Struggle of Pakistan’s pace bowling at Test level

[Titan24]

Pakistan has been known for producing some world class test pacers like Fazal Mehmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Since the end to Mohammad Asif’s and hault in Mohammad Amir’s career due to their own faults, Pak fast bowling has struggled at international level more often than not.

Stats also manifest that since 2015.



Even if we go 3-4 further years back there still wont be much to write home about. Who would have thought a decade or so ago that the biggest strength of Pak’s cricket will become the biggest weakness. Pakistan’s pace bowling has let Pakistan team down many times now in recent times across the conditions.

Inability to do even the basics right consistently has been the biggest disappointment. Its not a hidden fact that Pak cricket team really needs to improve that to do well against top teams and in overseas conditions.

 

[UzmanBeast]

Pakistan has been known for producing some world class test pacers like Fazal Mehmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Since the end to Mohammad Asif’s and hault in Mohammad Amir’s career due to their own faults, Pak fast bowling has struggled at international level more often than not.

Stats also manifest that since 2015.

View attachment 106534

Even if we go 3-4 further years back there still wont be much to write home about. Who would have thought a decade or so ago that the biggest strength of Pak’s cricket will become the biggest weakness. Pakistan’s pace bowling has let Pakistan team down many times now in recent times across the conditions.

Inability to do even the basics right consistently has been the biggest disappointment. Its not a hidden fact that Pak cricket team really needs to improve that to do well against top teams and in overseas conditions.

At this point, we need bowlers with skills. They need to know how to take wickets and how to be aggressive.

The ball was reversing enough to take a wicket, our thinking was one dimensional. Constantly swinging it into the batsman will make them accustomed to it. Making bowling plans when the match is changing is where we struggle. I'd have bowled on 5th stump and straight to Van der Dussen for 3 balls so he reached out, and then swung one through the gap on the same line. Bowling on the pads is just a waste, we failed to use reverse swing correctly.

 

[Titan24]

At this point, we need bowlers with skills. They need to know how to take wickets and how to be aggressive.

The ball was reversing enough to take a wicket, our thinking was one dimensional. Constantly swinging it into the batsman will make them accustomed to it. Making bowling plans when the match is changing is where we struggle. I'd have bowled on 5th stump and straight to Van der Dussen for 3 balls so he reached out, and then swung one through the gap on the same line. Bowling on the pads is just a waste, we failed to use reverse swing correctly.

Bowling plans, match awareness and game sense definitely seems to be lacking.

 

[Titan24]

Maybe time to hire some foreign bowling coaches in academies to work with young bowlers and with national team? As local coaches havent been able to do the job for sometime now in the current era and our pacers are struggling to even do the basics right. Not that local coaches were given job based upon some coaching achievements in the first place. Some pacers have decent raw ingredients but, work needs to be done to make them more than a synthetic bowling machine.

 

[Hawkeye]

It's simple.

Our stocks are dry.

There's no young fast bowler in the domestics having top-level talent. Forget domestic circuit, there's no quality "senior" available either, apart from perhaps Shaheen.

Fast bowlers are born with talent. People can't just be nurtured or trained to become top bowlers.

It's easy to spot a good bowler as well:

1. Height above 6ft. He'd already stand out.
2. Zippy pace. You know it when you see it or play it.
3. Swing. Movement. Again you can see it with bare naked eyes, but you can somewhat "teach" it as well.

There's absolutely nobody above 6 ft having 140+kph average pace.

Why is it happening?

There's absolutely no incentive for young kids to take up bowling in Pak. First, there was no international cricket for a decade in the country.

Second, the financial incentives are just not there. People want to become T20 batters now, and earn money via the PSL.

Physically tall and strong people aren't interested in bending their backs, rotting in domestic circuit, for no major or guaranteed financial gains.

Fast bowling has to be massively incentivized financially at the junior level. Give young kid 3 LAKH rupees per month.

