Razzaq and others supporting him as bowlers not great is it Pakistan has never been a Top test team.

There are spells like the one against Australia in Colombo which he took the pitch out of the equation and gave his team a chance of winning but no support from bowlers and batsmen resulted in defeat.

 

[dildilpak]

Anyday Shoaib Akhter. Period

 

[sindhiboy]

Shaheen hasn't reached half of his potential. We need to wait Atleast 5 years for him to reach his prime and then we can start comparing him with the past greats.

 

[sweep_shot]

There are spells like the one against Australia in Colombo which he took the pitch out of the equation and gave his team a chance of winning but no support from bowlers and batsmen resulted in defeat.

This is very true.

For someone like Shoaib Akthar, pitch doesn't matter much. His raw pace is always handy.

 

[Rana]

Shaheen hasn't reached half of his potential. We need to wait Atleast 5 years for him to reach his prime and then we can start comparing him with the past greats.

Hasnt reached half? Is he going to reach the next half playing pointless T20s and diving around the field all the time?

 

[Rana]

This is very true.

For someone like Shoaib Akthar, pitch doesn't matter much. His raw pace is always handy.

Genuine fear factor

There is no doubt that every great batsman of his era feared his spell. They may not admit it but he was genuinely frightening bowler.

 

[Rana]

As we yesterday, Shaheen had a ball that was reversing

What exactly did he manage to achieve with it against proper batsmen?

 

[Cric1234]

Genuine fear factor

There is no doubt that every great batsman of his era feared his spell. They may not admit it but he was genuinely frightening bowler.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...lia-vs-pakistan-1st-test-64001/full-scorecard

When Shaheen gets 4 batsmen out averaging fifty with yorkers on a decent batting wicket like this he can be compared to Shoaib.

 

[Buffet]

It’s a team game in 29 tests against those 10 wins is not a bad ratio considering they were the toughest opponents.

He can take a 5 wicket haul but the batsmen or other bowlers don’t support he had Sami Kaneria Razzaq and others supporting him as bowlers not great is it Pakistan has never been a Top test team.

There are spells like the one against Australia in Colombo which he took the pitch out of the equation and gave his team a chance of winning but no support from bowlers and batsmen resulted in defeat.

He was surely very skillful and had the pace to take the pitch out of the equation. I just think that match-winner tags should be given to players who have featured in enough wins. Andy flower was a gun batsman for Zim and Zim couldn't win enough due to a weak team, but we don't say Andy flower was some big match-winner. It just distorts the facts.

Match winners mean you help your team to win tons of matches. It's simple.

 

[Major]

It’s good to leave it as a discussion because it exposes the thought process of those who do not understand modern cricket, yet claim to be experts. I will mention the exact quote by the poster who has offended me and my love for a great of Pakistan cricket.

So basically this is not a discussion thread its a statement thread. Anyone against akhtar has no cricketing knowledge. Might aswell change the thread title

 

[RyanRyan10]

After Rizwan, it's Shaheen. OP bashes 2 out of the 3 best players of Pakistan but rates nobodies like Dilbar.

 

[shaz619]

How can anyone remotely overlook an Akhtar in peak form, it’s a disgrace. You’d seriously pick Shaheen over him on dead pitches. Akhtar sure he could have done better with the numbers but in terms of his skill and pace, you’d be daft not to pick him. I know some of you are great historians of the sport, but it’s good to play it a bit to in order to help your understanding, either that or you’re an IT.

 

[shaz619]

After Rizwan, it's Shaheen. OP bashes 2 out of the 3 best players of Pakistan but rates nobodies like Dilbar.

Shaheen is a great player and has time to grow, his career isn’t over yet but apparently some feel a Shaheen who I think hasn’t reached his peak form yet is superior to Akhtar in terms of his skill and pace, you can argue oh perhaps he has a higher ceiling or whatever but that’s not what people are saying it seems.

