Who was the real innovator of reverse swing - Sarfraz Nawaz or Imran Khan?

[Hitman]

Have always heard on how both Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis learned the art of reverse swing from Imran Khan. But then I've also head that it was Sarfraz Nawaz who was the real innovator of reverse swing.

So who actually was the true innovator of reverse swing, is it Sarfraz Nawaz or Imran Khan?


P.S. The reason I'm asking this is because I missed that era of cricket.

 

[Syed1]

Whoever forgot to clip their nails that day...

 

[b.lesner]

sarfraz nawaz was the man who discovered the art of reverse swing and imran khan made it deadly.

 

[Slog]

Sarfaraz discovered it, Imran developed and hone it whereas Waqar and Wasim mastered it

 

[Hitman]

Sarfaraz discovered it, Imran developed and hone it whereas Waqar and Wasim mastered it

But I've heard from lots and lots of fans from the 70's and the 80's that Imran was an even more skillful bowler than both Wasim and Waqar, someone who was more skillful in reverse swing that both the two W's.

 

[Slog]

Whoever forgot to clip their nails that day...

While there is little doubt that it was discovered after observing the behavior of the ball as it changes and def they experimented a lot it is also true that Wasim and Waqar and before that Imran had learnt it to the point where they knew exactly how the ball behaved.

If you observe old matches, these guys never held the ball with their palms. Always had just two fingers and held the ball exclusively by the seam. When throwing the ball from the outfield to the keeper they never let the ball bounce on its way and was always kept in the air so as not to unintentionally rough up the other side of the ball. Remember watching an interview with Wasim on how he and Waqar used to get angered and pretty much used to tell of Saqlain due to his habit of lathering the ball with his spit.

So there is no doubt they took great care of the ball so that it reaches a state where it can reverse without tampering.

If you observe the current bowlers they don't take care of the ball nearly as much and I doubt even understand.

 

[Slog]

But I've heard from lots and lots of fans from the 70's and the 80's that Imran was an even more skillful bowler than both Wasim and Waqar, someone who was more skillful in reverse swing that both the two W's.

I think most ppl say that Waqar was deadliest exponent of reverse swing

 

[jeetu]

Waqar was most effective because he was faster than others.

 

[leg-side-flick]

I think most ppl say that Waqar was deadliest exponent of reverse swing

Wa qar had more pace...

Imran was mainly a inswing / incutter bowler initially but reverse swing helped him take the ball away and when ball started straightening after he delivered from wide off crease, he at times became unplayable.... A lot of it was bottle caps etc but a lot of people did it those days but he was first who publicly admitted it

 

[Kianig89]

Sarfraz it was his spell of 7/1 at MCG which started it

 

[Slog]

Wa qar had more pace...

Imran was mainly a inswing / incutter bowler initially but reverse swing helped him take the ball away and when ball started straightening after he delivered from wide off crease, he at times became unplayable.... A lot of it was bottle caps etc but a lot of people did it those days but he was first who publicly admitted it

he never really admitted it but then there is no doubt he used it a few times as did others simply because there was no way to check.

all he said was that in a 2nd eleven county match he experimented with the effects of using bottle caps on the ball too see how it would behave to enhance his understanding of reverse.

Afaik wasim and waqar may have used nails but not bottle caps

 

[Hawkeye]

Those who watched cricket in the 70s and 80s, or watched loads of old clips can tell better.
[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]

Also I'm not too sure if it can be claimed that Wasim or Waqar had better skills than Imran Khan. Wasim was a natural, Imran wasn't. Latter learned the art of pace bowling. Not saying Wasim didn't have to learn, just comparatively.

 

[leg-side-flick]

he never really admitted it but then there is no doubt he used it a few times as did others simply because there was no way to check.

all he said was that in a 2nd eleven county match he experimented with the effects of using bottle caps on the ball too see how it would behave to enhance his understanding of reverse.