See the benefits in 5 years.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I don't follow cricket as closely as I used to, but did the move towards a different type of ball have an impact? I notice that most Pakistani bowlers tend to have a low skiddy action as if they are bowling for reverse swing, which we don't really see any more as the ball doesn't deteriorate like it used to.

Western bowlers have always placed more emphasis on the seam position, and with the new ball you need to be able to hit the seam regularly. I just don't see many Pakistani bowlers who do that much. Asif Ali was the master, and Abbas for the last few years was decent as well, although neither were particularly quick.

 

[ManFan]

It’s appalling when you don’t have ONE bowler at the international level who can swing the new ball both ways.

 

[Rayyman]

Sameen Gul averages 19 in FC cricket and bowls 135+...

 

[Rayyman]

At this point, we need bowlers with skills. They need to know how to take wickets and how to be aggressive.

The ball was reversing enough to take a wicket, our thinking was one dimensional. Constantly swinging it into the batsman will make them accustomed to it. Making bowling plans when the match is changing is where we struggle. I'd have bowled on 5th stump and straight to Van der Dussen for 3 balls so he reached out, and then swung one through the gap on the same line. Bowling on the pads is just a waste, we failed to use reverse swing correctly.

Exactly.

Hasan Ali was the only bowler in this whole match getting decent reverse swing.

But he just bowled the same line on every ball which became predictable.

 

[sshakir411]

The longevity of fast bowlers has greatly diminished since 2000. Every decent prospect we had either lost his way due to injuries or their own stupidity. What’s worse is that we have a fan and media base that is impatient and stupid that makes it impossible for someone to be persisted with. Our people are addicted to instant gratification and this is why we are at this level today.

 

[Pakhs]

Test match cricket in Pakistan has been dying since late 2ooos when they stopped playing at home. Thats one of the reasons why we stopped producing talent who were test match products.

 

[hitthestump]

Sameen Gul averages 19 in FC cricket and bowls 135+...

And Hasan Ali was the highest QeA wicket taker. Doesn't look like it's going to mean all that much at test level.

 

[Pakhs]

Pakistan has been known for producing some world class test pacers like Fazal Mehmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Since the end to Mohammad Asif’s and hault in Mohammad Amir’s career due to their own faults, Pak fast bowling has struggled at international level more often than not.

Stats also manifest that since 2015.

View attachment 106534

Even if we go 3-4 further years back there still wont be much to write home about. Who would have thought a decade or so ago that the biggest strength of Pak’s cricket will become the biggest weakness. Pakistan’s pace bowling has let Pakistan team down many times now in recent times across the conditions.

Inability to do even the basics right consistently has been the biggest disappointment. Its not a hidden fact that Pak cricket team really needs to improve that to do well against top teams and in overseas conditions.

These stats would have been so different if Amir and Asif were not banned. They would have both ended up with 400 wickets each.

Pakistan have always produced fast bowlers out of no where and they will have to wait for some more to appear.

 

[shah_1]

Hasan Ali was reversing but he wasn't quick enough. A young Wahab Riaz would have been ideal on this pitch. You need to be 140+ average then have the skills to reverse the ball. SA bowlers were reversing the ball with good pace but were too short in length.

 

[Rayyman]

I don’t understand the Pakistani selectors.

You have Tabish Khan who is 36 then you have Haris Rauf who has played 3 FC matches.

On the other hand you have proven domestic bowlers like Sameen Gul and Ahmed Bashir.

Arshad Iqbal had an okay season, but he has a lot of talent.

Anyways, Karachi is a graveyard for fast bowlers so do not expect much from them here.

 

[Nado_]

I have high hopes for Hasnain , he’s steadily improving game by game and has genuine pace and bounce. Soon InshaAllah he’ll be ready for international.

 

[mazkhan]

Well domestic cricket will only get better if each of the state team invests in an academy with proper coaches and an u19 squad plays at an u19 state level competition without age fudging.

its from there the state teams can then blood youngsters into the second xi or main team. Because atm the squads second xi plus main xi are full up of domestic parchis , old journeymen very few opportunities for players under 23 , can clearly see that with the bowling.

