Who will be Pakistan’s top wicket-taker in the Test series against England?

[Abdullah719]

Abbas did well last time around with 10 wickets in 2 Tests at a pretty good rate. Yasir Shah has had some success and many failures, same goes for Sohail Khan.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are burdering many expectations but they will be playing Tests in England for the first time.

Vote for your choice in the poll.

 

[zain7077]

Naseem

 

[PakPremi]

Afridi

 

[sweep_shot]

I vote for Shaheen Afridi. He is supposed to do well on these conditions.

 

[Shaka81]

I'm going for Abbas to surprise everyone and benefit from the kind of conditions that suit his style of bowling and England underestimating him to give him plenty of cheap wickets.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Naseem was getting insane swing in the practice matches and ended with the best figures other than Sohail Khan. And since I don’t believe Sohail Khan will get the most wickets, I think Naseem is going to destroy the English side. This is his breakout series.

Shaheen will end second best.

 

[TeamPak95]

Prediction: Naseem

Wild card/unpopular pick (if he gets games): Faheem

 

[Junaids]

Prediction: Naseem

Wild card/unpopular pick (if he gets games): Faheem

Pretty much what I’d say too!

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

It has to be naseem. He is wonderful talent already the fastest pacer in ASIA.

 

[shamaan]

Naseem was getting insane swing in the practice matches and ended with the best figures other than Sohail Khan. And since I don’t believe Sohail Khan will get the most wickets, I think Naseem is going to destroy the English side. This is his breakout series.

Shaheen will end second best.

Hopefully !

 

[Arsal_AK]

I'll go with Naseem too. Looked downright unplayable at times in the warm-ups games going by the highlights.

 

[MenInG]

Naseem for me - especially as he is an unknown to England.

 

[hisham_ashraf]

Shaheen for me.
Naseem may very well clean up the tail.
Shaheen's performances may very well decide the fate of the series.
It's really important to get wickets with the new ball and looking at the English openers, their game plan is just to see off the new ball. So that battle is going to be important.

 

[MenInG]

The Pakistan bowling attack in full glory

 

[IMMY69]

Weather had been hot and sunny and we're now into August... surely this will play a part?

Maybe go eith the unexpected, Yasir Shah?

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

The Pakistan bowling attack in full glory

View attachment 102534

Healthy competition!

Hopefully we will get 20 wickets consistently!

 

[MenInG]

Weather had been hot and sunny and we're now into August... surely this will play a part?

Maybe go eith the unexpected, Yasir Shah?

if it is Yasir Shah, this could be a great gain for Pakistan for the near term

 

[MenInG]

Naseem Shah looks like a dead cert but will his inexperience let him down?

 

[Hasan123]

This is Shaheen summer.

 

[Local.Dada]

I'll go with Naseem too. Looked downright unplayable at times in the warm-ups games going by the highlights.

On a lighter note, wasn’t the practice matches against your own teams players? If then doesn’t sound like a good news if you look at it from the other perspective

 

[Shazzam]

Shaheen Shah Afridi no doubt

 

[Titan24]

Don’t remember the last time when it was so difficult to pick one pacer and all three main seamers being equally capable to shine on the day.

My concerns are spin bowling and slip catching which can release the pressure and batting struggling to post 275+.

 

[shady]

I got Shaheen, he's more likely to play all three tests whereas I feel they'll rest Naseem for the 2nd test. His strength of pitching the ball up should be most effective on English pitches and his left arm angle will trouble them too. Having said that, I get the feeling Naseem might have the more impactful wickets in the games he plays.

 

[MenInG]

I got Shaheen, he's more likely to play all three tests whereas I feel they'll rest Naseem for the 2nd test. His strength of pitching the ball up should be most effective on English pitches and his left arm angle will trouble them too. Having said that, I get the feeling Naseem might have the more impactful wickets in the games he plays.

That is a good point - fitness. Think Naseem being new to the scene may feel some fitness issues so may not play all three but that would be a disappointment.

 

[shamaan]

That is a good point - fitness. Think Naseem being new to the scene may feel some fitness issues so may not play all three but that would be a disappointment.

I fink he will play 2

 

[MenInG]

Naseem Shah needs to take wickets today - if he gets his rhythm right, he can be the top wicket taker, else Shaheen looks good for that (unless Abbas continues what he was doing)

 

[MMHS]

So far tally
Yasir 8
Abbas 3
Shaheen 2
Naseem 2
Shadab 2
Sohail 0
Faheem 0

 

[Invincible Gujjar]

So it seems like Yasir will top the bowling charts.

 

[shamaan]

Yasir looks like hes ganna take the most wickets

 

[Nervesofsteel]

I'm pretty sure this was the most impact Yasir was going to have in any test match. He will get thrashed more & more in the next 2 test matches.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Experience clearly a very important factor when playing test matches.. pretty sure Wahab or Aamir would have had more impact than Shaheen or Naseem taking nothing away from them. You need to sustain the pressure for longer periods. Having said that, both the youngsters bowled a couple of fantastic spells to get Root and Pope our before Buttler and Woakes counter attacked.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

I'm pretty sure this was the most impact Yasir was going to have in any test match. He will get thrashed more & more in the next 2 test matches.

