Where does the Pakistan Test match bowling attack rank based upon recent performance?

[Majestic]

As it stands now, Pakistan arguably have worse bowling attacks than Australia, India, England, New Zealand and South Africa.Their pace attack is worse than West Indies and they also have worse spin attacks than Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Do you think overall, it is a better attack than Sri Lanka, Windies and Bangladesh?

 

[Cric1234]

On a par with Zimbabwe but then even their bowlers could win a test at home so close to UAE Papa New Guinea level.

 

[Ab Fan]

Absolutely minnow level test match bowling performance. The order of bowling attack in tests in my opinion is :-

1. India
2. Australia
3. England
4. South Africa
5. New Zealand
6. Sri Lanka
7. West Indies
8. Bangladesh
9. Pakistan
10. Zimbabwe

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Worse than BD for sure. I haven't seen such mediocrity for a long time.

 

[Devadwal]

Absolutely minnow level test match bowling performance. The order of bowling attack in tests in my opinion is :-

1. India
2. Australia
3. England
4. South Africa
5. New Zealand
6. Sri Lanka
7. West Indies
8. Bangladesh
9. Pakistan
10. Zimbabwe

England is no way in top three .

 

[Rafa]

Pakistan attack is not that bad, it's the pitches that are the problem.

 

[Saj]

Lack of experience at this level is hurting them too.

The pitches are poor but this attack is very weak and lacking in creativity.

No 5th option either.

 

[Buffet]

Pakistan's bowling has been minnows level against top teams. Home and away does not matter.

All teams bowling avg against Aus, Eng, NZ and India in tha last 4 years.
.


I know , I know new bowlers and all that, but averaging 50+ home and away combined for such a long time is just rubbish.

 

[Buffet]

If it continues for another 4 years, I will start clubbing Pakistan with BD/Zim when it comes to not counting runs made against them when judging batsmen.

I don't want to give credit for runs if bowling attack is giving 50 runs per wicket for 5-10 years. Runs still need to be made, but I don't count all runs the same when looking at performance of batsmen.

 

[Markhor]

Pakistan's bowling has been minnows level against top teams. Home and away does not matter.

All teams bowling avg against Aus, Eng, NZ and India in tha last 4 years.
.
View attachment 118289

I know , I know new bowlers and all that, but averaging 50+ home and away combined for such a long time is just rubbish.

Those are a damning set of numbers. Yet our ex-players and even foreign commentators who should know better will continually tout Pakistan's "bowling strength" as if it's still 1995.

 

[Buffet]

Those are a damning set of numbers. Yet our ex-players and even foreign commentators who should know better will continually tout Pakistan's "bowling strength" as if it's still 1995.

It's surprising to be honest.

Some of these numbers are due to flat wicket in Pakistan and Pakistan having poor pace attack when playing outside, but when all said and done good batting units find extremely easy to score runs against Pakistan. I mean BD just wants to draw tests and Pakistan tries to do the same. If it goes on for decade then fans will start discounting runs made against Pakistan.

Yes, Pakistan had a rich legacy of bowlers, but WI also had rich legacy. No one takes WI name the same way. It's about time, people should stop mixing past with present for Pakistan. Pakistan's reputation should be based on what they do now and not what happened decades back.

 

[Markhor]

It's surprising to be honest.

Some of these numbers are due to flat wicket in Pakistan and Pakistan having poor pace attack when playing outside, but when all said and done good batting units find extremely easy to score runs against Pakistan. I mean BD just wants to draw tests and Pakistan tries to do the same. If it goes on for decade then fans will start discounting runs made against Pakistan.

Yes, Pakistan had a rich legacy of bowlers, but WI also had rich legacy. No one takes WI name the same way. It's about time, people should stop mixing past with present for Pakistan. Pakistan's reputation should be based on what they do now and not what happened decades back.

We've struggled to take 20 wickets even in ENG and NZL where we've historically bowled well. We failed to defend 277 at Old Trafford in 2020, and then allowed Zak Crawley to pile up 267 in 3rd Test. That was pre-Bazball ENG that was collapsing routinely.

In NZL in 2021, we produced the worst bowling display by any Pakistan attack in NZL averaging 60.47.

In AUS in 2019, we produced the worst bowling display by any Pakistan attack in AUS averaging 89.92. We had Shaheen for all three tours so his absence now cannot be an excuse.