Central punjab fast bowlers hasan ali that's fine he's a good bowler.
The next one maqsood journeyman past his sell by date
Next is bilawal iqbal who is 31, whether these ages are verified who knows ?
Thank god aizaz cheema retired otherwise he would still be playing.

now where is the u25 fast bowler?
Because in the second xi the next bowler in line is a 28 yr old mohammad ali , 27 yr old ehsan adil and shoaibullah and nasir ahmed both 24 yr old all playing in second xi.


How many seasons will the state with the most population in pakistan and central punjab persist with waqas maqsood as the main bowler who clearly is not intl level , yet will be continued to play and play play season after season blocking route of any genuine talent somewhere and also get picked in psl.

When will central punjab second xi pacers get the opportunity to play in the main xi like shoaibullah and nasir ahmed if players like that are not playing at main fc competition how will you develop these players if they rot in the system and they themselves block u23 players from entering the second xi team.
Then the other point is how do we know players like shoaibullah and nasir were selected on merit in first place and they themselves never used connections to get into second xi team easily done in a corrupt country of 220 million people.

Same with psl waqas maqsood , wahab riaz , sohail tanvir , sohail khan , are still playing the premier t20 competition eventhough they should be retired since they are well past it the same wahab was averaging 91 for shaheen games in New Zealand against new Zealand domestic teams.

 

[Nado_]

I wish Dilbar was playing/discovered at an earlier stage. He has a genuine talent, the guy generates some pace from such an easy run up and has a special zip off the pitch. Could have been a real handful, but with no real experience and not being the youngest I don’t think he can reach international stage unfortunately.

 

[Titan24]

Test match cricket in Pakistan has been dying since late 2ooos when they stopped playing at home. Thats one of the reasons why we stopped producing talent who were test match products.

Thats definitely a factor.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Lack of strength. All the recent pacers do not look like they can hit the deck hard. Also some of them, I hate to say it, not the brightest. Real lack of iq in the pace department at the moment.

We need Wasim/Asif like intelligence and craft. Just one pacer like this to get the ball rolling.

Shaheen is a decent bowler but he reminds me of Irfan, just a bit meh, a bit flimsy, skiddy. Same with Abbas, just a bit fragile. Skinny build, weak arms, its no good. Abbas has the brains but unfortunately not quite there ability wise, can't even get over 130ks, that is not a front line pace attack leader. Far far from it.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

These stats would have been so different if Amir and Asif were not banned. They would have both ended up with 400 wickets each.

Pakistan have always produced fast bowlers out of no where and they will have to wait for some more to appear.

This is the truth of the matter. You cannot remove Rabada and Steyn then expect Nortje and Mulder to average 24. You cannot remove Bumrah and Shami then expect Siraj, Yadav, and co to average 25. You cannot remove Cummins, Hazlewood, and then leave it to Starc, Pattinson, and Richardson to average 26. You cannot remove Boult and Jamieson then expect Southee, Mitchell, and Wagner to average 28.

It’s difficult. Yes, our stocks have also dried up at home and we don’t have anyone top class available. But it’s not easy when Shaheen is leading the attack instead of being inducted as third pacer.

For god’s sake we don’t even have a single new ball bowler for the national team across all formats.

It’s 2021 - Asif would be on the verge of retiring as an ATG and Amir would be in his prime.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I don’t understand the Pakistani selectors.

You have Tabish Khan who is 36 then you have Haris Rauf who has played 3 FC matches.

On the other hand you have proven domestic bowlers like Sameen Gul and Ahmed Bashir.

Arshad Iqbal had an okay season, but he has a lot of talent.

Anyways, Karachi is a graveyard for fast bowlers so do not expect much from them here.

Sameen averaged 34.5 this season. Bashir averaged 31.2. Arshad averaged 36.4.

Our stocks are dry.

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan as a cricket nation lacks natural talent and it is has a dumb obsession with reverse-swing.

Pakistan’s success with reverse-swing was achieved with illegal means that are no longer available. As a result, our bowling has gone down the drain.

