What's new

Who is that one player who you would want to see play forever and never retire?

BouncerGuy

BouncerGuy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 29, 2023
Runs
35,230
AsiEQ35.jpg


The name that comes to mind firsthand is Wasim Akram. He was too good a bowler to watch. The list can go on and on but some of the names I would prefer to take here will be:

Ab De Villiers
Mohammad Asif
Shahid Afridi

Share your preferences.
 
Jasprit Bumrah because he’s such a unique bowler.

I’m sure the Indian cricket system, with perseverance and a bit of luck, will continue to throw up excellent batsmen, excellent spinners and (now) very good pacers. But someone like Bumrah is really so different, it’s hard to imagine a system producing one, let alone two of his type.
 
I wish 90's cricketers would replace today's cricketers and would keep on playing forever.

I was never bored of cricket in the 90's. Every game felt fulfilling. I don't get that same feeling with today's cricket.
 
One and only Shahid Afridi... the legacy of Lala can't be replaced.

He has given this nation so many moments to cherish with his performances.
 
Jimmy Anderson... I want to see him bowling his 133 outswingers forever

Also one of my personal favorites, I hope Shoaib Malik keeps playing t20 leagues for a bit. His down the track sixes above the spinners head is still a sight to see
 
Wish Zaheer Abbas played ODIs longer. Could’ve gone down as one of the best ODI batsmen of all time. He too batted in a way that was ahead of his time. Just too small of a sample size.
 
Major said:
come on Dr. Sahab i have my favorites and everyone has theres

Tussi Afridi nu Taku, sanu Misbah da game taknay deo
Click to expand...
will take Misbah ove Afridi on any day of the week , any month of the year and in any continent and any related discussion to cricket and even any discussion of any sorts.
 
Tests - Shane Warne / Andrew Flintoff
ODI - AB de Villiers / Kevin Pieterson
T20 - Chris Gayle / Brendon Mcullum
 
Jimmy Anderson. Although in this case, it might actually happen :ROFLMAO:
 
If we are only counting active players, Anderson for sure. I want him to go on and break Muralitharan’s record.
 
Rana said:
What did you enjoy most about his game?
Click to expand...
Dependable. I knew that from one end the wickets wont fall.

Thab his forward defence was perfect and the way he would shift gears and launch it for six.

The best thing about him was his captaincy though. The guy knew and had a plan even if the score being defended was 190. I watched every game of his when ge was captain. Test, t20 and odi you name it.

His bowling plans were great, he knew the art of being defensive as a captain when required and being aggressive when required. He always knew where to adjust the 5th and 6th bowler.

It was because of his captaincy i learned and can easily say that guys like shadab, babar and shaheen are terrible captains. Today's captains are social media captains.

They are overly aggressive and dont know how to be defensive as captain which is required. They dont know that you can win the game by increasing the balls and runs required gap instead of going for wickets. Or the fact you need to use your fifth or sixth bowler in such a way that you have more bowlers available to bowl for you at the end.
 
Major said:
Dependable. I knew that from one end the wickets wont fall.

Thab his forward defence was perfect and the way he would shift gears and launch it for six.

The best thing about him was his captaincy though. The guy knew and had a plan even if the score being defended was 190. I watched every game of his when ge was captain. Test, t20 and odi you name it.

His bowling plans were great, he knew the art of being defensive as a captain when required and being aggressive when required. He always knew where to adjust the 5th and 6th bowler.

It was because of his captaincy i learned and can easily say that guys like shadab, babar and shaheen are terrible captains. Today's captains are social media captains.

They are overly aggressive and dont know how to be defensive as captain which is required. They dont know that you can win the game by increasing the balls and runs required gap instead of going for wickets. Or the fact you need to use your fifth or sixth bowler in such a way that you have more bowlers available to bowl for you at the end.
Click to expand...
Fair play

If that’s what you loved about him.
 
Major said:
Dependable. I knew that from one end the wickets wont fall.

Thab his forward defence was perfect and the way he would shift gears and launch it for six.

The best thing about him was his captaincy though. The guy knew and had a plan even if the score being defended was 190. I watched every game of his when ge was captain. Test, t20 and odi you name it.

His bowling plans were great, he knew the art of being defensive as a captain when required and being aggressive when required. He always knew where to adjust the 5th and 6th bowler.

It was because of his captaincy i learned and can easily say that guys like shadab, babar and shaheen are terrible captains. Today's captains are social media captains.

They are overly aggressive and dont know how to be defensive as captain which is required. They dont know that you can win the game by increasing the balls and runs required gap instead of going for wickets. Or the fact you need to use your fifth or sixth bowler in such a way that you have more bowlers available to bowl for you at the end.
Click to expand...
Misbah’s biggest failure was that he didn’t back himself to bat in the top 3 in ODIs. Not only would he have prevented a lot of collapses, he would also have scored plenty of hundreds and allowed the middle-order to score freely.