Heat wave predicted in the UK and across Europe. Expect drier pitches where Yasir will again come into play.

 

[QalandarFan]

Heat wave predicted in the UK and across Europe. Expect drier pitches where Yasir will again come into play.

We can be playing on rank turners and posters here will expect Yasir to get thrashed. Dude has done nothing but win us matches and take wickets throughout his career, yet people on this forum act as if he has 80 wickets in 40 tests, all because of a couple matches in Australia.

You don’t become the fastest person to 200 Test Wickets by being mediocre, yet posters here act like he’s one of the worst spinners in the world.

 

[Nervesofsteel]

Heat wave predicted in the UK and across Europe. Expect drier pitches where Yasir will again come into play.

I hope you're right & I'm wrong for Pakistan's sake. But I'm just stating my gut feeling. I think the old trafford pitch offered more assistance to a spinner than what spinners usually get in UK.

Plus, I'm sure many posters on this forum will agree...Yasir bowls just way too many freebies.

 

[shamaan]

I hope you're right & I'm wrong for Pakistan's sake. But I'm just stating my gut feeling. I think the old trafford pitch offered more assistance to a spinner than what spinners usually get in UK.

Plus, I'm sure many posters on this forum will agree...Yasir bowls just way too many freebies.

Am sure Southampton is condussive to spin

 

[Nervesofsteel]

Am sure Southampton is condussive to spin

The last test at the same venue was England vs WI and majority of the wickets were taken by fast bowlers.

 

[shamaan]

The last test at the same venue was England vs WI and majority of the wickets were taken by fast bowlers.

Okay then I'd go with extra Bateman fawad or imaam and drop shadab

 

[MenInG]

Not quite sure about the wicket - some saying its going to be effected by hot summer - so could Yasir Shah excel again?

 

[Sher Khan]

Not quite sure about the wicket - some saying its going to be effected by hot summer - so could Yasir Shah excel again?

The second test should be a draw courtesy the bad weather. But hopefully, England can win the third test and wrap up the series 2-0.

 

[MenInG]

Yasir Shah leading but can he take more wickets?

 

[MenInG]

Unlikely that Yasir Shah will be able to add to his tally on this pitch - Abbas with a good chance now.

 

[Firebat]

18 wickets have been taken by Pakistan so far in this series:

Yasir - 8
Shaheen - 3
Abbas - 3
Naseem - 2
Shadab - 2

Shaheen got the highest share of the poll votes, while Yasir only received 9%...

 

[MenInG]

18 wickets have been taken by Pakistan so far in this series:

Yasir - 8
Shaheen - 3
Abbas - 3
Naseem - 2
Shadab - 2

Shaheen got the highest share of the poll votes, while Yasir only received 9%...

Yasir still leading? amazing.

 

[Mamoon]

So the speed demon (fastest in Asia already) who was tipped by many to be the leading wicket-taker has ended up with 3 wickets in 3 Tests.

Oh dear.

 

[Bhaijaan]

18 wickets have been taken by Pakistan so far in this series:

Yasir - 8
Shaheen - 3
Abbas - 3
Naseem - 2
Shadab - 2

Shaheen got the highest share of the poll votes, while Yasir only received 9%...

Embarrassing.

This has to be among the worst shows by Pakistani spinners in England.

 

[shamaan]

Embarrassing.

This has to be among the worst shows by Pakistani spinners in England.

How much did bess take ?

 

[MMHS]

So the speed demon (fastest in Asia already) who was tipped by many to be the leading wicket-taker has ended up with 3 wickets in 3 Tests.

Oh dear.

Rain didn’t help - he could have taken 6+7 in the second Test. That would have taken the tally to 20. Also, still another innings left - if England doesn’t enforce the follow on - it’s possible to run through this bang average English batting lineup like a hot knife in melting butter - 7/26 can bring the average to 25 level.

 

[Mamoon]

Rain didn’t help - he could have taken 6+7 in the second Test. That would have taken the tally to 20. Also, still another innings left - if England doesn’t enforce the follow on - it’s possible to run through this bang average English batting lineup like a hot knife in melting butter - 7/26 can bring the average to 25 level.

Yes I forgot the second Test which Pakistan won by 150+ runs with Naseem taking a 6-fer in the second innings.

 

[Mueez]

I expected better from Shaheen.

But he showed inexperience on this tour.

 

[MenInG]

Seems Yasir Shah will make it to the top. Who would have thought!?

 

[Hasan123]

Naseem and Shaheen have been disappointing.

 

[The Viper]

Yasir Shah finishes as top wicket-taker for Pakistan with 11 wickets.