We never focused on developing bowlers with proper new ball skills. Asif and Amir were the only two exceptions, and recently Shaheen is also good with the new ball but needs to learn to move the ball both ways.

Waqar himself took over a decade to learn how to bowl with the new ball.

 

[sshakir411]

Pakistan as a cricket nation lacks natural talent and it is has a dumb obsession with reverse-swing.

Pakistan’s success with reverse-swing was achieved with illegal means that are no longer available. As a result, our bowling has gone down the drain.

We never focused on developing bowlers with proper new ball skills. Asif and Amir were the only two exceptions, and recently Shaheen is also good with the new ball but needs to learn to move the ball both ways.

Waqar himself took over a decade to learn how to bowl with the new ball.

Talent that can’t or doesn’t know how to execute and achieve its potential is our issue. We had enough talented fast bowlers like Sami, Riaz, Junaid, etc. that could have become good bowlers. The players are dumb and their coaches/mentors/supporters idiots. Which is why we are here today.

 

[Last Monetarist]

It's not that controversial to state that if Pakistan's current crop of bowlers get to bowl with the tattered balls Wasim and Waqar used to bowl with, they'd have all-time great records too. We need to stop glorifying the folks that played cricket in the 90s and start learning from contemporary cricketers.

 

[Nado_]

What’s your guys thoughts on Hasnain’s potential , I think he’s definitely a big prospect. A proper hit the deck bowler we are missing in our arsenal, someone with pace and bounce. I feel he needs a little more time to enhance skills, accuracy etc and then we might have a decent bowler in our hands.

 

[Saj]

I remember the words of Mohammad Zahid to me "when I played there were 3 or 4 international quality bowlers in each domestic team, nowadays you don't get that in the whole of Pakistan"

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I remember the words of Mohammad Zahid to me "when I played there were 3 or 4 international quality bowlers in each domestic team, nowadays you don't get that in the whole of Pakistan"

Yousuf had a similar claim about batsmen. “I don’t understand this Fab 4 stuff, in our time every team had 2-3 top class batsmen, not just one.”

 

[chacha kashmiri]

We have better bowlers now than when we were number one in the world
Then we had imran khan snr and rahat ali

We have the best spinners in the world and I don't know why we are ashamed of that

 

[Saj]

Yousuf had a similar claim about batsmen. “I don’t understand this Fab 4 stuff, in our time every team had 2-3 top class batsmen, not just one.”

And they are right.

Your international team is only as good as your domestic cricket and it's going to take a good few years for Pakistan's domestic cricket to reach a level that it needs to be at.

 

[BreadPakoda]

We have better bowlers now than when we were number one in the world
Then we had imran khan snr and rahat ali

We have the best spinners in the world and I don't know why we are ashamed of that

This.

Not only the current best but thee best spin bowling attack I've seen in this decade. Same happens with the fast bowling. It's top notch. Which other team has a once-in-a-generation 16-year old fast bowler?

Sometimes I feel PCT fans can be too hard on their team. Need to appreciate the success and learn from the minor failures here and there.

 

[Buffet]

It's not that controversial to state that if Pakistan's current crop of bowlers get to bowl with the tattered balls Wasim and Waqar used to bowl with, they'd have all-time great records too. We need to stop glorifying the folks that played cricket in the 90s and start learning from contemporary cricketers.

Well, Wasim surely benefitted from bowling with those tattered balls, but he could use the new ball as well.

 

[Rayyman]

Sameen averaged 34.5 this season. Bashir averaged 31.2. Arshad averaged 36.4.

Our stocks are dry.

I am looking at the next match at Pindi and I would not play Nauman.

But the squad is such that there is no real option on to who can replace him. Tabish is too slow and Haris has no brains.

Those three guys I mentioned are the best options as Test pacers after Shaheen and Hasan.

 

[UzmanBeast]

Exactly.

Hasan Ali was the only bowler in this whole match getting decent reverse swing.

But he just bowled the same line on every ball which became predictable.

Exactly.

