Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan in ICC’s all-time list of T20I bowlers

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DidYouKnow?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DidYouKnow</a> that FIVE Pakistan bowlers feature in the all-time list of the <a href="https://twitter.com/MRFWorldwide?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MRFWorldwide</a> ICC T20I Rankings <br><br>Two of these players were a part of the 2007 <a href="https://twitter.com/T20WorldCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@T20WorldCup</a>. Guess who? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/T20TakesOff?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#T20TakesOff</a> <a href="https://t.co/YFs1ZyxuWh">pic.twitter.com/YFs1ZyxuWh</a></p>— ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1305001263835348992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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[angrypathan]

Gul the only pacer in there, unless you want to make an argument for Imad Wasim being medium pace

 

[Mercurial]

So Umar Gul is the greatest T20I bowler of all time, which is great to see.

 

[Mir jibran]

Guldozer is the GOAT in t20 cricket
Miss his deadly Yorkers

 

[Bhaijaan]

Umar Gul, hands down, THE greatest T20i bowler ever.

 

[Indiafan]

Gul and Riaz are the greatest t20 match winners. Afridi was the most impactful player in t20s.

 

[Loralai]

All this shows is that mediocrity can thrive in T20 cricket.

 

[prepare]

All this shows is that mediocrity can thrive in T20 cricket.

Mediocrity? For a reasonably sustained period Umar Gul was quite simply brilliant in T20i. There is a reason pundits will still mention Umar Gul when talking about yorkers! Accurate, swinging and lethal!

He is also the only pace bowler on that list which is a credit to him. Credit where credit is due.

 

[Loralai]

Mediocrity? For a reasonably sustained period Umar Gul was quite simply brilliant in T20i. There is a reason pundits will still mention Umar Gul when talking about yorkers! Accurate, swinging and lethal!

He is also the only pace bowler on that list which is a credit to him. Credit where credit is due.

Compare their T20I records to their Test records and you'll see what I mean (apart from Saeed Ajmal).

Gul averaged 34 in Test cricket.

 

[Zeshan547]

[MENTION=142317]Loralai[/MENTION] maybe for a change try the glass half full method and cut the moaning business a little. Nobody claiming these are overall greatest bowlers. But in T20s they are GOAT so far. That's it.

 

[Thomaskutty]

All this shows is that mediocrity can thrive in T20 cricket.

Agreed. But atleast there should be a minimum no. of games played before such lists are made.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Umar Gul was an excellent T20 bowler.

Good to see Daniel Vettori in the list.

 

[Mueez]

Guldozer! Ah the days.

 

[Mesozoic]

That Pakistan T20 attack from 2007-2012 was truly brilliant. Probably the best ever in that format.

Gul, Afridi, Ajmal, Razzaq, Amir (?), Tanvir..... that's a model T20 attack

 

[sweep_shot]

From that list, only one bowler is a pacer. Rest are all spinners.

Damn!

 

[Loralai]

[MENTION=142317]Loralai[/MENTION] maybe for a change try the glass half full method and cut the moaning business a little. Nobody claiming these are overall greatest bowlers. But in T20s they are GOAT so far. That's it.

Shadab and Imad are in the top ten.

That tells you all you need to know.

 

[MenInG]

Shadab and Imad are in the top ten.

That tells you all you need to know.

Not sure if anyone will beat our record.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Gul went out of the team or favour quite quickly as he was around 32 when he last played a T20 for Pakistan.

His pace and accuracy dropped out quite drastically and hasn't been the same as he used to be earlier.

 

[Major]

Gul is all time no.1? Than why wasn't he picked for T20 leagues like sohail tanvir after not being picked for Pakistan?

I remember the guy being good, but i never knew he was that good. Nice. Forgot about his career.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Surprised that there is no Malinga in that list.

Gul was amazing at his peak in T20s, it seemed like he could bowl yorkers at will. He also performed reasonably well in IPL and BBL when he played in them.

 

[Shazzam]

No Malinga?

 

[Indiafan]

Btw this shows the highest points ever achieved by a player. So if a player achieves high score once he will be in a higher position over someone who was no 1 ranked for 10 consecutive years but with lower scores

So its just showing the highest peak of each player, it doesn't mean they were consistent or performed over a long time (more than 1 year)

 

[Titan24]

Gul is all time no.1? Than why wasn't he picked for T20 leagues like sohail tanvir after not being picked for Pakistan?

I remember the guy being good, but i never knew he was that good. Nice. Forgot about his career.

He had back issues since his younger days. As age started to take a toll, it became difficult for him to ball yorkers as that puts pressure on back which was his main weapon in T20s.

 

[Ashmal]

Peak Umar Gul is the best T20 pacer so far....the way he bowled in 2007 & 2009 WT20, it was memorable to say the least.
Peak Gul+Ajmal+Afridi....what a great attack it was in t20s in 2007-12

 

[BreadPakoda]

Wasim Akram in T20Is would have eaten all these bowlers for breakfast.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Interesting to note that there’s no big 3 player and only 1 white player.