 

[Local.Dada]

Weird comparison

A guy who is still a “prospect” vs a guy who probably under achieved or over achieved whichever way you look at it but is one of those characters of the game who will be remembered forever.

Can some one tell me what their similarities are apart from a standout moment in an India-Pak match?

One is a right armer the other a left armer

One a genuine express bowler who hits 150+ vs a fast bowler in the 140-145 range at best?

Shoaib used to first change mostly right? Shaheen is a new ball bowler.

Unless it is just 2 random names thrown in together what is the basis for the comparison?

 

[Rana]

Weird comparison

A guy who is still a “prospect” vs a guy who probably under achieved or over achieved whichever way you look at it but is one of those characters of the game who will be remembered forever.

Can some one tell me what their similarities are apart from a standout moment in an India-Pak match?

One is a right armer the other a left armer

One a genuine express bowler who hits 150+ vs a fast bowler in the 140-145 range at best?

Shoaib used to first change mostly right? Shaheen is a new ball bowler.

Unless it is just 2 random names thrown in together what is the basis for the comparison?

What are you talking about man? Shoaib was Pakistan's premier bowler when Wasim and Waqar retired and he was bowling the new ball from the first over.

 

[Rana]

So basically this is not a discussion thread its a statement thread. Anyone against akhtar has no cricketing knowledge. Might aswell change the thread title

Yes because some stubborn people do not deserve a discussion, they deserve ultimatums just like the notice of termination that was issued to Misbah by Ramiz.

 

[Rana]

After Rizwan, it's Shaheen. OP bashes 2 out of the 3 best players of Pakistan but rates nobodies like Dilbar.

Guess what? I bash Babar too

What does Dilbar Hussain the T20 bowler have to do with this?

 

[Rajdeep]

I have seen Akhtar at his absolute peak and he was scary to face. His spell in Eden Gardens Asian test championship match was the fastest spell I have seen in test cricket. As good as Shaheen Afridi is, I doubt he can generate that fear factor that Akhtar had created.

 

[Moiz14]

Shoaib Akhtar anytime... Shaheen is not even his 30%

 

[sweep_shot]

The way I see it, Shaheen needs assistance from pitch/condition. He is pretty ineffective on flat pitches.

Also, modern batsmen are quite terrible compared to the batting legends Akthar faced during his prime days.

Here's an example of what Shoaib Akthar often did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQlpeSLWC0g&ab_channel=robelinda2.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Akhtar, without a shade of doubt. Fastest ever on the planet

 

[Hawkeye]

Look at it this way:

-Shoaib Akhtar when on song was the scariest bowler to face on Earth and made the ball talk.

-Shaheen when on song is a good bowler.

Shoaib Akhtar could bowl FAST spells in Tests.
Shaheen was barely bowling in 130s on the first/second day of the Karachi Test.

Shaheen lacks stamina for his age, which is quite poor TBH.

 

[Rana]

Look at it this way:

-Shoaib Akhtar when on song was the scariest bowler to face on Earth and made the ball talk.

-Shaheen when on song is a good bowler.

Shoaib Akhtar could bowl FAST spells in Tests.
Shaheen was barely bowling in 130s on the first/second day of the Karachi Test.

Shaheen lacks stamina for his age, which is quite poor TBH.

It is and it isnt his fault.

Shaheen makes himself available for every international T20i game and is very enthusiastic in playing PSL. Also he is fielding in all the hotspots, and its clear that he has been working very hard on his batting too.

A premier fast bowler needs to be taken care of and Shaheen really isnt helping himself. The guy should just play crunch overseas tours and world cups when it comes to T20's. Same with bilateral ODIs, needs to play the ones away from home. PSL is understandable because all of these players deserve a payday as they dont play IPL.

 

[kingusama92]

Shoaib Akhtar was far more skilled at his peak but injuries/off-field issues kept holding him back.

Pace, reverse swing, bowling IQ, and aggression were all things he brought to the team. It's hard to find someone like that nowadays.

