Who will be the next Pakistani fast-bowler to reach 200 Test wickets?

[Zaz]

Theres only 3 pakistani fast bowlers to have taken 200 plus test wickets and Waqar was the last one nearly 25 years ago

Since then theres been many potential pretenders but none had either the desire, self discipline, longevity or the skill to match their early potential

M Zahid, Shoaib Akhter, M Sami, U Gul, M Asif, M Amir, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan etc the list is endless

Theyve all flattered to decieve People go on about the fast bowling tradition but why hasnt there been others that have achieve this feat and who will be the next one to acheive this milestone?

 

[shamaan]

Theres only 3 pakistani fast bowlers to have taken 200 plus test wickets and Waqar was the last one nearly 25 years ago

Since then theres been many potential pretenders but none had either the desire, self discipline, longevity or the skill to match their early potential

M Zahid, Shoaib Akhter, M Sami, U Gul, M Asif, M Amir, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan etc the list is endless

Theyve all flattered to decieve People go on about the fast bowling tradition but why hasnt there been others that have achieve this feat and who will be the next one to acheive this milestone?

I'd go with Shaheen il also have naseem but hes proberly ganna be injured alot more

 

[sweep_shot]

Shaheen and Naseem should both reach 200 wickets. I hope they will not throw it away like Amir did.

 

[Zaz]

WI have been in a similar situation with roach now taken 200 wickets 26 years after ambrose last achieved the feat

Sky speaking to him he seems a very fit, down to earth, uncontroversial guy who takes pride in being on that list and playing test cricket for WI

It will need someone from pakistan to play around 60 tests in the next decade

Taking the above traits into consideration shaheen seems more capable than naseem to achieve that feat to me at the moment

Lets see if we can keep these guys level headed, controversy and injury free to make the most of their potential and be spoken in the same sentence as those 3 legends

 

[Ab Fan]

It's quite scary to think that a country like Pakistan have struggled to produce a fast bowler with 200+ test wickets over a period of two decades now.

It hardly takes about 50 tests for a good bowler to take 200 wickets and this gives us an idea that where Pakistan have gone wrong is not being able to develop and shape a good bowling talent over the past two decades which includes the usual reasoning like injuries, lack of discipline and desire to play for your country for long.

While most of the other countries have produced atleast 3-4 fast bowlers over 200 wickets during this time period, Pakistan has none. It's important to understand the value of durability and longevity in cricket as 200 wickets are bare minimum you take as a bowler to highlight your services and achievements for your country.

 

[Zaz]

pakistan now needs to manage its bowlers well and make sure they emphasise test cricket to them and make it a priority

Pick bowlers who will have good fitness, no big egos and those with the temperament and desire to give sweat blood and tears on the pitch

Too many of our bowlers in the last 25 years have fallen away after good starts to their careers The issue needs to be looked at

 

[coy0607]

The 2010's in general were a disaster for Pakistan cricket - this team was consistently minnow level from the spot-fixing fiasco all the way to the CT'17. Scandals, below par performance, players not living up to potential, no cricket at home, etc. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong, so this isn't surprising.

Abbas is a third of the way there, but don't think he'll get to 200. His place is consistently under question even after decent performances. Shaheen is the best bet, unless Amir come's back to Test cricket (which I'm not ruling out).

 

[Markhor]

Said it before that Pakistan's fast bowling has been living off past reputation for years.

There's been so many bowlers who start their career off with a bang, are hyped to the moon, only to fade away due to injuries, lack of hard work or fickle selection policies.

 

[Zaz]

A lot of it is self inflicted like people have said fickle selections, unfit bowlers, lack of discipline and desire and match fixing bans

Playing in the UAE on them dead pitches hasnt helped either

 

[Bhaijaan]

Lucky the days of draught are now over my deaf @Zaz. In Naseem ****, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Musa Ahmed Pakistan have now unearthed 3 young pacers who can all go on to take 500+ test wickets.

 

[sweep_shot]

Said it before that Pakistan's fast bowling has been living off past reputation for years.