 

[Major]

Btw this shows the highest points ever achieved by a player. So if a player achieves high score once he will be in a higher position over someone who was no 1 ranked for 10 consecutive years but with lower scores

So its just showing the highest peak of each player, it doesn't mean they were consistent or performed over a long time (more than 1 year)

yup, that is true

If you see the odi ratings, Zaheer abbas sits at no.2. While Miandad is at 7

kapil Dev and Rashid Khan are above Imran khan in odi bowling.

So these ratings are flawed

 

[Mirpur express]

Ah guldozer the goat t20 pacer he could’ve played longer if it wasn’t for knee & back trouble , those Yorkers @ will where even better then malinga , the nicest & most humble Pakistani player I ever met ,

 

[Mirpur express]

Make that 7 out of 10 Tahir & Rashid both Pakistan born & bred.

 

[Giannis]

Guldozer was a beast in his prime

 

[Slog]

From 2007-2012 Pakistan had the GOAT bowling attack for T20 cricket. It literally checked all boxes esp when Amir was there too. And no surprise we made very semi final at the very least then too

 

[coy0607]

Umar Gul is at the top of a list where the next 9 are spinners. Incredible!

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Gul was beast of a t-20 bowler.. his action i think allowed him to bowl those pin-point yorkers.
Too bad he did well in tests in the beginning but fizzled out..

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Interesting to note that there’s no big 3 player and only 1 white player.

Because they use T-20 matches to breed in new talent.. not play their top guns all the time.
If top guns play.. its mostly in preparation of some major series or getting used to the conditions.

 

[JattMaula]

If you miss a t20 match played by your team, you lose 2% of your rating points. You maintain better ratings for playing a match and doing nothing than resting for a t20i match. An all format pacer will find it hard it really hard to maintain high rating points.

 

[Manzy2599]

There’s no doubt that Afridi Ajmal and Gul are part of the all time greatest T20 attack. Along with Hafeez, Amir, Razzaq, Tanvir and even Wahab & Malik were useful at times. People often forget that bowling wins you T20s as wickets are the best way stop the runs in this batsman dominating era. I don’t really rate Shadab and Imad that high, simply because they haven’t really performed outside of the UAE against any big teams like Afridi, Ajmal and Gul did. Hence Pakistan hold almost every T20 bowling record there is. Most times to bowl out an opposition and till recently they had only failed to defend 150+ once and that was the Hussey vs Ajmal Semi final despite playing the most number of T20s. Since last year they already let Australia and England chase 150+ vs them because of poor, clueless bowling. This current Pakistan bowling attack is weak and inexperienced. I miss the old days where Pakistan turned up almost everytime between WT20 between 2007-2012 which explains why Pak made all the semi finals. They even did okay in 2014 except for the batting collapse vs West Indies that cost them a semi final spot. In all honestly Pakistan really should’ve won atleast 3 of the titles between 2007 and 2012 with this attack. In 2007 that Misbah scoop cost us, In 2010 a bit of bad luck and maybe if Razzaq or Amir bowled the last over instead of Ajmal they would have made it. In 2012 once a batting collapse cost them a straightforward chase of 140 vs Sri Lanka. A bit like the 90s team that underachieved at world cups mainly because of the batting. With the next T20WC in India, Pakistan really need to sort out their bowling if they want to compete. Batting might win you a few games but Bowling wins your tournaments.

 

[Barragan]

Not surprised.

Gul was easily the best T20I bowler I've seen.

 

[Barragan]

I have to say, rashid has primarily been bashing minnows so there should be a criteria where a certain number of games been played against the big boys.

 

[MMHS]

Half of the list is from PAK and top three of them reached the peak between that era of 2007 to 2012, which explains the dominance by PAK T20 side(s) in that period. T20 is a bowlers game and Gul at his peak was really the pacer first T20, while Afridi probably will be the GOAT of T20 for his overall package - Gayle gets lots of praise for his batting, but those four overs of Afridi to complement his batting was invaluable. Honestly quite surprised to see Shadab’s peak rating and a bit surprised with Imad as well - first one looks too high, second one too low considering Imad was top ranked T20 bowler for few months together.

 

[JattMaula]

Half of the list is from PAK and top three of them reached the peak between that era of 2007 to 2012, which explains the dominance by PAK T20 side(s) in that period. T20 is a bowlers game and Gul at his peak was really the pacer first T20, while Afridi probably will be the GOAT of T20 for his overall package - Gayle gets lots of praise for his batting, but those four overs of Afridi to complement his batting was invaluable. Honestly quite surprised to see Shadab’s peak rating and a bit surprised with Imad as well - first one looks too high, second one too low considering Imad was top ranked T20 bowler for few months together.

Pak was the best t20 team 07 to 12 without a doubt. A team ahead of its time.

 

[Swashbuckler]

No Malinga, shocking. T20 GOAT IMO, and won his side the 2014 final. Him and Gul would be top two picks for any follower of cricket.