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Wasted fast bowling talent from Pakistan?

Madplayer

Madplayer

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Wasted due to any reasons be it poor selection, injuries or 'any' other reason.. What names come to your mind?

For me M. Asif, shabir ahmad, M. Zahid come to mind..
I won't include amir becoz i believe he'll be back after serving his ban.
 
Madplayer said:
But he'll be back after his ban gets over.
Click to expand...

there is no garuntee he will be back, and if he does come back he will be the same or not.. being out of the game for that long especially competitive international cricket, it would be quite a task for anyone to be back in top form. so for now he should be categorized as a waste as well.
 
zeikz123 said:
there is no garuntee he will be back, and if he does come back he will be the same or not.. being out of the game for that long especially competitive international cricket, it would be quite a task for anyone to be back in top form. so for now he should be categorized as a waste as well.
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Fair enough
 
aamer nazir
he debuted under wasim in that 92-93 away tour of windies in which moin khan put down more cathces than akmal does in a year.
 
really..just like i feel bad to see food being wasted in 5-star hotels and parties..it makes me cringe that Pakistan has wasted so much talent....if those were going to be wasted why were they not born some kilometers east of the border...
 
Mohammad zahid's injuries were also a big blow.. shoaib Akthar once said he has not seen a faster bowler than zahid.
 
Pete Rose said:
aamer nazir
he debuted under wasim in that 92-93 away tour of windies in which moin khan put down more cathces than akmal does in a year.
Click to expand...

I dont know what you are talking about. Moin Khan probably had one of the poorest keeping techniques and skills wise was inferior to latif but hardly ever dropped a catch. In fact I have watched a lot of cricket and cannot recall him dropping any. Amir Nazir bowled big inswingers like anwer ali ... cannot imagine too many edges flying to the keeper.
 
Shabbir Ahmed when he first broke onto the scene was being compared to joel garner.

M Akram was being compared with Holding.
 
must b alot of fast bowlers who never got chance in 90s

Wish Mohammad Zahid was handled properly
 
Wahab Riaz,Mohammad Talha

they might still play but they have been treated very unfairly so far.They deserve better.
 
The bowlers from the late 90's were wasted as the 2 W's did not retire
 
umarf76 said:
I dont know what you are talking about. Moin Khan probably had one of the poorest keeping techniques and skills wise was inferior to latif but hardly ever dropped a catch. In fact I have watched a lot of cricket and cannot recall him dropping any. Amir Nazir bowled big inswingers like anwer ali ... cannot imagine too many edges flying to the keeper.
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two unrelated thoughts....aamer nazir faded away after the windies tour, not related to moin khan's woeful wicket keeping which improved subsequently...he dropped a few in the second and third test match.
 
Kabir Khan/Athar Shafi - They had to compete with 2 Ws.

Shoaib Akhtar - Wrong Goals in Cricket

Muhammad Zahid - Injuries

Shabbir Ahmed - Action Issue

Muhammad Asif - Drugs to Spot Fixing

Muhammad Amir - Spot Fixing

Umar Gul - Lack of self belief

All these Fast Bowlers should have taken at least 300 Test Wickets.
 
it is pakistani bowling that paints the brightest colours on the canvas of cricket...they keep wasting their colours..but their palette never runs dry...wish some of the colours spilled over to our side!!
 
justarslan said:
Kabir Khan/Athar Shafi - They had to compete with 2 Ws.
Click to expand...

Fazle Akbar was miles better than both Kabir and Shafi combined.

I don't think there was any pace bowler on planet earth that would make it to the Pak team when two W's were at peak.
 
Sami - what a waste of god given talent of express pace.
 
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Asif (Destroyed Himself)
Mohammad Amir (Destroyed Himself)
Shahid Nazir
Aqib Javed(Retired at 29)
 
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I seriously believe there are world beaters present somewhere in Pakistan domestic circuit... Pcb has wasted too many fast bowlers already. I hope they discontinue this trend of taking things for granted..
 
Rana was brought into the national team too late as he was the best bowler in domestic cricket for a long time.
 
wasted fast bowling talent from SA?

Allan Donald

cant imagine apartheid killed his best youth years. Donald could not debut in around 1987 WC & had to wait till age 26 till SA could be reinstated into tests in 1992.

Its sad that he only got 330 wickets. That figure deserved to be btw 550-600 easily if donald were given early youth 5 more hears.

He had a perfect "effortless" bowling action. Perfect height of 6'4". super athletic who can do "split". incredibly durable. can ball all day. never ending energy.

The world was robbed seeing 21-25 yrs old 6'4" super athletic allan donald running through the opposition top order every other innings of the test.

Now we are stuck with inferior version of Donald called Steyn. no disrespect.
 
Rana Naved is another bowler who has it in himself to be a good ODI and t20 bowler but I don't think we will see his comeback now.
 