On pure bowling, prime Akhtar was much better than a developing Shaheen. To be fair, there's a lot of work left to do for Shaheen to hit his potential so it's a bit unfair to compare the two.

Akhtar also got to develop alongside some of the cricket's finest bowlers while Shaheen has been on his own.

 

[Rana]

Shaheen every day.

Akhtar is way overated, especially in test. Akhtar would get you 1 or 2 wickets and for the whole day he would do nothing. He was only effective in spells thats it.

Even in odis once he started to miss his lengths, he wohld give you pacy pies to hit.

Shaheen atleast useses the pitch and is threatning with the ball movement.

Posts like these are the reason why we need more threads like this, otherwise history will be distorted

 

[shamaan]

I would take Shaoib on flat pitches.

 

[James]

For me it would be Shoaib Akhtar.

Frighteningly quick and a larger than life character as well. He could produce a wonder spell out of nowhere and was always compelling to watch.

Shaheen is good though. Very talented.

 

[Mamoon]

Shoaib Akhtar is not a benchmark for Shaheen or any young fast bowler.

He made his debut in 1997 and played his last Test in 2007, and the only thing he had to show for was 178 Test wickets.

If Shaheen does not end up taking more 300+ Test wickets, he should be bitterly disappointed with his career.

Shoaib fans are victims of nostalgia. He produced a lot of big “moments” but he had very few big series where he swung the momentum Pakistan’s and won them the series.

He was basically world class only in 2001-2002 season where he tormented a fairly average NZ lineup.

The Colombo Test against Australia was special but those spells were a rarity.

He was completely ineffective against India from 2004-2007.

The 2005 series against England was pretty much his only notable Test performance after 2002, and the was the last time he did anything of note in the format.

Shaheen should be looking up to Wasim and Imran. Shoaib is irrelevant. The guy has forced himself to be regarded as a legend because has a big mouth and praises himself all the time.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Hypothetical scenario.

If Shoaib had averaged 5mph slower and not broken the 100mph barrier - would we consider him a legend looking at his overall career?

Its a flawed comparison comparing one player at his "prime" vs one that is just starting. Explain how "prime" is measured and perhaps we can get a better idea.

The facts are that if Shaheen finishes with a career like Shoaibs he will have failed badly.

Shoaib was also lucky he played under the tutelage of shrewed bowlers like Wasim & Waqar, plus the team was surrounded by sharper cricketing minds in the form of Moin/Rashid etc.

Shaheen by comparison has got a poor bowling attack around him combined with a mentally weak leadership group.

 

[Kianig89]

Injuries and disciplinary issues marred Akhtar ' career but he was a genuine fast bowler the one which makes opposition scared off wasted his abilities

 

[Savak]

Shoaib Akhtar himself struggled badly in the 1998 home series against Australia. He got smashed by Mark Taylor, Justin Langer in the Peshawar test. He was still started out and that tour was a good experience and he came good in the next series against India.

Shaheen in comparison now has played against South Africa, England, New Zealand and now Australia, he is no longer a novice and he should have done better. I suspect he is probably fatigued at the moment given the amount of Cricket he is playing and given that he is coming from a busy PSL season. The PCB needs to look after his workload and look to bench him from useless games, T-20 games to preserve his career just like what Cricket Australia do with Starc.

 

[Rana]

Shoaib Akhtar is not a benchmark for Shaheen or any young fast bowler.

He made his debut in 1997 and played his last Test in 2007, and the only thing he had to show for was 178 Test wickets.

If Shaheen does not end up taking more 300+ Test wickets, he should be bitterly disappointed with his career.

Shoaib fans are victims of nostalgia. He produced a lot of big “moments” but he had very few big series where he swung the momentum Pakistan’s and won them the series.

He was basically world class only in 2001-2002 season where he tormented a fairly average NZ lineup.

The Colombo Test against Australia was special but those spells were a rarity.