When these "worst ever..." bowling averages are produced not once or twice, but time and again over a sustained period - that should wake people up.

 

[shamaan]

The pitches is the problem.

 

[Buffet]

We've struggled to take 20 wickets even in ENG and NZL where we've historically bowled well. We failed to defend 277 at Old Trafford in 2020, and then allowed Zak Crawley to pile up 267 in 3rd Test. That was pre-Bazball ENG that was collapsing routinely.

In NZL in 2021, we produced the worst bowling display by any Pakistan attack in NZL averaging 60.47.

In AUS in 2019, we produced the worst bowling display by any Pakistan attack in AUS averaging 89.92. We had Shaheen for all three tours so his absence now cannot be an excuse.

When these "worst ever..." bowling averages are produced not once or twice, but time and again over a sustained period - that should wake people up.

I find it a bit surprising given cricket mad country and rich legacy of pacers. It seems, PCB is doing something wrong to have such situation.

 

[Sachin136]

Pakistan's bowling has been minnows level against top teams. Home and away does not matter.

All teams bowling avg against Aus, Eng, NZ and India in tha last 4 years.
.


I know , I know new bowlers and all that, but averaging 50+ home and away combined for such a long time is just rubbish.

Even if you consider performances against all teams in the last four years, Pakistani bowlers still average 35 (worse than WI and slightly better than SL). https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...8;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

I think batsmen would genuinely be more worried about facing Kemar Roach, Jayden, Alzarri, and Holder than Pak.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Tracks were flat even in 2000s as well. I remember a match where Inzi made 300 and also Akhtar took 6 for 11 on the same pitch as he was able to take pitch out of the equation. Test class bowlers seems to be a rare breed in Pakistan.

 

[Saj]

There used to be a time when I would relish watching Pakistan bowl in Test cricket. I grew up watching Imran Khan, then Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar.

Nowadays watching the Pakistan bowling is painful. There is nobody that makes me sit up and want to watch them bowl.

 

[Buffet]

There used to be a time when I would relish watching Pakistan bowl in Test cricket. I grew up watching Imran Khan, then Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar.

Same here. I used to watch entire test sometime when Pakistan was playing. I hardly watch now.

 

[Bewal Express]

Amongst the poorest.

 

[wrongun]

I'd say with your best players available it ranks around 6/7 with WI & SL.

But the depth is horrible. It's 130k trundler after 130k trundler at the moment.

 

[Chip32]

Rubbish. The pace bowlers are worse than BD and WI.

No talent coming in either. Naseem isn't test quality and Wasim is mediocre in all formats.

 

[mastermind_quad]

I find it a bit surprising given cricket mad country and rich legacy of pacers. It seems, PCB is doing something wrong to have such situation.

Because all the fast bowlers are concentrating on T20 i.e., 4 over spell
Look how Pakistani bowlers bowl in T20 and compare it to test. Huge difference same bowlers.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Just a sad state of affairs...

No heart whatsoever.

Ishant Sharma is better than all these clowns combined.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

PSL has destroyed Pakistani fast bowling in tests. RIP

 

[MHN1293]

With shaheen naseem back it is around srilanka West Indies level however without them it's associate level. We failed to develop proper spinners post yasir and our fast bowling department is extremely dependant on shaheen

 

[Buffet]

I'd say with your best players available it ranks around 6/7 with WI & SL.

But the depth is horrible. It's 130k trundler after 130k trundler at the moment.

It's my assessment as well.

As some one pointed out, focus on T20 has taken focus away from longer format. Still, PCB is doing something drastically wrong to have similar resource as WI and SL. With reasonable management, Pakistan should be able to do better.

 

[Buffet]

Because all the fast bowlers are concentrating on T20 i.e., 4 over spell
Look how Pakistani bowlers bowl in T20 and compare it to test. Huge difference same bowlers.

Well, you do need different skills for T20 and tests. Often the same bowlers may not have skills for both, but Pakistan should be able to come up with good set of bowlers in both formats.

 

[mastermind_quad]

Well, you do need different skills for T20 and tests. Often the same bowlers may not have skills for both, but Pakistan should be able to come up with good set of bowlers in both formats.