Every 2nd fast Pakistani bowler in the last decade has been wasted..true story..
 
Gengiskhan! I am a big fan of Donald. And i agree that Donald was way better then steyn. Its just that quality of batting has deteriorated
 
Nadeem Iqbal (from the same town as :irfan, now a coach monitoring promising :ziaulhaq), who never got an intl. game, is said to have been quicker than Waqar.

Mohammed Zahid said that every FC team had a tearaway fast bowler in the 90s, I'd love if we can get a list of 'probables' missed-out fast bowlers.

Our current bowling coach was sharp too, even when playing county late he was over the 90s - in his prime constantly in the 140s and touching the 150 mark.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lSZkcjpXMiw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

There was also Irfan Fazil, more recently, in the early 2000s, but we still had the double Ws, Akhtar, Sami, ... around. He owned Sri Lanka A with pace, but overall was too wayward

SRI LANKA BUNDLED OUT FOR 141
Sri Lanka A were bowled out for a paltry 141 in their first innings 23 minutes after tea on the first day of the third and the final unofficial Test Match against Sri Lanka in Galle.

The Sri Lankans, who were 126 for six at tea, managed to score only 15 runs afterwards as Irfan Fazil ripped through the lower order with an impressive spell of fast bowling.

The first to go after tea was Prasanna Jayawardene, who was clean bowled by Irfan Fazil by a fine reverse swinging yorker, for 18. The wicketkeeper batsman had stayed at the crease for 94 minutes, had faced 74 balls and scored three boundaries.

In Irfan�s next over, he cleaned bowled Sri Lanka's captain, Tilan Samaraweera, off an inside edge off another full delivery for 12. He faced 47 balls and stayed at the crease for 67 minutes.

The young Pakistani paceman was now unstoppable and his pace was too much for the Dinusha Fernando who was also bowled by a fine yorker for a duck in the same over.

The Sri Lankan innings ended when Malinga Bandara was caught by Toufiq Umar at second slip off the bowling of Danish Kenaria.

Irfan Fazil's claimed six wickets for 38 runs in 12 overs. Yasir Arafat and Danish Kenaria claimed two wickets apiece.
Click to expand...

http://www.cricinfo.com.pk/db/ARCHI...001_LIVE_MR/PAK-A_SL-A_25-28JUN2001_DAY1.html

Also weren't the likes of Mohammed Irshad and Abdur Rauf pretty fast but overcoached and turned into trundlers ? Quite unbelievable for the latter, as he's now bowling mini-Steynian out-swinger at 75mph... which still gets :hafeez in two consecutive T20s lol. Feel bad, was the first intl. cricketer from AJK. x(
I think that there were some coaches who pulled out a Prasad, you know the traditional Indian way of destroying fast bowler : 'line and length' whereas the Imran way was the total reverse (keep your pace, accuracy will come later on :sami.)
 
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akheR said:
Nadeem Iqbal (from the same town as :irfan, now a coach monitoring promising :ziaulhaq), who never got an intl. game, is said to have been quicker than Waqar.

Mohammed Zahid said that every FC team had a tearaway fast bowler in the 90s, I'd love if we can get a list of 'probables' missed-out fast bowlers.

Our current bowling coach was sharp too, even when playing county late he was over the 90s - in his prime constantly in the 140s and touching the 150 mark.

There was also Irfan Fazil, more recently, in the early 2000s, but we still had the double Ws, Akhtar, Sami, ... around. He owned Sri Lanka A with pace, but overall was too wayward



http://www.cricinfo.com.pk/db/ARCHI...001_LIVE_MR/PAK-A_SL-A_25-28JUN2001_DAY1.html

Also weren't the likes of Mohammed Irshad and Abdur Rauf pretty fast but overcoached and turned into trundlers ? Quite unbelievable for the latter, as he's now bowling mini-Steynian out-swinger at 75mph... which still gets :hafeez in two consecutive T20s lol. Feel bad, was the first intl. cricketer from AJK. x(
I think that there were some coaches who pulled out a Prasad, you know the traditional Indian way of destroying fast bowler : 'line and length' whereas the Imran way was the total reverse (keep your pace, accuracy will come later on :sami.)
Click to expand...

Abdur Rauf is playing for eurocon here in dubai in the 50 over league

Azeem Hafeez is one that comes to mind too who was a decent fast bowler

someone mentioned atiq ur rehman I think it was you akher
 
i saw irfan fazil against sri lanka in 3rd test in 2000. The guy had pace but he wasnt express pace. He played a match in that 2000 odi tour of west indies ie tri series. Was hammered in that match and didnt get a chance to play again.
I heard alot about muhammad irshad, shoaib akhtar in 2004 said that this is the guy!, aamer sohail praised him and not just that in 2005 he tool 4 fors 5 fors and regularly, he dominated the south africa A and england a teams in pakistan in 2005, that meat that he was really good. But i dont know what happened to him. some people said it was mrf some say it was aqib javed etc etccccccc


As far Muhhammad akram, he last time played against sa in 2000 sharjah final and he was clocked in 138 to 142. I mean come on man he was not even late 140s bowler. Had he been that good then with his line and swing he could have been devastating.
 