He was completely ineffective against India from 2004-2007.

The 2005 series against England was pretty much his only notable Test performance after 2002, and the was the last time he did anything of note in the format.

Shaheen should be looking up to Wasim and Imran. Shoaib is irrelevant. The guy has forced himself to be regarded as a legend because has a big mouth and praises himself all the time.

That’s why everyone picks Shoaib over Shaheen any day of the week?

Admit it, you made another massive blunder here and are being exposed for your lack of knowledge. You haven’t watched any Pakistan cricket before IPL started.

 

[WengerOut]

Shoaib Akhtar is the only bowler i would pay to watch. Fast, intimidating and had all the skills. His record might not be legendary due to mitigating circumstances, but boy he was lethal when fit. Cricket needs to move away from too much statistics without contexts.

 

[Arsal_AK]

Shaheen should be very disappointed if he doesn't rank above Shoaib by the time he ends his career.

Right now I don't think anyone has said he is better than Shoaib. We forget that both him and Naseem are ridiculously young, they are far from their prime and will take sometime to get to their best.

 

[kingusama92]

Shoaib Akhtar is not a benchmark for Shaheen or any young fast bowler.

He made his debut in 1997 and played his last Test in 2007, and the only thing he had to show for was 178 Test wickets.

If Shaheen does not end up taking more 300+ Test wickets, he should be bitterly disappointed with his career.

Shoaib fans are victims of nostalgia. He produced a lot of big “moments” but he had very few big series where he swung the momentum Pakistan’s and won them the series.

He was basically world class only in 2001-2002 season where he tormented a fairly average NZ lineup.

The Colombo Test against Australia was special but those spells were a rarity.

He was completely ineffective against India from 2004-2007.

The 2005 series against England was pretty much his only notable Test performance after 2002, and the was the last time he did anything of note in the format.

Shaheen should be looking up to Wasim and Imran. Shoaib is irrelevant. The guy has forced himself to be regarded as a legend because has a big mouth and praises himself all the time.

He never got to play enough tests during his best years.

Between 2001-2005, he averaged 19.06 in 22 matches. Akhtar was very good during his prime and a lot of his injuries and off-field nonsense takes away the shine.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

Rana, Why do you have to keep arguing with Mamoon about this?

 

[Rana]

Shaheen should be very disappointed if he doesn't rank above Shoaib by the time he ends his career.

Right now I don't think anyone has said he is better than Shoaib. We forget that both him and Naseem are ridiculously young, they are far from their prime and will take sometime to get to their best.

Ishant Sharma ranks above Shoaib Akhtar

So he is a better bowler than Shoaib as well?

 

[TheSultan]

This cannot be a serious question. Even if Shaheen takes 500 wickets, I would still take shoaib over him

 

[asifp]

Very difficult to compare.

Shoaib had too many injuries and issues. Can anyone in the world do what Shoaib did to the goat aussie team where he twice ripped them apart, no, but again he could not sustain it.

For six balls akhtar, for a career it will probably be SSA

 

[CricVet]

I have seen all the great pak pace bowlers except past 70s. Shoaib is the only bowler who would have wrecked this AU side on this Karachi surface. Imran would be 2nd inline followed by Waqar and Wasim. Just watch Shoaib bowling on some of the most dead wickets, i.e., 2005 in Pak vs Eng (Eng back then was a far more superior test side than this AU side).

Shaheen is learning and I hope one day he would be able to do better for being a far better Athlete than injury prone Shoaib.

 

[Major]

Very difficult to compare.

Shoaib had too many injuries and issues. Can anyone in the world do what Shoaib did to the goat aussie team where he twice ripped them apart, no, but again he could not sustain it.

For six balls akhtar, for a career it will probably be SSA

ponting smoked 197 against Pakistan with a pacy shoaib. No thanks

 

[asifp]

https://youtu.be/cQlpeSLWC0g

Just watch this

 

[TheSultan]

ponting smoked 197 against Pakistan with a pacy shoaib. No thanks

Ponting smoked a lot of teams for that and more. What’s your point?

