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The decline of Pakistan's pace-bowlers

It's not that Pakistan does not have the bowlers. I don't think the bowlers are receiving the right kind of guidance/coaching to play Test cricket. There is no reason why Abbas who has very good control can't become more consistent and the same goes for Shaheen who has pace, bounce, age on his side - everything, but somehow that does not result in consistent performances. Either the focus on Test cricket is not there or he is just not getting the right environment to develop.
 
Why blame the bowlers? Once again the batsmen dont put enough runs on the board It happens series after seriez

160 odd is not a target which you should expect the bowlers to defend

Pakistan seriously needs to look at its top 3 and the role or lack of faheem is playing at number 7
 
PakEngFan said:
I have no idea why he’s back again.
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Mohd Wasim to me is a very big fraud and shodda with his laptop and charts, he himself stated he had dropped Abbas because he had lost too much pace and batsmen were finding it very easy to counter his 120-130 km/hr deliveries by standing outside the crease.

What did Abbas do to deserve a recall? Does Mohd Wasim have proof that Abbas was back bowling at 132-140 km/hr with bounce? On what basis was he recalled? Having a good county season where the wickets suit his type of bowling and where the keeper is standing up to the stumps?
 
Zaz said:
Why blame the bowlers? Once again the batsmen dont put enough runs on the board It happens series after seriez

160 odd is not a target which you should expect the bowlers to defend

Pakistan seriously needs to look at its top 3 and the role or lack of faheem is playing at number 7
Click to expand...

160 is a difficult total to chase in the 4th innings especially for a side like west Indies. Big 5 teams would have defended it easily against this WI team
 
Savak said:
160 is a difficult total to chase in the 4th innings especially for a side like west Indies. Big 5 teams would have defended it easily against this WI team
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And it was difficult to chase with 9 wickets down.

Batting from Pakistan was poor.
 
Savak said:
Mohd Wasim to me is a very big fraud and shodda with his laptop and charts, he himself stated he had dropped Abbas because he had lost too much pace and batsmen were finding it very easy to counter his 120-130 km/hr deliveries by standing outside the crease.

What did Abbas do to deserve a recall? Does Mohd Wasim have proof that Abbas was back bowling at 132-140 km/hr with bounce? On what basis was he recalled? Having a good county season where the wickets suit his type of bowling and where the keeper is standing up to the stumps?
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For once we agree Did abbas suddenly increase his pace to earn a recall? I saw very much the same abbas that waa dropped bowling 75mph pies

On what basis was he recalled? How does yasir walk straight back in the team over nauman?

Why in such a brittle batting team are pakistan playing so few reliable batting options? When the likes of salahuddin, ghulam and shakeel are rotting away and overlooked
 
moghul said:
Yes, no hope of recovery unless we get rid of some leaches .
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It's not about a few leaches. It's a collective failure of a system that is totally reliant on luck rather than a process. Reluctance of everyone to learn new things and methods is also costing us.

Still stuck in 80s and 90s way of spotting new talent through one odd spell or inning somewhere. There is no channel to bring in talent through various steps and lack of development of the already mediocre bunch leads to stasis and regression. All other nations have gone scientific and have applied proper methodology towards cricket while Pak cricket is wandering around cluelessly.

The thought process of the younger and upcoming crop of players is to get a PSL contract and get picked from there after a few good performances. No one is looking to work hard and become a player before reaching international cricket. The recent trend of picking green untested players is only adding to the vicious cycle. Domestic cricket is rotting.
 
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No shortage of pace but results not that great from our second choice pacers, Shahnawaz and Wasim Jr giving us some hopethe exception
 
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Pakistan has a wealth of talented fast bowlers. Probably more so than any other nation.

However on an International stage, it is 11 vs 11.

How many players have burst onto the scene yet slowly fizzle away due to injuries, unnecessary action changes and lack of development.

Shoaib Akhtar was outspoken when he criticised Pakistan's medical team, who recommended him to drink "Mango Lassi" when he was struggling with Knee injuries.

Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson are classic examples for me. They've never been extraordinary or exceptional, just really good. Yet despite poor form or injuries, the ECB has always offered a safety net. They have regularly been backed and rotated and as of 2022, their records speaks for themselves.
 
If u make pitches like seen in Aus series, it aint conducive for too many quicks to run in and bowl.

On another front i can think of guys like Umar Gull - if not for injuries, this guy would have been one of pak's ATG's. The same with Mo Asif but for different reasons. Another guy i can think of is Shabbir abbas who i think suffered as PCB did not support him or train him to improve his action, i thought he was a terrific talent. Mohammed Zahid was another super talent not handled well.
 
Abstraction1 said:
Pakistan has a wealth of talented fast bowlers. Probably more so than any other nation.

However on an International stage, it is 11 vs 11.

How many players have burst onto the scene yet slowly fizzle away due to injuries, unnecessary action changes and lack of development.

Shoaib Akhtar was outspoken when he criticised Pakistan's medical team, who recommended him to drink "Mango Lassi" when he was struggling with Knee injuries.

Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson are classic examples for me. They've never been extraordinary or exceptional, just really good. Yet despite poor form or injuries, the ECB has always offered a safety net. They have regularly been backed and rotated and as of 2022, their records speaks for themselves.
Click to expand...

Anderson and Broad only play tests were Pakistan bowlers play 2 formats eg Shaheen,Hassan.
 
Our problems are magnified with having a decade of Misbaism whose brand of cricket was all about attrition and addiction to spin.

Tuk tuk and turn - a lethal combination to kill any interest in pak cricket
 
Your expectations from our fast-bowling attack in the upcoming SL v PAK Test series?

FXSV_5QXkAIJnZa.jpgFXSV_5LXgAAa1_f.jpgFXSV_5PWQAAfNYQ.jpg
 
MenInG said:
Your expectations from our fast-bowling attack in the upcoming SL v PAK Test series?

View attachment 116444View attachment 116445View attachment 116446
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When Cummins and Starc couldn't do anything, it's doesn't make sense to expect anything.
The pitches are simply dead. 3 full-fledged pacers shouldn't even be played. This is where Fahim Ashraf would've come in handy, as the 3rd pacer.

The entire expectations should be from the spinners, Yasir in particular. Let's see what he does.
 
T20 Cricket and bowlers not being used to bowl long spells at consistent high speeds is to blame.

Cummins and Starc out bowled the Pakistani pacers after the first test. Their experience, amount of overs they have bowled with the kookaburra ball showed up in the end whereas the Pakistani pace attack declined as the number of overs piled up and the Australian batsmen batted with great technique and confidence.
 
'Pakistan's fast-bowlers need to learn the art of working with the old ball' : Aamir Sohail

Aamir Sohail in an AFP interview

Sohail rates the current Pakistan Test team as full of talent but said the fast bowlers need to develop new methods to make the old ball more effective when reverse swing is not available.

“There is definitely room for improvement in Test cricket. We used to rattle opposition batting with our reverse swing in the middle overs,” Sohail said.

Pakistan have been pioneers of reversing the ball, with former speedsters Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan – who went on to become prime minister – Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis rattling the opposition batsmen.

New Covid-19 rules prohibit the use of saliva to maintain the old ball – a practice that aids reverse swing – and pace bowlers including India’s Jasprit Bumrah believe sweat is not as effective.

But Sohail, also a left-arm spinner during his playing days, insists it’s not saliva but the changed nature of pitches that has resulted in reverse swing becoming ineffective at times – and urged the quicks to make adjustments.

“They are good with the new ball, good in the middle overs if it’s reversing but when it’s not reversing then they haven’t got anything new,” he said.

“If our fast bowlers learn the art of working with the old ball then our team will go a long way with the kind of talent we have.”
 
There was a minor decline in Pakistani pace attack from 2015 to 2017. But, that has changed. Pakistani pace attack is very high quality now.
 
Pleasantly surprised by the pace attack this morning - done well on a pitch which isnt supposed to help pacers.
 
The problem has always been management and development.

Pakistan has a wealth of excellent quick bowlers. Moreso than any other country imo. That doesn't mean much when it is 11 vs 11.