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why always Aamer over Asif?

I know ones way younger and probably far more innocent but in terms of ability, Asif almost match Aamer stride for stride in England and bowled brilliantly alone in Aus just before as well as the countless other times he just wafted in and took wickets.

Asif was something else, unfortunately he's a lot of other things too...
 
Muhammad Akram was quite good talent, but was unlucky not to play that much.
 
Bump

Sadaf hussain???? Is he going to join the list?
 
Mohammad Sami and Shoaib Akhtar both.

Akhtar looked set for ATG status from 1999 - 2004 in both formats, and then nosedived badly. He was better than Brett Lee from the start, but Lee was always looked after by CA, there's actually a documentary on how much care he got to stay in tip top shape with personal coaches etc given by CA with a strict schedule, diet etc. Whereas Akhtar was too busy getting into fights with the board, both sides were responsible. He started to gain weight, get into controversies, and then he was just pace with 0 control.

Mohammad Sami as well was just brilliant early on starting in 2003. You'd think the fast bowling legacy would carry on from Wasim and Waqar when you saw this guy early on, and then... I don't really know what happened.
 
It has to be Mohammad Sami. I believe still he can generate decent pace.

Shabbir Ahmed was another one. He joined ICL I reckon.

I saw Fazl-E-Akbar against India in 2004. He seemed to be a good line & length type of bowler to me.
 
Sami and Asif.
And then perhaps mohammad Zahid and mohammad Akram
 
It is a long list - hard to mention all of them.

Some of our domestic attacks in the 90's were brimming with great fast bowlers. I have some old "Cricketer" magazines and the scorecards of the domestic matches are loaded with Super Stars.

I definitely recall one match between PIA and UBL where it seemed two international attacks were against two international batting talents.


Imran Nazir
Shahid Nazir
Rana Naved
Muhammad Akram
Muhammad Zahid
Shabbir Ahmed
Muhammad Irshad
Muhammad Sami
Naveed Cheema

were all brilliant for one or other reasons.

Imran Nazir was probably as good at reverse swing as the two W's. His back injury was a blow to his career.

Zahid was also a pristine fast bowler and when he burst on the scene against the Kiwis, they were just shell shocked at his raw pace. Decimated them to bits before becoming a victim of our shoddy system.

All of these easily were over and above 145 kph in their prime to say the least.

Some like Rana had uncanny skill to go with their speed.

We would have had a great legacy if we could harness these talents. Luckily the tape ball scene is still giving us raw pace bowlers although it does seem that the world is catching up on us in that matter.
 
Asif. Never have I seen a bowler of such quality. Man, the things he could do with a cricket ball. It was pure magic, watching him bowl. The best part was how batsmen knew what was coming, that perfect in-swinger hitting the top of off and still couldn't do anything about it. Stumps would fly everywhere. Anyone remember his spell vs India in Karachi?? Or that delivery he bowled to white in the CT. If only we could get him back......

Sami too had everything going for him apart from brains and I feel he was a tad unlucky as well in the manner he was handled. Swing, seam and sheer pace; he had it all. Not to mention such a beautiful and smooth action.
 
Arsal_AK said:
Asif. Never have I seen a bowler of such quality. Man, the things he could do with a cricket ball. It was pure magic, watching him bowl. The best part was how batsmen knew what was coming, that perfect in-swinger hitting the top of off and still couldn't do anything about it. Stumps would fly everywhere. Anyone remember his spell vs India in Karachi?? Or that delivery he bowled to white in the CT. If only we could get him back......

Sami too had everything going for him apart from brains and I feel he was a tad unlucky as well in the manner he was handled. Swing, seam and sheer pace; he had it all. Not to mention such a beautiful and smooth action.
Click to expand...


Sami played in the wrong era.

Asif had (still has) a personal life that became his biggest enemy.


I never thought in my life that I could like a Pakistani bowler who was not quick but Asif despite being an anti-thesis fast bowler was just a sheer pleasure to watch.

I miss him more than Amir and genuinely believed he was a 400 + test wicket bowler.

Sad to see him go south like that - sheer tragedy.
 
Have heard a lot about Sadaf Hussain.Haven't watched him bowl.

Imran Khan ( who recently played in test matches) was not bad at all.And already he is out of sight.
 