Afaik wasim and waqar may have used nails but not bottle caps

He admitted to it but probably not to use of bottle caps, i think Pak was touring England at that time and it created a furore... I don't completely remember now to what he confessed and what he did not... He got a lot of praise and brick bats as well for publicly saying all this... I don't think Wasim, waqar and co liked this

 

[Slog]

He admitted to it but probably not to use of bottle caps, i think Pak was touring England at that time and it created a furore... I don't completely remember now to what he confessed and what he did not... He got a lot of praise and brick bats as well for publicly saying all this... I don't think Wasim, waqar and co liked this

no I remember the story. he said he used it in a 2nd eleven county match and his point was to understand the behavior of the ball depending on the condition. But everyone deduces (and tbh its normal to do that because it likely happened) that he used it in international level too a few times.

now I don't know whether it was his naivety to publicly admit this or he is such an honest man that he only used it in a match of no consequence to see the behavior of the ball. though I think its the former

 

[leg-side-flick]

now I don't know whether it was his naivety to publicly admit this or he is such an honest man that he only used it in a match of no consequence to see the behavior of the ball. though I think its the former

Nope, he was anything but naive, I think the large point he was making was that almost every one tried to lift the seam but only I was good at doing it so successfully so people should not grudge it, he was not wrong either..

People kind of alluded that lifting seam is ok but not using bottle caps to which i think he had said, I did it only once and that too in a useless county match...

For the record, i think Imran was right 100%

 

[leg-side-flick]

On topic, Sarfaraz did it before Imran but he did not do much damage

 

[Robert]

Sarfraz. I remember a PAK-ENG test match in Pakistan where nobody could move it at all but Sarfraz who kept swinging the old ball in.

 

[Deosai]

Sarfaraz according to the older people I know, he was also 6'5 and had a bad temper which is a good for a fast bowler, so he is quite underrated.

I think the fact that he's always on TV talking crap and spreading conspiracy theories has made people dislike him, much like Shoaib Akhtar

 

[IndianWillow]

Sarfraz Nawaz it was. But he didn't have Imran's pace to match Imran, once Imran picked up the skill.

 

[yadunoe]

sarf nawaz was the real pioneer and he was a top bowler for pakistan his hate speech right now shouldn't take away from that

 

[aslaisnomasla]

Kapil dev and javagal srinath

 

[Enforcer]

For the enthusiasts -

The first instances of reverse-swing that I've heard of date back to Pakistan in the 1940s, although no doubt the phenomenon occurred in other countries at earlier times without anyone identifying it by name. Mudassar Nazar, whose late father Nazar Mohammad also opened the batting for Pakistan, recounts that outswing bowlers in club cricket in Lahore in his father's time would come back for a second spell with the old ball and find it swinging into right-handers. A prime exponent of this phenomenon was Salim ( Bobby) Altaf, who played for Pakistan in the 1960s.

In the West Indies in the 1950s something similar was going on. Eric Atkinson, who died in May 1998, was the key man here, a strong medium-pacer who bowled long spells at Kensington Oval for Barbados and West Indies and wobbled the old ball around in the sea breezes. The expert on this subject is Richard Prof Edwards, the West Indian fast bowler of the late 1960s who continued to do it long afterwards in Bajan club cricket for Wanderers. He still gives a fascinating lecture on reverse-swing; unfortunately, as with most lectures, when I attended Prof's in the'80s I omitted to take notes

Full article -

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/144221.html

 

[iafzal]

Sarfraz discovered it and taught the basics to Imran.
Imran perfected it and taught it to the 2 Ws.

So both had a big part in it.

 

[MenInG]

The maestro is undergoing treatment in a London hospital and we pray for his full recovery.

Pic source twitter

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Inshallah he recovers to full health. He's made a lot of careers.

 

[PakPremi]

It was Sarfraz, a very good bowler and able partner for Imran in 70s.

 

[shaaik]

Get well soon Champion.