Agree. Pakistan is known for producing fast bowlers from know where. After Amir I don't remember any good test fast bowler came from Pakistan. Even Shaheen is not test level yet but very good in t20. Same with Naseem and Rauf.

 

[jeetu]

Test Record of team from 2019 onwards
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][td]BatAve [/td][td]BowlAve [/td][td]Diff [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]31 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]3.8 [/td][td]39.7 [/td][td]25.92 [/td][td]13.78 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]33 [/td][td]20 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]2.222 [/td][td]33.65 [/td][td]23.88 [/td][td]9.77 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]28 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1.4 [/td][td]36.56 [/td][td]29.46 [/td][td]7.1 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Afghanistan [/td][td]5 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1.5 [/td][td]28.28 [/td][td]25.51 [/td][td]2.77 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]51 [/td][td]23 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]1.21 [/td][td]29.73 [/td][td]29.5 [/td][td]0.23 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]29 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0.769 [/td][td]33.2 [/td][td]34.13 [/td][td]-0.93 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]29 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0.866 [/td][td]25.21 [/td][td]28.86 [/td][td]-3.65 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]28 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0.833 [/td][td]30.48 [/td][td]35.07 [/td][td]-4.59 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]28 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0.714 [/td][td]25.39 [/td][td]32.6 [/td][td]-7.21 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ireland [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]17.62 [/td][td]25.78 [/td][td]-8.16 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bangladesh [/td][td]24 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0.157 [/td][td]26.29 [/td][td]40.21 [/td][td]-13.92 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe [/td][td]8 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0.166 [/td][td]25.74 [/td][td]49.32 [/td][td]-23.58 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

Above table but removing matches played against Zim , Ban and Ireland
[table=class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Team [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Won [/td][td]Lost [/td][td]Draw [/td][td]W/L [/td][td]Bat Ave [/td][td]Bowl Ave [/td][td]Diff [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Australia [/td][td]31 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]3.8 [/td][td]39.7 [/td][td]25.92 [/td][td]13.78 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]India [/td][td]29 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]1.777 [/td][td]32.59 [/td][td]24.47 [/td][td]8.12 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]New Zealand [/td][td]24 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1.222 [/td][td]34.28 [/td][td]29.79 [/td][td]4.49 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]England [/td][td]50 [/td][td]22 [/td][td]19 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]1.157 [/td][td]29.98 [/td][td]29.92 [/td][td]0.06 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]South Africa [/td][td]27 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0.733 [/td][td]24.6 [/td][td]30.06 [/td][td]-5.46 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ireland [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]12.25 [/td][td]19.4 [/td][td]-7.15 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pakistan [/td][td]24 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0.384 [/td][td]31.4 [/td][td]38.82 [/td][td]-7.42 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sri Lanka [/td][td]22 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]0.583 [/td][td]26.9 [/td][td]35.17 [/td][td]-8.27 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]West Indies [/td][td]23 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0.357 [/td][td]24.25 [/td][td]35.36 [/td][td]-11.11 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Afghanistan [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]15.35 [/td][td]28.18 [/td][td]-12.83 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bangladesh [/td][td]21 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0.055 [/td][td]24.44 [/td][td]43.46 [/td][td]-19.02 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Zimbabwe [/td][td]4 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]24.39 [/td][td]49.05 [/td][td]-24.66 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[WengerOut]

In LOIs, most often wickets are a result of batsmen making mistakes trying to score quick. In tests, you need to really "take" the wickets. I think some of the bowlers these days have lost that art.

 

[sweep_shot]

Test bowling attack is not in good shape currently. Apart from Shaheen and Abrar, rest seem ordinary or highly inconsistent.

I think Pakistani Test bowling attack is at #7 or #8 among Test nations.

 

[sweep_shot]

PSL has destroyed Pakistani fast bowling in tests. RIP

T20 is destroying cricket.

Most cricketers no longer seem to care about Test/FC much.