I wish Sialkot would have selected Ali Imran Pasha in 18 and playing 11 today. Mohammad zahid volume 2.
Still he has 5,6 years left in him to serve the country .
How insane of the selectors and associations both to neglect such talent for players like Najaf shah who blackmail on media get selected and get hammered on his medium fast dibbly half trackers and length deliveries
 
Fascinating to see some people had included amir in this list.

Is it safe to say sadaf hussain has joined this club?
 
Madplayer said:
Fascinating to see some people had included amir in this list.

Is it safe to say sadaf hussain has joined this club?
Click to expand...

He's 26. Plus, I can see him getting a shot in the near future. He has to his the ground running though because he won't get several chances with Amir, Riaz, Junaid, Irfan, Rahat and possibly Mir Hamza and Zia ul Haq all competing for three pace bowling spots.
 
After having a rare bad season Sadaf is back to his own. 14 wickets in his last two games. If KRL qualify for semi final than it will be the first time ever we see Sadaf hussain playing a FC game. As if will be televised. Than he cab be back in contention if he takes few wickets in a live game. We all know what's the power of live games in pakistan. It gave break to tanveer ahmed , aizaz cheema and zulfiqar babar , usman khan , ehsan adil , imran khan otherwise they would have never played international cricket.
 
Aizaz cheema? Never got a chance when he was real quick.
 
TalentSpotterPk said:
After having a rare bad season Sadaf is back to his own. 14 wickets in his last two games. If KRL qualify for semi final than it will be the first time ever we see Sadaf hussain playing a FC game. As if will be televised. Than he cab be back in contention if he takes few wickets in a live game. We all know what's the power of live games in pakistan. It gave break to tanveer ahmed , aizaz cheema and zulfiqar babar , usman khan , ehsan adil , imran khan otherwise they would have never played international cricket.
Click to expand...

brother do let us know if krl qualifies :)

Regards
 
There are about half a dozen I can instantly recall - most of them during Molla Haq's era; later Aaquib became a bit allergic to any bowler capable of bowling faster than him. Before that, mostly injury (& "other issues") hampered few quality fast bowlers.

In "Other issues" category comes Ata & a South Punjab guy (Nadeem Khan?), arguably as fast as the 3 (Waquar, Shoaib, Zahid). Ata's case is know - kurbani ka bakra (but OK, it saved couple of better careers & some of the biggest names - choti si kurbani), Nadeem was "sidelined" for few egoistic seniors who thought that fast bowling greatness in PAK was monopoly to few.

Apart from that, I can recall Zahid, Aamer Nazir, Shahid Nazir, Md. Akram (fantastic Fast bowler, probably among best fitted in AUS wickets from subcontinent), Kabir Khan, may be we can add Fazle Akbar as well.

After that, Sami & Irfan Fazil did get chance, but mishandled; to a certain extent Yasir Arafat as well, because he was clocking 148KM in his early 20s; while Asif & Aamir went for few dollars more. But at least these guys got some chances. During Molla Haq, MoYo & Aaquib's regime at least 5/6 bowlers I can recall should have been given chance - Jamshed Ahmed, Fahad Masood, Zahid Saeed, Ali Imran Pasha, Nazaf Shah, Aizaz Cheema, Md. Rameez, the handsome guy making debut at official 32 in AUS in 2010 & few more I can't recall instantly.


As they say, if you don't honor something given by nature - the wrath of nature bites harder. It's a pity to see PAK opening with MoHa & Babar on an absolute disgrace of a cricket wicket now days......... I lost interest, otherwise would have put a better informative analysis on this, but one thing I am not sure - what hurt PAK more severally - couple of NO balls or that 6 ugly years under Inzi & MoYo.
 
Mohammad Irshad, not sure if this guy was ever as quick as he was hyped up to be but 8-10 years ago we used to rave about him on pakpassion. I think Shoaib Akhtar even took him under his wing to help him develop.
 
Shahid nazir was probably the best new ball and natural swing bowler in pakistan and sadly never really got a proper go at international level, then when he finally got picked for a run in the side it was when he was past his best. He could have had a pretty good international career i reckon.
 
1. Fazl e Akbar
2. Sajid Shah
3. Jaffar Nazir
4. Kabir Khan
5. Mohammad Zahid
6. Shahid Nazir
7. Shahid Nazir
8. Irfan Fazil
9. Amir Nazir
10. Sarfaraz Ahmad
11. Tabish Khan
12. Mohammad Akram
13. Mohammad Irshad
 
How about talents who just couldn't break into the national side despite consistent brilliant performances at the domestic level and being overlooked by lesser talunts:

Case in point...

Barkatullah Khan was a contemporary of Zakir Khan, Mohsin Kamal and Saleem Jaffer in the 80's and took 263 wickets at 24 in the domestic matches, surely he should have been preferred over someone like that tharki Mohsin Kamal who had a domestic average of 32.
 
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