Misbah should have batted at 3 in ODIs between 2012 and 2015. It was the ideal position for him.
 
Sachin
Lara
Akram
Shoaib
Anderson
Warnie
Klusener
Aravinda

But I would want them to play forever at their peak not during their bad phases
 
Mamoon said:
Misbah’s biggest failure was that he didn’t back himself to bat in the top 3 in ODIs. Not only would he have prevented a lot of collapses, he would also have scored plenty of hundreds and allowed the middle-order to score freely.

Misbah should have batted at 3 in ODIs between 2012 and 2015. It was the ideal position for him.
Click to expand...
Well if it was collapsing then it wouldn't have mattered him coming in at 4.
 
Mamoon said:
Misbah’s biggest failure was that he didn’t back himself to bat in the top 3 in ODIs. Not only would he have prevented a lot of collapses, he would also have scored plenty of hundreds and allowed the middle-order to score freely.

Misbah should have batted at 3 in ODIs between 2012 and 2015. It was the ideal position for him.
Click to expand...
He couldnt play the new ball so there was no way he would had survived at no.3 . I get the point tht the collapse meant he would still come, but it was not his job, and had difficulties seeing off the new ball

As a batter he was very limited, so he had to play within those limits which is why either lower order or middle order was his place. But not top order.

Thing is while the likes of ahmed shezad, nasir jamshed, and younis khan sucked at the top order, guys like sohaib maqsood and umar akmal were also no good at the middle and lower order aswell.

So misbah was like the bridge between these two collapses and he had to do two things. Make sure the fall of wickets stop from one end and than at the same time also score runs. If he would had batted at no.3, the fall of wickets from one end may have stopped a wicket eaelier but than his scoring rate would had further reduced.

I remember, things became soo bad that when Imran Farhat ended up scoring against dale steyn as an opener, misbah decided to keep him in the odi team because the rest were so bad atleast he got runs off the kighty saffars bowling attack
 
I will choose Shahid Afridi because of his stardom. Whenever we were losing hope, we always had a feeling that Shahid Afridi would come through.

And I will choose Kumar Sangakkara for his classy drives. I regard him as the all time greatest batter.
 
One guy i would like to mention that should had played much earlier and not been left to make out a career towards the end is sarfraz ahmad.

Sarfraz should had been Pakistan's regular keeprr from 2008 asia cup onwards.

Had he stayed as keeper and allowed to adjust, the 2009-2010 sydney test would never had been such a disaster.

I still feel that his career could had been much much much different had he not be treated fairly during his start.

In the end, im glad he won an icc trophy and was able to salvage out a career but it should had started kuch earlier
 
Major said:
He couldnt play the new ball so there was no way he would had survived at no.3 . I get the point tht the collapse meant he would still come, but it was not his job, and had difficulties seeing off the new ball

As a batter he was very limited, so he had to play within those limits which is why either lower order or middle order was his place. But not top order.

Thing is while the likes of ahmed shezad, nasir jamshed, and younis khan sucked at the top order, guys like sohaib maqsood and umar akmal were also no good at the middle and lower order aswell.

So misbah was like the bridge between these two collapses and he had to do two things. Make sure the fall of wickets stop from one end and than at the same time also score runs. If he would had batted at no.3, the fall of wickets from one end may have stopped a wicket eaelier but than his scoring rate would had further reduced.

I remember, things became soo bad that when Imran Farhat ended up scoring against dale steyn as an opener, misbah decided to keep him in the odi team because the rest were so bad atleast he got runs off the kighty saffars bowling attack
Click to expand...
Misbah with his temperament and defensive technique would have done well. There were quite a few occasions, for example the West Indies match in CT 2013, where he arrived at the crease early in difficult conditions but managed to negate the swing.

Besides, it is not like the other batsmen were any good against the moving ball. Shehzad, Hafeez, Jamshed, Shafiq, Younis etc. who featured in the top 3 at the time were all circumspect against the moving ball.

Misbah at 3 may not have worked but it was an idea worth exploring.
 
Please stop talking about Misbah, giving me headache, put me in bad mood, please move on.
 
moghul said:
Please stop talking about Misbah, giving me headache, put me in bad mood, please move on.
Click to expand...

I know right. It’s as if their life depends on him.

The horror show in Mohali during the 2011 World Cup should have been the end of his white ball career at the very least.
 
Mamoon said:
Misbah with his temperament and defensive technique would have done well. There were quite a few occasions, for example the West Indies match in CT 2013, where he arrived at the crease early in difficult conditions but managed to negate the swing.