 

[Savak]

I have seen all the great pak pace bowlers except past 70s. Shoaib is the only bowler who would have wrecked this AU side on this Karachi surface. Imran would be 2nd inline followed by Waqar and Wasim. Just watch Shoaib bowling on some of the most dead wickets, i.e., 2005 in Pak vs Eng (Eng back then was a far more superior test side than this AU side).

Shaheen is learning and I hope one day he would be able to do better for being a far better Athlete than injury prone Shoaib.

People are being harsh on Shaheen. Shoaib in 1998 was found wanting against Australia on the same wickets. It takes a beating like this to get a reality check. Next series Shoaib floored Teenda and Dravid and became a super star.

For starters i would like Shaheen to monitor his workload like Australia does with Starc i.e. quit playing every T-20 game, every useless dead rubber games and be fresh for Pakistan in key, important games. He is not super human who can keep running in and bowl 140 km/hr rest, the workload is now catching up with him where his speeds have declined to 135-137 km/hr.

He also has to add more variety to his bowling i.e. instead of predictably pitching the ball up 5-6 balls with the new ball against quality players, he needs to understand the art of making use of his height and bowling well directed bouncers to put the batsman back.

With the reverse swinging ball, he needs to stop bowling a reverse swinging yorker every ball, he should learn from Wasim Akram on how to hide the shine of the ball till the last minute and learn to reverse swing the ball in both directions. One dimensional predictable reverse swing is no problem for quality international batsmen.

 

[topspin]

Yes because some stubborn people do not deserve a discussion, they deserve ultimatums just like the notice of termination that was issued to Misbah by Ramiz.

What a response uff brutal

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Shoaib Akhtar, every day of the week.

The guy literally put fear into the batsmen.

You can’t call him overrated especially when you hear how legends of the game speak about facing Shaiby. They’d all say “we’d rather be standing at the non-strikers end” - not one batsman will ever say that when facing Shaheen or any other Pakistani bowler.

 

[shamaan]

Allan Donaldo :The Quickest The Meanest,he had EGO,Intimidating

Ponting:Shaoib bowled like a wind,Quickest bowler I have ever faced.

 

[Unleashed]

Akhtar was blockbuster tbf, Shaheen should probably get more test wickets than him but a peak Akhtar would be very hard to replicate for any bowler.

 

[Gilly]

Akhtar was blockbuster tbf, Shaheen should probably get more test wickets than him but a peak Akhtar would be very hard to replicate for any bowler.

Peak Johnson matched peak Shoiab, Johnson terrified the England team and the batsmen preferred to be in another country when he was bowling.

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

Unfair to compare Shaheen and Akhtar atm. Shaheen has all the skills to be one of the best bowler for Pak after Wasim but it all depends how he gonna use these skills. On the contrary Shoaib was a superstar, fastest bowler ever produced in Cricket. More than his stats, his persona and attitude on and off the field made him stand out of the crowd.

In terms of skills you will find dozens of bowlers in Pakistan who can easily surpass Akhtars stats, but when it comes to fame, stardom and attitude no one would come close to Akhtar.

 

[Mamoon]

I have seen all the great pak pace bowlers except past 70s. Shoaib is the only bowler who would have wrecked this AU side on this Karachi surface. Imran would be 2nd inline followed by Waqar and Wasim. Just watch Shoaib bowling on some of the most dead wickets, i.e., 2005 in Pak vs Eng (Eng back then was a far more superior test side than this AU side).

Shaheen is learning and I hope one day he would be able to do better for being a far better Athlete than injury prone Shoaib.

The 2005 England series was a bit embarrassing for Shoaib. He was renowned for his pace and took pride in his aggression but he had to resort to bowling slower ones to outfox England.