 

[jnaveen1980]

In 2022 Pakistan bowling is the only pace unit that did not have a single fifer

England 4
NZ 4
Austrlaia 3
India 3
SA 3
BD 2
SL 2
Windies 2
Pakistan 0

 

[jnaveen1980]

In 2022 Pakistan bowling is the only pace unit that did not have a single fifer

England 4
NZ 4
Austrlaia 3
India 3
SA 3
BD 2
SL 2
Windies 2
Pakistan 0

wow They showed this exact stat in the match

 

[MenInG]

A shocking stat

 

[Savak]

A shocking stat

Our bowlers have played on 9 flat wickets in Pakistan and Sri Lanka this year. The stat is not surprising. I am glad that Ramiz got kicked out for his incompetency

 

[Ashmal]

In LOIs, most often wickets are a result of batsmen making mistakes trying to score quick. In tests, you need to really "take" the wickets. I think some of the bowlers these days have lost that art.

It's not about having lost the art, these guys are inexperienced and hardly played any FC cricket before being picked for test matches.

They never learned the art of test match bowling by playing enough FC cricket.

You can't expect someone to do well in Tests by picking them based on T20Is and PSL.

And these pitches have only added salt to the wound.

 

[Savak]

People are discounting the fact that these bowlers are not being helped by the fact that their captain is inept and incompetent in the field.

Ben Stokes showed that a good captain can take the pitch out of the equation with good field placings and bowling changes.

 

[RyanRyan10]

On a par with Zimbabwe but then even their bowlers could win a test at home so close to UAE Papa New Guinea level.

They don't have test status

 

[Unleashed]

I hope whatever delusion Pakistan fans had with there bowling is shattered by the last four matches. So toothless bowling.

 

[gibsyhesperis]

People are discounting the fact that these bowlers are not being helped by the fact that their captain is inept and incompetent in the field.

Ben Stokes showed that a good captain can take the pitch out of the equation with good field placings and bowling changes.

This is fair, but one should acknowledge that Stokes had two bowlers ranked in the top ten in test cricket — Anderson and Robinson.
Pakistan have no one playing ranked in the top 50.

This shows the yawning gulf between Pakistan and virtually all other test playing countries.

 

[Sir Alex]

Pak pace bowling has hit rock bottom. Seems the latest crop is interested in playing t20s rather than red ball cricket. The pitches aren't helping either.

 

[Boxer]

Not much to fault the bowlers, but the Eng n NZ teams will be thanking the beautiful gesture of laying down those lovely pitches by the host. They will surely come again and visit Pak in future.

 

[Saj]

PSL has destroyed Pakistani fast bowling in tests. RIP

T20 is the priority.

The rest is an afterthought.

 

[cricketjoshila]

So, Shaheen and Naseem are injured. Rauf too.

Are Dahani and Hasnain injured? Yes they are in experienced but are they worse than this 130k attack?

 

[mazkhan]

So, Shaheen and Naseem are injured. Rauf too.

Are Dahani and Hasnain injured? Yes they are in experienced but are they worse than this 130k attack?

There's no evidence hasnain is any good at the long format even he hasn't played much fc cricket

Dahani has had 1 or 2 decent seasons in qea but even he has tailed off and his pace has dropped also.

Most of these bowlers have become inclined towards t20s and pyjama league cricket .

Naseem is not test quality again he is better at white ball.

And shaheen I give it a year or 2 before his father in law tells him to ditch red ball cricket and concentrate on being limited over specialists like umar gul. I highly doubt that knee injury will go away knee and back injuries are constant problems once you get them.

And the stocks in domestic are dire full of trundlers who are club level at best saw it with mir hamza and m ali , m abbas types.

Until domestic pitches are improved and you produce pitches with pace and decebt level of bounce and get good height youngsters near 6ft mark or taller through the ranks bowling 140kph + and bowl a good 2 3yrs in domestics and get 30-40 games under their belt to be ready for intl tests cricket don't expect any miracles at test level the stats are proof of that and why we have no 5 wicket haul and bottom of the list .

 

[Marooned]

You make wickets to suit mediocre batsmen like Shafique, Shan, Imam etc. They fail regardless and yet it's the bowlers who cope the maximum blame.

If you want to have expectations from your young and inexperienced pacers, support them with fair pitches. The likes we produced vs SL, BD and SA.

Our best young talent is all in fast bowling. But we are destroying them by giving them these hellish surfaces.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

So, Shaheen and Naseem are injured. Rauf too.

Are Dahani and Hasnain injured? Yes they are in experienced but are they worse than this 130k attack?

This. Forget about domestic stats when your bowlers are trundlers with no height. Just pick the quick ones and hope they turn out alright in Tests.