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Who are the Fab 4 of bowling in cricket?

Madplayer

Madplayer

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We have the batting Fab 4 Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson.

Well who would you call the Fab 4 of bowling? Or lets call them the Fierce 4

Some possible candidates (Taking all countries into consideration):

Rabada, Hazelwood, Cummins, Hasan Ali, Starc, Amir, Boult, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Shami, Yasir shah, Ashwin, Jadeja, Mustafizur Rehman.

Sorry if i missed out any good names.
 
Hasan Ali, Rabada, Hazlewood, Starc(when fit).

Would be happy replacing Starc with yasir due to Yasirs incredible Test form. Especially since Starc is more often unfit than fit.
 
Very hard to pick a Fab 4 because most of the bowlers do not perform in all conditions. The Fab 4 of batting generally performs all around the globe. For me Shami though is the number 1 pick. He is probably one bowler who is great in all conditions. Followed by Rabada. Mustafizur on the other hand I find to be extremely overrated. He'll be a good T20 bowler because of his clever use of the slower ball but I can't see him becoming a great Test bowler.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
It is about overall bowling, not only Test cricket.
Click to expand...

Even in overall since never in cricket a player is rated among best on the basis of good LOI performance alone.

Failure in test format means, a player is not good overall.
 
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shariqnoor said:
Very hard to pick a Fab 4 because most of the bowlers do not perform in all conditions. The Fab 4 of batting generally performs all around the globe. For me Shami though is the number 1 pick. He is probably one bowler who is great in all conditions. Followed by Rabada. Mustafizur on the other hand I find to be extremely overrated. He'll be a good T20 bowler because of his clever use of the slower ball but I can't see him becoming a great Test bowler.
Click to expand...

You are funny :kakmal

Agree that Shami and Mustafizur are in the same category but they are far from top bowlers.
 
If I had the luxury of picking up fierce 4 for all formats:

1. Starc
2. Rabada
3. Boult
4. Cummins

(Amir and Ali backup in LOI, hazelwood backup in Tests)

For mysterious 4 across all formats:

(this is a tough one! )

1. Shadab Khan
2. Rashid Khan
3. Kuldeep Yadav
4. Mitchel Santner
 
Arsalan Pro said:
It is about overall bowling, not only Test cricket.
Click to expand...

I have to point out that all formats considered, Kane wouldn't make a Top 4 list at all, and other than Kohli, even Smith or Root are very debatable in Top 4 if you look at it across formats.
 
AlizeeFan said:
Even in overall since never in cricket a player is rated among best on the basis of good LOI performance alone.

Failure in test format means, a player is not good overall.
Click to expand...

Same with failure in T20 format.

People can be great through LOI only. Only limited losers like Pujara are Test specialists.

Your days of elitism and your favoured format are dying. Face the reality.
 
AlizeeFan said:
Amir in fab 4 for averaging like 35 or 40 in test cricket since his return? Bhuvneswar and Shami has done way better than him in longer format.
Click to expand...

Haha. India only play Bhuvneshwar in tests in supportive conditions. If Pakistan did that with Amir he’d be averaging <25
 
I couldnt think of any English fast bowlers who fit the bill but on second thought Steven finn could be one.
 
babajee said:
Haha. India only play Bhuvneshwar in tests in supportive conditions. If Pakistan did that with Amir he’d be averaging <25
Click to expand...

Amir has played more matches in so called supportive conditions. 18 out of 30 matches in Eng, NZ and WI with some series being supportive to bowlers than regular even for those countries. Still he averages 32.

Bhuvenswar on the other hand has played 7 out of 19 in Eng and WI. Out of his 11 matches in India, last one was on green top.
 
And Bhuvi is turning out to be quite consistent too in all formats of the game. Won't make it to the top 4 maybe, but I feel he can challenge them by the end of the Indian overseas season. Hugely underrated. Swings both ways, bowls yorkers and and is most importantly a thinking bowler.
 
Madplayer said:
We have the batting Fab 4 Kohli, Smith, Root and Williamson.

Well who would you call the Fab 4 of bowling? Or lets call them the Fierce 4

Some possible candidates (Taking all countries into consideration):

Rabada, Hazelwood, Cummins, Hasan Ali, Starc, Amir, Boult, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Shami, Yasir shah, Ashwin, Jadeja, Mustafizur Rehman.

Sorry if i missed out any good names.
Click to expand...