The biggest problem is Pakistan always has several options when a player is injured or out of form. There needs to be robust player management plan to rehabilitate players who are struggling. I kind of like how they are support Hassan despite his drop in form.
 
How many pace bowlers right now in world cricket who can do something with the old ball, in the absence of reverse swing? The issue with our pacers is that they can’t do much even with reverse swing on offer, Cummins and Starc out bowled them in Pakistan.
 
Well in T20Is we seem to have revitalised our bowling resources.
 
Test cricket pace-bowling resources is still a concern though.
 
Shaheen, Naseem and Haris' bowling in England's innings was a spectacle for the ages.

Particularly Naseem after that terrible first over was transformed. Beat Buttler and Stokes bats constantly with bowling that will scare batsmen in test matches, if he can keep that up for spells.

Really hope Shaheen isn't out for years. Knee injuries are terrible to recover from.

So without Shaheen, who is in our test pace bowling lineup? Naseem, Hassan Ali, maybe Haris? Abbas? Hassnain? Someone from domestics?

Looking a bit thin.
 
Even after the more-than-decent bowling performance, I can assure you the focus till the next world cup will be to improve bowling. Selection of Usman Qadir in an already bowling-heavy squad, over-reliance on below-average sloggers and disregard of batting failures leading up to the WC were just symptoms of our perennial indifference to batting woes.
 
Saj said:
Test cricket pace-bowling resources is still a concern though.
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The truth of the matter is that Pakistan bowlers have always relied on reverse swing or doosra. These options are pretty much dead hence the decline in quality test match bowling from Pakistan.
 
Corridor of Uncertainty said:
Shaheen, Naseem and Haris' bowling in England's innings was a spectacle for the ages.

Particularly Naseem after that terrible first over was transformed. Beat Buttler and Stokes bats constantly with bowling that will scare batsmen in test matches, if he can keep that up for spells.

Really hope Shaheen isn't out for years. Knee injuries are terrible to recover from.

So without Shaheen, who is in our test pace bowling lineup? Naseem, Hassan Ali, maybe Haris? Abbas? Hassnain? Someone from domestics?

Looking a bit thin.
Click to expand...

I was thinking maybe Naseem and Shaheen can rotate in this series but now that Shaheen is injured Naseem will have to lead the attack and play all three games.

It should be for the England Test Series
Naseem
Dahani
And if they play 3rd Seemer it should not Abbas unfortunately.

Rauf can't bowl at the same speeds in tests.
 
Abbas shouldn't get another game at international level. Shouldn't even be in the squad.

He is simply finished at international level and isn't going to get any better with age.
 
Well with the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf now being picked in all formats, expect things to get even worse.

Crazy tactics!
 
It is crazy though - you have the following that are capable of bowling in excess of 90mph

Shaheen
Rauf
Hasnain
Naseem

But you need to identify which ones of these are going to play tests for you.

Shaheen, if fit, walks in to our test team. And in those scenarios - one of the others should play as an enforcer but not be the bowler you rely on.

But that is still two bowlers even with Shaheen fit.

So you have to have others that are your shoe in to do the donkey work.

Pick at least two. It could be:

Abbas and Hassan
Mir Hamza and Hassan
Or whoever.

But pick them. They are your test bowlers, give them games, get them seasoned.

In the meantime eliminate from your quicks the ones that don’t want to play test cricket. If they all do, then brilliant - play domestic cricket and county cricket. Get your body used to the rigours and we’ll pick the best two.

It seems Naseem is fit right now. In the next match I would play:

Abbas
Hassan Ali
Naseem Shah

Until Shaheen gets fit, that is your test seam up attack with maybe Hasnain rotated with Naseem.

Stick to it for at least a year or two.

Someone in the PCB needs to have this sort of vision and plan. I don’t think anyone has put any thought in to it at all.
 
Get some bounce into the wickets and it will encourage the quirks (and be good for the leggies).
However, given that the batsman (Babar obviously excepted) couldn’t score many runs not sure they will be voting for it.
 
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