The difference between the greats of the game and just average bowlers is the fact that they don't let batsmen settle into a routine. They also don't bowl to the batsman's plans.

Bowling the ball on the stumps on every delivery would only help Markram and Rassie get accustomed to how the ball is reversing. Every time Hasan took it wider and brought it back in, Markram had trouble against it, but he kept bowling on middle stump. With reverse swing, your ideal length should start from the 4th stump line and swing in to hit the top of off stump, and that also requires you to set up the batsman.

Being able to bowl the straight one when the ball is reversing is also a very smart move, because if you saw the angle of Markram's bat, he was pointing it slightly towards the off side to counter the direction of the swing. A perfectly placed straight ball could have caught his edge, or at least the inconsistent bounce would have helped in doing so.

We also don't use the yorker enough. Shoaib Akhtar got a lot of wickets through reverse swing because he'd set up batsmen with short stuff and bowl a ripping yorker or full delivery which would swing past the bat. Waqar Younis used to do the same. Our fast bowlers don't use the short ball enough, it is so effective at breaking the rhythm of batsmen.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

This.

Not only the current best but thee best spin bowling attack I've seen in this decade. Same happens with the fast bowling. It's top notch. Which other team has a once-in-a-generation 16-year old fast bowler?

Sometimes I feel PCT fans can be too hard on their team. Need to appreciate the success and learn from the minor failures here and there.

This is our best attack on paper playing at the moment with only amir or abbas who could possibly improve it and both have had their top 5 moments

All we're missing at the minute is a rabada or a bumrah with the new ball
Hasan ali has failed in that respect but I'm not sure Rauf or hasnain would have done any better
Long term we need to imbed Dhani or irfanullah


Spinning wise any of our top 5 spinners in domestic cricket would walk into any non Asian team

 

[UzmanBeast]

Bowling plans, match awareness and game sense definitely seems to be lacking.

Definitely.

Improvisation was lacking as well. We need to have a mentality to try new things and have backup plans for situations where the chips are down.

Babar is not impressing me as a slip fielder, dropped two today on a day where not many chances were created. You drop Warner, Smith, Williamson, or Kohli once and they'll make you pay 10 times for your mistake. Need a few proper slip fielders.

Bowling plans from the fast bowlers were ordinary, pretty poor actually. Faheem Ashraf impressed me with his ability to contain runs, and he almost created a chance as well. Hasan was far too full and predictable when the ball was reversing. Shaheen is good with the new ball but effectively useless with the old ball, the seam presentation is too straight to bring reverse swing into the equation for him. He also has height, pace, and even a good bouncer, but he never uses it, which is baffling.

 

[Ami]

Its all relative...you find whatever combination you can to win test matches.
Now, I would be surprised to see if more matches on the subcontinent were won by faster men and vice versa.
Not saying, fast bowlers are needed ....they are crucial.
Dont read too much into stats, the list shows S Africa top of the list...says it all.

 

[Titan24]

We have better bowlers now than when we were number one in the world
Then we had imran khan snr and rahat ali

We have the best spinners in the world and I don't know why we are ashamed of that

If we talk about skillset Shaheen, Hasan etc definitely have a higher ceiling than what we had 5-7 years ago in pace bowling but the problem is that hasnt started to reflect in the performances at test level just yet. I even created a thread regarding how after a long time were have few potentially decent pacers with some raw skills however, their inability to do show basic understanding, planning, gamer awareness has been disappointing. The development has been just not at that level yet if we compare it to some other teams.

I dont think we have the best spinners in the world. Yasir is the only world class performer (In subcontinental conditions) but, other than that nothing much to write home about currently.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

If we talk about skillset Shaheen, Hasan etc definitely have a higher ceiling than what we had 5-7 years ago in pace bowling but the problem is that hasnt started to reflect in the performances at test level just yet. I even created a thread regarding how after a long time were have few potentially decent pacers with some raw skills however, their inability to do show basic understanding, planning, gamer awareness has been disappointing. The development has been just not at that level yet if we compare it to some other teams.