Hasan Ali,Amir,Rabada,Starc
 
NoBallZombie said:
If I had the luxury of picking up fierce 4 for all formats:

1. Starc
2. Rabada
3. Boult
4. Cummins

(Amir and Ali backup in LOI, hazelwood backup in Tests)

For mysterious 4 across all formats:

(this is a tough one! )

1. Shadab Khan
2. Rashid Khan
3. Kuldeep Yadav
4. Mitchel Santner
Click to expand...

Cummins over Hasan Ali?
You have got to be joking
 
Rabada, Hazelwood, Amir, Mustafizur Rehman.

Close contenders - Shami, Taskin, Bolt.

Thought i would replace Hazelwood with Hasan Ali due to Hasan Alis incredible LOI form. But then I realized Hasan Ali is actually a extremely overrated bowler. He'll be a at most good T20 bowler because of his clever use of pace, but I can't see him becoming a great Test bowler. I think even Taskin is much better than him.
 
Anik Sharma said:
Rabada, Hazelwood, Amir, Mustafizur Rehman.

Close contenders - Shami, Taskin, Bolt.

Thought i would replace Hazelwood with Hasan Ali due to Hasan Alis incredible LOI form. But then I realized Hasan Ali is actually a extremely overrated bowler. He'll be a at most good T20 bowler because of his clever use of pace, but I can't see him becoming a great Test bowler. I think even Taskin is much better than him.
Click to expand...
How is Taskin a close contendor of being one of the Fierce 4? He gets thrashed by every half decent batsman.
 
Madplayer said:
How is Taskin a close contendor of being one of the Fierce 4? He gets thrashed by every half decent batsman.
Click to expand...

I think you are watching cricket since 2016. Lol.

Taskin Ahmed was great since his debut in 14 to early 17. Even in champions trophy he was OK. Only one off bad tour to SA doesn't erase his credentials of past.

Even players like Deil Steyn lost forms for some time in small phase, but in long run he is regarded as one of the best when in form.

I don't know why but i have seen this trend that whenever a Bangladeshi player loses form many posters behave as if that loss of form is the real picture forgetting the good performances.

And by the way I didn't included Taskin in the fab 4, just suggested he could be a close contender in the future.
 
Hezlewood and Rabada surely are top class in ODI and Test.

Starc and Boult will be another 2 names who are sightly below when taking account of both formats.
 
Madplayer said:
How is Taskin a close contendor of being one of the Fierce 4? He gets thrashed by every half decent batsman.
Click to expand...

This is quite unreal.

He is quite close to being the worst bowler, of any type, playing professional cricket at senior level (international, or T20 level). Genuinely awful bowler.
 
Anik Sharma said:
Rabada, Hazelwood, Amir, Mustafizur Rehman.

Close contenders - Shami, Taskin, Bolt.

Thought i would replace Hazelwood with Hasan Ali due to Hasan Alis incredible LOI form. But then I realized Hasan Ali is actually a extremely overrated bowler. He'll be a at most good T20 bowler because of his clever use of pace, but I can't see him becoming a great Test bowler. I think even Taskin is much better than him.
Click to expand...

Taskin Ahmed> Hasan Ali..

This one needs to be framed...
 
Taskin

ODI rank - 81
T0-20 rank - 70
Test rank - 107

Am I missing something? Why his name is even being discussed here?
 
Mitchell Starc, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammad Amir and Trent Boult.

Hassan Ali and Josh Hazlewood are possibly better than the abovementioned quartet but they do not get the same level of fanfare or hype possibly due to not being experienced enough (Hassan) or being devoid of charisma (Hazlewood). It is a similar situation in the batting department seeing how someone like a Rahane or Pujara is arguably better than a couple of members of the "Fab Four" but do not have a bunch of rabid fans to cheer for them.
 
You have to pick a single bowler from each team, otherwise it is no fun. Might as well create a statsguru query and pick the first four names.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Buffet said:
Taskin

ODI rank - 81
T0-20 rank - 70
Test rank - 107

Am I missing something? Why his name is even being discussed here?
Click to expand...

Did I stated that he is one of the fab 4s?!!! :facepalm:

I said he can be in the future. He has the potential. He looked indeed one of the bests when in form.

Taskin Ahmed atm isn't the fab 4 but definitely an inform Taskin is better than an inform Hasan Ali.
 
Buffet said:
Taskin

ODI rank - 81
T0-20 rank - 70
Test rank - 107

Am I missing something? Why his name is even being discussed here?
Click to expand...

According to some BD posters , Taskin used to rank 1 in all formats before 2016 but unfortunately the whole world excpet BD started watching cricket after 2016 when Taskin lost his form.
 
Madplayer said:
According to some BD posters , Taskin used to rank 1 in all formats before 2016 but unfortunately the whole world excpet BD started watching cricket after 2016 when Taskin lost his form.
Click to expand...