It was a cheap tactic - he knew simply bowling fast against that England side led by Kevin Pietersen was not going to work. He probably saw Brett Lee average 40+ and have an economy of 4+ against England few months back in the Ashes, and Lee was bowling thunderbolts throughout the series.

Shoaib was exposed in the 2004-2007 period when he was completely ineffective against India on flat pitches.

He let Sehwag score 309 at a SR of 80+ on a flat pitch in Multan and Shoaib had no answer. On the same pitch Irfan Pathan bowled like Wasim.

In the 2006 series, Pakistan produced extremely flat wickets in the first two Tests and Shoaib could not take a single wicket.

PCB produced a green-top in the third Test to force a result and Asif outclassed him and gave him a lesson on what proper Test match bowling looks like.

Shoaib was a bowler who had plenty of moments but there was little substance behind those moments. His Test career was basically built around bullying New Zealand when they were a pretty average side. They were the only team that was scared of his pace as a collective unit.

That Colombo Test against Australia in 2002 is probably the only instance where he dominated a world class batting lineup on a flat pitch with sheer pace.

Shoaib was poor in Australia, England and below par in South Africa as well. He just had one good series against India in 1998.

In addition, his injury problems, erratic behavior and lack of discipline meant that he extremely unreliable and it was anyone’s guess if he was going to play the next match or the next series.

He is no role model for Shaheen or any other young fast bowler both in terms of performances/ impact in Test cricket and the way he carried himself.

 

[pratiktc]

This is a pointless thread because they can't be compared.

Shoaib Akhtar is like a Ferrari. A mature team with many consistent bank players can afford carrying such a luxury.

In a young/average/developing team, his failure rate is too high. He can't really lead an attack or have an attack built around him.

Someone like a Shaheen has the ability and ceiling to make and contribute in both types of teams . It doesn't necessarily make either better than other. They're just completely different.

 

[Unleashed]

Peak Johnson matched peak Shoiab, Johnson terrified the England team and the batsmen preferred to be in another country when he was bowling.

Ah yes that was incredible. That stare when he bowled Broad out was just amazing.

Coming back to this thread, I think Shaheen will be a better bowler overall than Akthar but the latter was on peak just incredible to watch.

 

[TheSultan]

The 2005 England series was a bit embarrassing for Shoaib. He was renowned for his pace and took pride in his aggression but he had to resort to bowling slower ones to outfox England.

It was a cheap tactic - he knew simply bowling fast against that England side led by Kevin Pietersen was not going to work. He probably saw Brett Lee average 40+ and have an economy of 4+ against England few months back in the Ashes, and Lee was bowling thunderbolts throughout the series.

Shoaib was exposed in the 2004-2007 period when he was completely ineffective against India on flat pitches.

He let Sehwag score 309 at a SR of 80+ on a flat pitch in Multan and Shoaib had no answer. On the same pitch Irfan Pathan bowled like Wasim.

In the 2006 series, Pakistan produced extremely flat wickets in the first two Tests and Shoaib could not take a single wicket.

PCB produced a green-top in the third Test to force a result and Asif outclassed him and gave him a lesson on what proper Test match bowling looks like.

Shoaib was a bowler who had plenty of moments but there was little substance behind those moments. His Test career was basically built around bullying New Zealand when they were a pretty average side. They were the only team that was scared of his pace as a collective unit.

That Colombo Test against Australia in 2002 is probably the only instance where he dominated a world class batting lineup on a flat pitch with sheer pace.

Shoaib was poor in Australia, England and below par in South Africa as well. He just had one good series against India in 1998.

In addition, his injury problems, erratic behavior and lack of discipline meant that he extremely unreliable and it was anyone’s guess if he was going to play the next match or the next series.

He is no role model for Shaheen or any other young fast bowler both in terms of performances/ impact in Test cricket and the way he carried himself.

Very simplistic view of the world. Asif himself credited shoaib for his performance in the karachi test. He said the Indians were shaking after shoaib softened them up and he took wickets at the other end.