I dont think we have the best spinners in the world. Yasir is the only world class performer (In subcontinental conditions) but, other than that nothing much to write home about currently.

Shadab khan and Imad wasim are exceptional spinners especially in odi
Nawaz and gohar are not far behind

We have usama mir and zahid mahmood constantly on the fringes

We had asghar, raza, ahmed Safi and nauman to choose between for one left arm spinner spot
,
And I haven't even mention sajid or bhatti

 

[chacha kashmiri]

If we talk about skillset Shaheen, Hasan etc definitely have a higher ceiling than what we had 5-7 years ago in pace bowling but the problem is that hasnt started to reflect in the performances at test level just yet. I even created a thread regarding how after a long time were have few potentially decent pacers with some raw skills however, their inability to do show basic understanding, planning, gamer awareness has been disappointing. The development has been just not at that level yet if we compare it to some other teams.

.

Shaheen shah afridi was dissapointing in new zealand too, he's been having far too much responsibility too early because of early retirements
Hasan ali lost his form after his golden run and is trying to make a name for himself again
In terms of development abbas and ali have like you said not really stepped up after the initial spurt and then losing form but obviously akhtar, asif and amir had just as short golden spells before they were banned, injured or retired

 

[Savak]

In a professional set up, Waqar would have been let go by now. He has shown zero evidence of being able to make any difference, impact and i doubt they would let him stay out the remainder of his contract when the evidence was clear that he was useless.

 

[avihash]

Shaheen and Hassan Ali can go on to become very good bowlers, just need to be persisted with. Hope Misbah will bring some professionalism into the system.

 

[Mamoon]

In a professional set up, Waqar would have been let go by now. He has shown zero evidence of being able to make any difference, impact and i doubt they would let him stay out the remainder of his contract when the evidence was clear that he was useless.

Professional setup? Is Wasim Khan not professional?

 

[burger_uno]

look at the aussie batting side from 90s and early 00s and compare it to aussie batting of the last few years. can you imagine a side containing slater, taylor, waughs, ponting, hayden, gilchrist et al losing to bowling attack comprising of abbas, mir hamza and bilal asif?

talent pool quality goes up and down for all countries. how generational transition is manged can make a big difference in smoothing results. in 80s, pak got lucky because when wasim and waqar came around, imran khan and miandad were around to guide them. unfortunately skilled as they were, wasim and waqar did not return the favour when responsibility was on them. in fact they conspired to undermine new comers who were perceived as threat. their kurtooth left bad legacy for the next generation. the likes of shoaib akhtar, sami, asif and riaz had the skills to be world beaters. unfortunately they lacked the smarts. their careers did not flourish partly because they were operating in a toxic environment that was legacy of the two of the greatest fast bowlers world has ever seen. post-w story would have been completely different had their been a mentor like ik

this toxic situation has been further worsened by ineptness of pcb which has completely mismanaged all the resources including the most precious commodity of all i.e. fast bowlers. with proper guidance and timely selection, even the likes of aizaz cheema and sohail khan could have been an asset and eased the way for the next generation. instead bowlers of great potential like shaheen and naseem are thrown into the deep-end and expected to perform the role of spearhead without any experience and support. yes, in the past we had the likes of the w's and mcgrath who performed from day one. but we also have the examples of flintoff, anderson and broad who toiled for multiple years before they became mainstays. and rabada operated in atndem with steyn and morkel in helpful conditions.

case of english fast bowlers provides a good indication of how proper management can make a difference. likes of caddick and gough were mishandled (overplaying county) and never reached potential. anderson and broad were wrapped in cotton wool and have delivered at a level beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

after a long time, pak has a pool of young exciting fast bowlers with great degree of potential. unfortunately i am not convinced we have the setup which will enable them to reach next level. i have huge respects for waqar as a champion fast bowler. but i am not convinced that he is an effective coach. i also think debate should be had on right path for pak fast bowlers. i am not convinced young fast bowlers should be playing much t-20. all the gun fast bowlers became greats by developing skills in the long format. but thats a debate for another day.