Not by any other BD posters, only me. Most Bangladeshis too nowadays don't support him much. Once it used to be Taskin-Fizz, now only Fizz. But I didnt write him off yet. I still have faith on the lad. As he has shown his class from day 1. Just recently he has been out of form (2017).

Also i didn't stated anywhere that Taskin is one of the fab 4 of pace bowling.

I only wrote he certainly can be one of the contenders for the positions along with Shami,Bolt and few others too. He has the qualities and potential.

At the moment he is in a bad patch. And thus I too didn't included him among the top bowlers of today.

I hope the case is closed. He is not among the fab 4
 
Bhuvi
Umesh
Ruble Hussain
Dollar Mahmood
(The last two purely because they have currencies as first names).
 
Hasan, Rabada, Starc and Hazle.

Hasan is going to end up a great test pacer I hav a feeling
 
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Mohammad Shami
Umesh Yadav
Hardik Pandya

Honourable mention, Ishant Sharma.
 
Anik Sharma said:
Not by any other BD posters, only me. Most Bangladeshis too nowadays don't support him much. Once it used to be Taskin-Fizz, now only Fizz. But I didnt write him off yet. I still have faith on the lad. As he has shown his class from day 1. Just recently he has been out of form (2017).

Also i didn't stated anywhere that Taskin is one of the fab 4 of pace bowling.

I only wrote he certainly can be one of the contenders for the positions along with Shami,Bolt and few others too. He has the qualities and potential.

At the moment he is in a bad patch. And thus I too didn't included him among the top bowlers of today.

I hope the case is closed. He is not among the fab 4
Click to expand...
Fizz has fizzled out, he isn;t the same as he was hyped to be same goes for Taskin. The only consistent bowler from Bangla in the last decade has been Shakib & he;s your best batter from the last decade as well.

Based on what, his big bulky body or unathletic, almost ugly runup?

The only consistent bowler across formats is Rabada atm, Josh was a flop in Asia, Starc is hit & miss most often like today U& Cummins is still fairly unknown.
 
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Princejain191 said:
And Bhuvi is turning out to be quite consistent too in all formats of the game. Won't make it to the top 4 maybe, but I feel he can challenge them by the end of the Indian overseas season. Hugely underrated. Swings both ways, bowls yorkers and and is most importantly a thinking bowler.
Click to expand...

his odi stats shows otherwise though, a perfect pacer for conditions favorable for swing.
 
DRsohail said:
his odi stats shows otherwise though, a perfect pacer for conditions favorable for swing.
Click to expand...

He has improved a lot in the last two years. He wouldn't be in the Indian team if we were to judge players by broad stats alone. Bowls brilliantly in the death and uses any degree of help available quite well. Accurate with the line and the lengths. Smart cricketer. Not as flashy as an Amir but just as effective, if not more.
 
Princejain191 said:
He has improved a lot in the last two years. He wouldn't be in the Indian team if we were to judge players by broad stats alone. Bowls brilliantly in the death and uses any degree of help available quite well. Accurate with the line and the lengths. Smart cricketer. Not as flashy as an Amir but just as effective, if not more.
Click to expand...

bhvi may be very useful for india but gap bw him and AAmir is great even in tests crcket.
 
Princejain191 said:
He has improved a lot in the last two years. He wouldn't be in the Indian team if we were to judge players by broad stats alone. Bowls brilliantly in the death and uses any degree of help available quite well. Accurate with the line and the lengths. Smart cricketer. Not as flashy as an Amir but just as effective, if not more.
Click to expand...

he has taken 25 wickets in 23 odi with 37.7 average and economy of 5.2.in test he has done better but if u take this recent performance against srilanka then nothing special,but he get so much HYPE which i cant understand.
 
Princejain191 said:
He has improved a lot in the last two years. He wouldn't be in the Indian team if we were to judge players by broad stats alone. Bowls brilliantly in the death and uses any degree of help available quite well. Accurate with the line and the lengths. Smart cricketer. Not as flashy as an Amir but just as effective, if not more.
Click to expand...