There's been so many bowlers who start their career off with a bang, are hyped to the moon, only to fade away due to injuries, lack of hard work or fickle selection policies.

Bang on!

I have noticed that Pakistani fans and media like to hype up players. It probably puts a lot of pressure on them which impacts their performances. Only Babar has been able to keep himself disciplined.

Early days for Naseem and I hope things will go right for him.

 

[umarf76]

Number of test wickets will no longer be important in years to come. One day and T20 stats will clearly become more important. Money is what runs the game and it is all about White ball cricket. In White ball cricket there is Amir and in the future Shaheen and Naseem.

 

[TrentDevil]

Maybe Shaheen or Naseem by the end of this decade considering Pakistan keeps playing 5 Tests/year and they play majority of the games, so that's a BIG maybe here.

Abbas has a realistic chance if he plays another half a decade or so(i hope & pray that he does), as he's less likely to be prone to injuries rather than Naseem/Shaheen.

 

[Zaz]

Number of test wickets will no longer be important in years to come. One day and T20 stats will clearly become more important. Money is what runs the game and it is all about White ball cricket. In White ball cricket there is Amir and in the future Shaheen and Naseem.

Sorry disagree Odis have been around for 40 years, t20s for about 15 years

Nobody remembers players stats in these formats or the results outside world cups

If this hasnt changed until now i dont see them changing

To be a great bowler you need to have great test stats to back these up

Always have and always will

 

[TrentDevil]

Number of test wickets will no longer be important in years to come. One day and T20 stats will clearly become more important. Money is what runs the game and it is all about White ball cricket. In White ball cricket there is Amir and in the future Shaheen and Naseem.

I think ODIs will be irrelevant very soon, might be limited to WCs only. With ICC's proposed T20 Champions league(10 teams) and Test Cricket still being strong mostly bcz of Eng & Aus, it's almost certain that we will see very less of ODI Cricket in next cycle.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Not just pakistan. Roach was the first since curtly to take 200 wickets for Windies. I think Pakistan simply don't play enough test matches and the bowlers try to play all 3 formats and get injured/worn out etc. Also, Jimmy and Broad play only tests, Josh and Starc have played very few bilateral ODI's/T20I's over the last 5 years, Ishant plays only tests, Shami and Bumrah skip a lot of T20's and ODI's as well. That should give you a clue . Someone like a hasan ali was flogged in all 3 formats and we saw what happened.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Not just pakistan. Roach was the first since curtly to take 200 wickets for Windies. I think Pakistan simply don't play enough test matches and the bowlers try to play all 3 formats and get injured/worn out etc. Also, Jimmy and Broad play only tests, Josh and Starc have played very few bilateral ODI's/T20I's over the last 5 years, Ishant plays only tests, Shami and Bumrah skip a lot of T20's and ODI's as well. That should give you a clue . Someone like a hasan ali was flogged in all 3 formats and we saw what happened.

Hopefully since Misbah and Waqar prioritise test cricket they will rest the likes of Naseem and Shaheen from white ball matches.

 

[shamaan]

Hopefully since Misbah and Waqar prioritise test cricket they will rest the likes of Naseem and Shaheen from white ball matches.

They should have a squad of bowlers for test and squad for t20s and odis

 

[ExplicitAI]

People need to understand that the key thing is to win games. We've been playing home games in the UAE and to succeed there, you're going to have to bowl out other teams with spinners, we've got Yasir Shah with 200+ Test wickets so that shows we've invested in the right player for the right conditions to earn wins under Misbah.

With fast bowlers I think Shaheen can attain that, Naseem is good enough and I feel he will be playing as long as Ishant Sharma has and get get around that wicket tally (not comparing bowling stats here).

 

[Zaz]

People need to understand that the key thing is to win games. We've been playing home games in the UAE and to succeed there, you're going to have to bowl out other teams with spinners, we've got Yasir Shah with 200+ Test wickets so that shows we've invested in the right player for the right conditions to earn wins under Misbah.