 

[Titan24]

In a professional set up, Waqar would have been let go by now. He has shown zero evidence of being able to make any difference, impact and i doubt they would let him stay out the remainder of his contract when the evidence was clear that he was useless.

Unfortunately PCB (Not only the current management) over the years has been disappointing in terms of appointing and hiring people related to national academies and national setup. In a professional set up Waqar wouldnt have got even his first appointed in mid 2000s as bowling coach let alone twice as head coach to go with it. While his tenure as bowling coach in mid 2000s was decent but, even then his appointment was without any prior experience.

Misbah, Waqar, Azhar etc would not have been even close to most of the national teams without any proven credentials and performances atleast at domestic level.

The way some appointments have happened over the years with people coming from com boxes, talk shows etc. straight to national academies and team is pretty poor management of affairs for some time so I wont only blame the current management for that but the system overall which hasn't been able to set the criteria and parameters to hire people for such positions.

Dare I say, people like Sabi Azhar, Abur Rehaman etc. or more recently Mohammad Wasim, Abul Razzaq etc. would have been considered more professional and deserving appointments based upon atleast some experience and some performances than most of the names we have handed cricket affairs to in the last decade. Performances of Pak cricket team aside, there is no reason to justify majority of the appointments which have been done in last decade, decade and a half.

 

[Pakhs]

This is the truth of the matter. You cannot remove Rabada and Steyn then expect Nortje and Mulder to average 24. You cannot remove Bumrah and Shami then expect Siraj, Yadav, and co to average 25. You cannot remove Cummins, Hazlewood, and then leave it to Starc, Pattinson, and Richardson to average 26. You cannot remove Boult and Jamieson then expect Southee, Mitchell, and Wagner to average 28.

It’s difficult. Yes, our stocks have also dried up at home and we don’t have anyone top class available. But it’s not easy when Shaheen is leading the attack instead of being inducted as third pacer.

For god’s sake we don’t even have a single new ball bowler for the national team across all formats.

It’s 2021 - Asif would be on the verge of retiring as an ATG and Amir would be in his prime.

Pakistan have always relied on bowlers appearing out of no where once in a while the difference last set of bowlers got band before time.

 

[Rayyman]

Mohammad Amir would bowl better in Pakistan than in UAE.

UAE pitches got a lot slower post-2015 because of the many series and cricket tournaments that took place there.

Amir in Tests in the last 4 years:



Averages 23.6 with an economy of 2.3

 

[waqar_ahmad]

It's simple.

Our stocks are dry.

There's no young fast bowler in the domestics having top-level talent. Forget domestic circuit, there's no quality "senior" available either, apart from perhaps Shaheen.

This is a misconception.

Young fast bowlers need mentoring at every step. There are 2 ways to go about this.

1. Identify raw talent, get them in the national team, and teach them how to swing, seam, bowl yorkers, and above all, set up the batters

2. Let them play domestic for a few seasons, let them learn all of the above there, and then select them in the national team when they are improved products

The problem stems from the days of Imran. He would select raw bowlers, and then mentor them. Wasim and Waqar have said countless times that Imran would tell them what they need to do every single ball, and they didnt have to think themselves. That is how they developed.

Imran left Wasim and Waqar. Then Shoaib, Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mehmood came in and they had Wasim to mentor them and teach them. Then Asif came in and he was a genius, but he got banned along with Amir.

This created a vaccum, and there is no one experienced enough in the team to do the mentoring. You can select Wasim, and he will fail too coz he will have no one to mentor him at the moment.

In fact, Shaheen is failing coz he doesnt have anyone to mentor him at that level. It isn't his age to think every ball. He should be told what to bowl every single time.

So, pak needs to move away from #1, and adopt #2. That is, select bowlers who have performed in domestics for some seasons, and let them play for the national team.

O, and sack Misbah and Waqar. Rather than being mentors, they need mentoring themselves

 

[Saj]

For too long we relied on bowlers being spotted out of nowhere and becoming world-beaters. We were lucky and it's time to realise that doesn't happen all the time.