Even Junaid Khan is better than Bhuvneshwar Kumar
 
bowlers
Trent Boult
Kasigo Rabada
Hassan Ali
Josh Hazlewood
then
Bhuvaneshwar kumar
Jasprit Bumrah
Mitchell starc
Mohd Aamir
Tim southee
Miguel cummins

as far as spinners are concerned

Imran tahir
Ravi Ashwin
Rashid khan
Ravi Jadeja
then
Shakib al hasan
yasir shah
Rangana Herath
Samuel badree
moeen ali
shadab khan
 
Starc
Hazelwood
Rabada
Boult

Hasan Ali will turn this into the fab 5 when he performs in tests.
 
wahab riaz
thisara perera
jake ball
stuart binny
.
.
.
james faulkner
corey anderson
rahat ali
mashrafe mortoza
jade dernbach english bowler
wayne parnell
 
DRsohail said:
he has taken 25 wickets in 23 odi with 37.7 average and economy of 5.2.in test he has done better but if u take this recent performance against srilanka then nothing special,but he get so much HYPE which i cant understand.
Click to expand...

where is the hype? And wasn't he the MOTM vs SL? Taking 8 wickets at about 11 is usually pretty special. And yes that average probably doesn't reflect how effective he has been but to have an economy of 5.2 when you are bowling in opening and death overs is really good. That average should improve over time. Not there yet but he has the making of a quality all-format bowler.

Expect a couple of match-winning performance in overseas tests in the next year and a half.
 
Princejain191 said:
where is the hype? And wasn't he the MOTM vs SL? Taking 8 wickets at about 11 is usually pretty special. And yes that average probably doesn't reflect how effective he has been but to have an economy of 5.2 when you are bowling in opening and death overs is really good. That average should improve over time. Not there yet but he has the making of a quality all-format bowler.

Expect a couple of match-winning performance in overseas tests in the next year and a half.
Click to expand...

will expect many if u consider him that good..every fast bolwer does this to open the bowling and bowl in death but he just have good economy while in that regard he sometimes goes for many and wickets column remains empty.HYPe around him is not justifried.
 
Mohammad Amir, does not deserve to be in top 4 for anything. He isn't even in top 5 in tests and ODI's. An average of 32 in tests and 27.4 in ODI does not scream top 4 in all formats. Starc averages 28 in tests and 20 in ODI's and someone above posted he is overrated. Starc, Hazlewood and Rabada make the list. Cummins does not have a good ODI record. Shami has good ODI record but his test stats are average. Bhuvi has a decent test record but his ODI stats are mediocre. Hasan Ali has brilliant ODI record but hasn't done anything in tests yet.

So technically in terms of performances, it has to be the below 4

Starc, Hazlewood, Rabada and Boult. The rest don't qualify yet. I expect Hasan Ali to feature in top 5 soon when he plays more tests, Amir based on just one spell does not make any top 5 of any format sorry. He may have potential but cricket is decided on performances. He can bowl beautifully and can be best left arm bowler since the beginning of the game but if he averages 32 with the ball, he isn't good enough to be anywhere near the top.

Shows how bad the bowling stocks are at the moment, we are calling bowlers with averages of 28 in tests as top bowlers. That is how bad it is in test cricket at the moment.

Since his return, Amir averages 37 in tests with a SR of 80 (Shocking). Below are averages of bowlers who are considered inferior to the legend:

Mohammed Shami - Ave 24.41 SR 49 (45 wickets)
Overrated Starc - Ave 24.31 SR 43.1 (61 wickets)
N Wagner - Ave 24.41 SR 48.9 (72 wickets) - Such an underrated bowler, has out bowled Boult and Southee.
B Kumar - Ave 17.75 SR 43 (24 wickets)

3 of the above mentioned 4 do not even feature in the fab 4 and they have performed miles better than Amir. But blind fans nominating him based on one Champions Trophy spell, which was good but again one performance does not make someone great.

Even in ODI, Amir does not make top 10 list since his come back. Averages 30 with the ball in 21 games. Overrated starc in same amount of games as the legend has 14 more wickets at an average of 21. But hey, the legend bowled two good balls in Champions trophy finals so he should be better than the entire world. Amir is not even the best bowler in Pakistan, to call him best 4 bowlers to be playing right now is a huge disservice to other young bowlers playing world cricket right now. I am not even bringing spinners in to the discussion here. We are only talking about the pacers. I haven't brought in Anderson, Broad, Philander, Morkel etc. in to the discussions as well.
 
giri26 said:
Mohammad Amir, does not deserve to be in top 4 for anything. He isn't even in top 5 in tests and ODI's. An average of 32 in tests and 27.4 in ODI does not scream top 4 in all formats. Starc averages 28 in tests and 20 in ODI's and someone above posted he is overrated. Starc, Hazlewood and Rabada make the list. Cummins does not have a good ODI record. Shami has good ODI record but his test stats are average. Bhuvi has a decent test record but his ODI stats are mediocre. Hasan Ali has brilliant ODI record but hasn't done anything in tests yet.