With fast bowlers I think Shaheen can attain that, Naseem is good enough and I feel he will be playing as long as Ishant Sharma has and get get around that wicket tally (not comparing bowling stats here).

No ones been expecting pakistans pace bowlers to be playing 100 tests and taking 400 test wickets anymore

Taking uae and the lack of tests overall into account surely it still isnt asking too much for at least a couple of bowlers to have stung together 60 tests over say a 12 year period to get 200 test wickets

Its not a huge no by any stretch of imagination

 

[Nasty Naz]

It easily could have been at least 3 bowlers if not more but injuries (Shoaib) and Amir/Asif being banned for those 5 years has been the reasons why we haven't seen a Pakistani pacer in recent memory have that consistent long run in Tests.

Others have just been too inconsistent or simply not good enough like Wahab/Gul/Sami. Junaid could have been someone who could have done it if not for injuries.

UAE being the home ground for Pakistan for such a long time is another reason why. UAE is probably the worst thing to happen for Pakistani cricket to the point where even fans have lost interest because matches in UAE are so lifeless and boring. Fast bowlers do so poor there, barely any team ever plays quick there and its basically death for bowlers bowling on dead pitches in the scorching desert.

Shaheen and Naseem are the obvious candidates to accomplish the feat and the key will be staying healthy.

 

[Hasan123]

Shaheen Shah Afridi.

 

[Abdullah719]

Top wicket-taking Pakistani pacers since Waqar's retirement in 2003:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Wkts[/td][td]BBI[/td][td]BBM[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]Econ[/td][td]SR[/td][td]5[/td][td]10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Umar Gul[/td][td]47[/td][td]163[/td][td]6/135[/td][td]9/164[/td][td]34.06[/td][td]3.47[/td][td]58.8[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Amir[/td][td]36[/td][td]119[/td][td]6/44[/td][td]7/64[/td][td]30.47[/td][td]2.85[/td][td]64.0[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Asif[/td][td]23[/td][td]106[/td][td]6/41[/td][td]11/71[/td][td]24.36[/td][td]2.99[/td][td]48.7[/td][td]7[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Akhtar[/td][td]21[/td][td]90[/td][td]6/30[/td][td]11/78[/td][td]24.24[/td][td]3.38[/td][td]43.0[/td][td]7[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wahab Riaz[/td][td]27[/td][td]83[/td][td]5/63[/td][td]7/134[/td][td]34.50[/td][td]3.42[/td][td]60.4[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Abbas[/td][td]18[/td][td]75[/td][td]5/33[/td][td]10/95[/td][td]20.76[/td][td]2.44[/td][td]50.8[/td][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Junaid Khan[/td][td]22[/td][td]71[/td][td]5/38[/td][td]8/151[/td][td]31.73[/td][td]2.93[/td][td]64.8[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Sami[/td][td]27[/td][td]60[/td][td]5/44[/td][td]5/170[/td][td]57.93[/td][td]3.71[/td][td]93.5[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Rahat Ali[/td][td]21[/td][td]58[/td][td]6/127[/td][td]7/100[/td][td]39.03[/td][td]3.21[/td][td]72.8[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Abdul Razzaq[/td][td]22[/td][td]52[/td][td]5/35[/td][td]7/155[/td][td]40.55[/td][td]3.47[/td][td]70.0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shabbir Ahmed[/td][td]10[/td][td]51[/td][td]5/48[/td][td]8/109[/td][td]23.03[/td][td]2.73[/td][td]50.5[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hasan Ali[/td][td]9[/td][td]31[/td][td]5/45[/td][td]7/83[/td][td]28.90[/td][td]3.09[/td][td]56.0[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shaheen Shah Afridi[/td][td]8[/td][td]30[/td][td]5/77[/td][td]6/128[/td][td]27.96[/td][td]3.13[/td][td]53.5[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Imran Khan[/td][td]10[/td][td]29[/td][td]5/58[/td][td]6/128[/td][td]31.62[/td][td]3.36[/td][td]56.4[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sohail Khan[/td][td]9[/td][td]27[/td][td]5/68[/td][td]7/207[/td][td]41.66[/td][td]3.69[/td][td]67.7[/td][td]2[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Aizaz Cheema[/td][td]7[/td][td]20[/td][td]4/24[/td][td]8/103[/td][td]31.90[/td][td]3.19[/td][td]60.0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Nazir[/td][td]7[/td][td]19[/td][td]3/32[/td][td]6/105[/td][td]37.15[/td][td]3.54[/td][td]62.8[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Naved-ul-Hasan[/td][td]9[/td][td]18[/td][td]3/30[/td][td]5/93[/td][td]58.00[/td][td]4.00[/td][td]86.9[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Tanvir Ahmed[/td][td]5[/td][td]17[/td][td]6/120[/td][td]6/149[/td][td]26.64[/td][td]3.84[/td][td]41.5[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Naseem Shah[/td][td]4[/td][td]13[/td][td]5/31[/td][td]5/87[/td][td]26.84[/td][td]3.48[/td][td]46.2[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Faheem Ashraf[/td][td]4[/td][td]11[/td][td]3/42[/td][td]6/99[/td][td]26.09[/td][td]3.18[/td][td]49.0[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Irfan[/td][td]4[/td][td]10[/td][td]3/44[/td][td]4/86[/td][td]38.90[/td][td]3.27[/td][td]71.2[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][/tr][/table]