Besides, it is not like the other batsmen were any good against the moving ball. Shehzad, Hafeez, Jamshed, Shafiq, Younis etc. who featured in the top 3 at the time were all circumspect against the moving ball.

Misbah at 3 may not have worked but it was an idea worth exploring.
Click to expand...
I find it sad that it was the last era where odi series mattered and teams still played stronger sides against us

One thing i loved about that era was how Younis Khan got exposed with the bat in odi

In 2010 he was overhyped as being a good limited overs batter. Even though he avg in the 30s back than, but the guy was terrible in one day cricket.

I always do wonder that had babar been given a go after 2012, how he would had done as no.3 batter
 
Sanath Jayasuriya...he was explosive. I wished if he was still playing today.
 
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Waqar Younis.
3. Shaun Pollack
4. Srinath
5. Steve Waugh
6. Mark Taylor
7. Lara
8. Lance Klusner
9. Sangarkara
10. Ajay Jadeja
 
Before my time but Lara. Such an elegant player to watch, could find gaps in the field at will. Wish I could have watched him live in his prime.

Of those I have seen it would be Sanga, some of the crispest cover drives ever played came off his bat. Of pakistanis it would be YK, great player of spin and fond memories of smashing Australia in the UAE.
 
Brian Lara - one man army
KP - Slapped his critics when it got the toughest
Shane Warne - his bowling was sheer pleasure to watch
Shoaib Akhtar - his absences had become so frequent that it became annoying but Shoaib till 2006 was something else
Steyn - Booming leg spinners at 145kph - could watch him bowl all day.
Sangakkara - left at his prime and wanting more
Graeme Smith - His absence can still be felt in SA tests
 
shoaib akthar in his prime
bond shane

current era - nobody really. they are all machines. lol. no flair in bowlers
in batsmen there are a few
rishab pant what a player he is. pure entertainment and class
kind of like travis head too now
 
It used to be AB de Villiers. There were a few more but AB obviously the one at the top.

Among active players, I think it's Rishabh Pant, especially in Tests cricket. What a player he was between 2018-2022.
 
chinaman00 said:
No. He has damaged Pakistan cricket and normalized mediocrity.
Click to expand...
How on earth can you damage a team and normalise “mediocrity” for a team that majority of the times has always been below par and very much damaged most of its playing years??

The man provided entertainment and flair put the team on the map both with his batting and bowling and aggression…
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fanti78 said:
How on earth can you damage a team and normalise “mediocrity” for a team that majority of the times has always been below par and very much damaged most of its playing years??

The man provided entertainment and flair put the team on the map both with his batting and bowling and aggression…

Get a grip twatt.
Click to expand...

Afridi made it cool to perform once every 50 matches and not get dropped. He normalized impulsiveness over sticking to what the situation demanded. Honestly, if Afridi played for any other country, he would have been dropped a long time ago.

If people want entertainment they can go to the circus.
 
chinaman00 said:
Afridi made it cool to perform once every 50 matches and not get dropped. He normalized impulsiveness over sticking to what the situation demanded. Honestly, if Afridi played for any other country, he would have been dropped a long time ago.

If people want entertainment they can go to the circus.
Click to expand...
Most people watch cricket for entertainment and enjoyment and if that’s not the reason why you’re watching it then questions have to be raised why are you watching 22 men on the field….. Oh dear.
 
Fanti78 said:
Most people watch cricket for entertainment and enjoyment and if that’s not the reason why you’re watching it then questions have to be raised why are you watching 22 men on the field….. Oh dear.
Click to expand...

I give it to you that current cricket with the advent of T20 is an entertainment business and no longer a sport.
 
Wasim Akram
Sachin
Lara
Warne
Anwar
I can't get bored watching their game whole day.
 
I don’t think I’d want to watch anyone forever. I like to see new players come through for their day in the sun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

mominsaigol
Who is the best player of spin in the world?
Replies
40
Views
2K
Golu-momin
G
FearlessRoar
[VIDEOS] The banter between Pakistan cricketers on the field is something we all like to see
Replies
6
Views
408
hassan918
hassan918
BouncerGuy
"Whether it's a youngster or a senior player, the best option available should play for Pakistan right now": Aaqib Javed
Replies
2
Views
348
mominsaigol
mominsaigol
The Bald Eagle
"Win is a win, no matter who you win against, if we lose to these teams, then we get criticized too": Hassan Ali
Replies
21
Views
1K
ravisurya
R
shariqnoor
  • Poll Poll
Swing vs Seam: Which is more deadly?
Replies
41
Views
1K
aboveandbeyond
A
Back
Top