So technically in terms of performances, it has to be the below 4

Starc, Hazlewood, Rabada and Boult. The rest don't qualify yet. I expect Hasan Ali to feature in top 5 soon when he plays more tests, Amir based on just one spell does not make any top 5 of any format sorry. He may have potential but cricket is decided on performances. He can bowl beautifully and can be best left arm bowler since the beginning of the game but if he averages 32 with the ball, he isn't good enough to be anywhere near the top.

Shows how bad the bowling stocks are at the moment, we are calling bowlers with averages of 28 in tests as top bowlers. That is how bad it is in test cricket at the moment.

Since his return, Amir averages 37 in tests with a SR of 80 (Shocking). Below are averages of bowlers who are considered inferior to the legend:

Mohammed Shami - Ave 24.41 SR 49 (45 wickets)
Overrated Starc - Ave 24.31 SR 43.1 (61 wickets)
N Wagner - Ave 24.41 SR 48.9 (72 wickets) - Such an underrated bowler, has out bowled Boult and Southee.
B Kumar - Ave 17.75 SR 43 (24 wickets)

3 of the above mentioned 4 do not even feature in the fab 4 and they have performed miles better than Amir. But blind fans nominating him based on one Champions Trophy spell, which was good but again one performance does not make someone great.

Even in ODI, Amir does not make top 10 list since his come back. Averages 30 with the ball in 21 games. Overrated starc in same amount of games as the legend has 14 more wickets at an average of 21. But hey, the legend bowled two good balls in Champions trophy finals so he should be better than the entire world. Amir is not even the best bowler in Pakistan, to call him best 4 bowlers to be playing right now is a huge disservice to other young bowlers playing world cricket right now. I am not even bringing spinners in to the discussion here. We are only talking about the pacers. I haven't brought in Anderson, Broad, Philander, Morkel etc. in to the discussions as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. If it were up to PPers, they would select bowlers who would beat the bat 60 times in 10 overs without a wicket, while ignoring those who have a habit of getting loads of wickets while looking ugly. The reason why Rahat Ali was a legend here.
 
Hasan Ali, B. Kumar, Shami, Hazelwood. Starc is fantastic but not as consistent as the other three.
 
Hasan Ali(MOT in CT,#1 ODI bowler)
Starc(MOT in WC,Extremely good average in ODIs)
Boult(Highest wicket taker in wc plus extremely good in all conditions)
Rabada


Upcoming

Amir,Bumrah,Shami,Hazlewood,Cummins etc
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
Hasan Ali(MOT in CT,#1 ODI bowler)
Starc(MOT in WC,Extremely good average in ODIs)
Boult(Highest wicket taker in wc plus extremely good in all conditions)
Rabada


Upcoming

Amir,Bumrah,Shami,Hazlewood,Cummins etc
Click to expand...

Josh is anything, but an upcoming bowler. He has been a premier bowler for a while.
 
Just a polite reminder to our Bangladeshi bros, this thread is about Fab 4 and not the atrocious 4 in which Taskin & Co won't find a problem getting into and i am sure hardly anyone would disagree.
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
Yes but he is below the above mentioned ones
Click to expand...

How is he below?

Here is his entire career,

Josh in ODI format.

Josh_odi.jpg

Josh in the Test format.

josh_test.jpg

Only Rabada and Josh have consistently performed in the both formats.
 
Bleedgreen4ever said:
Fine he is among the fab 5...happy?
Click to expand...

I wasn't making a case for Josh to be among the top 5.

Since Josh and Rabada are the only 2 bowlers consistently doing well in both formats, these two will be fab 2( if you want to coin that term). Everyone else is below these two as pace bowler. That was the point I was making.
 
Josh, Rabada, Starc and Boult..

Boult will end up a notch inferior.
 
Princejain191 said:
Maybe he is, but the performance counts more. Junaid isn't even playing tests for Pak and is irregular in LOIs. Can't compare.
Click to expand...

Junaid is a bonafide starter in ODIs and he's going to make a comeback very soon in tests. He was dropped due to injury and the resulting poor form. He's the third best pacer in Pakistan.
 
Rabada, Josh, Starc and Boult.

Cummins and Hasan will make it the fab five, with both to overtake Boult once they find their feet in test cricket.
 
Madplayer said:
Woakes is nowhere near being a world class fast bowler. Many people here are not even mentioning any spinner like Ashwin and Yasir shah.
Click to expand...

Yasir is too old to finish up as the greatest or one of the greatest.

Ashwin I am not convinced of him till he proves himself away.

That's why I said he has potential. He's shown glimpses, I feel he'll soon be England's no.1 bowler in the whites.
 
Are any of them aside from Rabada and Hazlewood good enough?
 
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