Just look at the small number of matches played by them all. The likes of Akhtar and Asif had various issues and didn't play as much as they should have. Most of the rest just weren't very good or fell away which is why they didn't play much.

 

[Abdullah719]

Top wicket-taking pacers from all countries since Waqar's retirement:

[table=class:grid][tr][td]Player[/td][td]Mat[/td][td]Wkts[/td][td]BBI[/td][td]BBM[/td][td]Ave[/td][td]Econ[/td][td]SR[/td][td]5[/td][td]10[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JM Anderson (ENG)[/td][td]153[/td][td]589[/td][td]7/42[/td][td]11/71[/td][td]26.80[/td][td]2.86[/td][td]56.1[/td][td]28[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SCJ Broad (ENG)[/td][td]140[/td][td]493[/td][td]8/15[/td][td]11/121[/td][td]28.30[/td][td]2.95[/td][td]57.5[/td][td]17[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DW Steyn (SA)[/td][td]93[/td][td]439[/td][td]7/51[/td][td]11/60[/td][td]22.95[/td][td]3.24[/td][td]42.3[/td][td]26[/td][td]5[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MG Johnson (AUS)[/td][td]73[/td][td]313[/td][td]8/61[/td][td]12/127[/td][td]28.40[/td][td]3.33[/td][td]51.1[/td][td]12[/td][td]3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Morkel (SA)[/td][td]86[/td][td]309[/td][td]6/23[/td][td]9/110[/td][td]27.66[/td][td]3.10[/td][td]53.3[/td][td]8[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Ntini (SA)[/td][td]72[/td][td]297[/td][td]7/37[/td][td]13/132[/td][td]28.80[/td][td]3.31[/td][td]52.1[/td][td]16[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]I Sharma (INDIA)[/td][td]97[/td][td]297[/td][td]7/74[/td][td]10/108[/td][td]32.39[/td][td]3.18[/td][td]61.1[/td][td]11[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TG Southee (NZ)[/td][td]73[/td][td]284[/td][td]7/64[/td][td]10/108[/td][td]29.00[/td][td]3.01[/td][td]57.7[/td][td]10[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TA Boult (NZ)[/td][td]67[/td][td]267[/td][td]6/30[/td][td]10/80[/td][td]27.65[/td][td]2.97[/td][td]55.7[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MA Starc (AUS)[/td][td]57[/td][td]244[/td][td]6/50[/td][td]11/94[/td][td]26.97[/td][td]3.36[/td][td]48.1[/td][td]13[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Z Khan (INDIA)[/td][td]68[/td][td]238[/td][td]7/87[/td][td]10/149[/td][td]32.82[/td][td]3.29[/td][td]59.7[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]VD Philander (SA)[/td][td]64[/td][td]224[/td][td]6/21[/td][td]10/102[/td][td]22.32[/td][td]2.63[/td][td]50.8[/td][td]13[/td][td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PM Siddle (AUS)[/td][td]67[/td][td]221[/td][td]6/54[/td][td]9/104[/td][td]30.66[/td][td]2.92[/td][td]62.9[/td][td]8[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SJ Harmison (ENG/ICC)[/td][td]58[/td][td]212[/td][td]7/12[/td][td]11/76[/td][td]31.21[/td][td]3.23[/td][td]57.9[/td][td]8[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]B Lee (AUS)[/td][td]49[/td][td]208[/td][td]5/30[/td][td]9/171[/td][td]31.39[/td][td]3.45[/td][td]54.6[/td][td]6[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]N Wagner (NZ)[/td][td]48[/td][td]206[/td][td]7/39[/td][td]9/73[/td][td]26.60[/td][td]3.06[/td][td]52.1[/td][td]9[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KAJ Roach (WI)[/td][td]59[/td][td]201[/td][td]6/48[/td][td]10/146[/td][td]27.34[/td][td]3.09[/td][td]53.0[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CS Martin (NZ)[/td][td]60[/td][td]199[/td][td]6/26[/td][td]11/180[/td][td]33.67[/td][td]3.33[/td][td]60.6[/td][td]9[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]K Rabada (SA)[/td][td]43[/td][td]197[/td][td]7/112[/td][td]13/144[/td][td]22.95[/td][td]3.38[/td][td]40.6[/td][td]9[/td][td]4[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JR Hazlewood (AUS)[/td][td]51[/td][td]195[/td][td]6/67[/td][td]9/115[/td][td]26.20[/td][td]2.78[/td][td]56.5[/td][td]7[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Flintoff (ENG/ICC)[/td][td]58[/td][td]193[/td][td]5/58[/td][td]8/156[/td][td]30.33[/td][td]3.00[/td][td]60.6[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Hoggard (ENG)[/td][td]49[/td][td]182[/td][td]7/61[/td][td]12/205[/td][td]29.13[/td][td]3.23[/td][td]54.0[/td][td]5[/td][td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammed Shami (INDIA)[/td][td]49[/td][td]180[/td][td]6/56[/td][td]9/118[/td][td]27.36[/td][td]3.32[/td][td]49.4[/td][td]5[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]FH Edwards (WI)[/td][td]55[/td][td]165[/td][td]7/87[/td][td]8/132[/td][td]37.87[/td][td]3.90[/td][td]58.1[/td][td]12[/td][td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Umar Gul (PAK)[/td][td]47[/td][td]163[/td][td]6/135[/td][td]9/164[/td][td]34.06[/td][td]3.47[/td][td]58.8[/td][td]4[/td][td]0[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[Saj]

A few reasons, a lack of discipline, controversies, a lack of fitness, not good enough, dubious selection policy, or not interested in playing Test cricket for the long term.

For a nation so proud of its fast bowling heritage, the numbers are alarming.

 

[Kaka4pope]

Theres only 3 pakistani fast bowlers to have taken 200 plus test wickets and Waqar was the last one nearly 25 years ago

Since then theres been many potential pretenders but none had either the desire, self discipline, longevity or the skill to match their early potential

M Zahid, Shoaib Akhter, M Sami, U Gul, M Asif, M Amir, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan etc the list is endless

Theyve all flattered to decieve People go on about the fast bowling tradition but why hasnt there been others that have achieve this feat and who will be the next one to acheive this milestone?

If we had a decent setup above these bowlers (not talking big three either), they could’ve gone a lot further.

 

[aloo paratha]

Shaheen is ATG material, he'll be the next. Pakistan starting play a lot more tests at home will also help his cause.

 

[Rana]

Possibly Shaheen

He looks all set