And the slower balls were a cheap tactic? It was skill that was lauded across the world. I wish some of our current bowlers had the cunning to use these so-called “cheap tactics”

2004 was a bad series I agree. He let the emotion of playing against india after a long time get to him. But he’d already proved his dominance vs India in 1999 on flat pitches.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Dont know how can you compare so different bowlers.
Am frankly surprised to note SA has only 178 wickets. I know there were injuries, fitness and other issues but if not for these he would have triple these numbers.
The number of times me and my friends wished he was indian is innumerable.
When he came on to bowl, it was like Shane Warne, pure theatre - u just watched and admired.
Between the two i'd back SA to turn 170/3 to 200 AO. SSA is young-i guess will improve with more fitness and coaching who knows - might be an awesome world beater - lets see.

 

[wrongun]

[MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION],

you are comparing a guy's peak years who also who debuted at 23 alongside 1990s vintage Wasim, Waqar. Azhar & Mushie with a 21 year old already expected to leadt the attack playing alongside Hasan Ali & Sajid & Nauman...

Let's wait a bit.

 

[Mamoon]

Very simplistic view of the world. Asif himself credited shoaib for his performance in the karachi test. He said the Indians were shaking after shoaib softened them up and he took wickets at the other end.

And the slower balls were a cheap tactic? It was skill that was lauded across the world. I wish some of our current bowlers had the cunning to use these so-called “cheap tactics”

2004 was a bad series I agree. He let the emotion of playing against india after a long time get to him. But he’d already proved his dominance vs India in 1999 on flat pitches.

Asif bowled unplayable deliveries. It was a masterclass in swing and seam bowling.

If Asif credited Shoaib it is a humble gesture, but everyone knows that Shoaib had nothing to do with those wickets or with the batsmen getting roughed up - they were unplayable deliveries.

Besides, you can watch the highlights again - Shoaib didn’t do any roughing up, he was even less effective than Razzaq who was also moving the ball around prodigiously.

Asif set the tone for the Indian collapse in by getting Dravid and Sehwag in his first over in the first and second innings respectively. He was the one who put them on the back-foot, not Akhtar.

Akhtar had only bowled 1 over himself at that point and did not do any roughing.

Asif was a better Test bowler than Akhtar and he showed his superiority during the time they played together.

It is Pakistani culture to give undue credit to seniors. Whenever a young or upcoming player does well, he has to credit the seniors for giving him confidence even if he is clearly a better player than the senior.

The seniors get offended if they don’t get the credit because they have fragile egos. These young players develop the same attitude when they become seniors themselves down the line.

 

[Starboy]

Shoaib Akhtar was every team wet dream. this is easy pick

 

[Rana]

[MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION],

you are comparing a guy's peak years who also who debuted at 23 alongside 1990s vintage Wasim, Waqar. Azhar & Mushie with a 21 year old already expected to leadt the attack playing alongside Hasan Ali & Sajid & Nauman...

Let's wait a bit.

You should do the same when [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] is making statements such as ‘Shaheen is already the 3rd best bowler in Pakistan’. A lot of you guys are nowhere to be seen when he is running his mouth against the legends of Pakistan!

 

[happydavy]

I think people are missing here is that Shaheen is the frontline and first choice fast bowler in this squad, whereas with Akhtar you could never have him as the first choice bowler because of his tantrums and propensity to get injured. With Akhtar, you would have to play 2 more fast bowlers.

 

[Rana]

I think people are missing here is that Shaheen is the frontline and first choice fast bowler in this squad, whereas with Akhtar you could never have him as the first choice bowler because of his tantrums and propensity to get injured. With Akhtar, you would have to play 2 more fast bowlers.

What a hilarious post

So with Shaheen you do not have to play any more fast bowlers in the side?

 

[Mrhandsome]

Akhter is an all time great. Nobody like him has been there nor will be