Why did Saqlain Mushtaq retire so early?

[gani999]

Sometimes I feel the likes of Murali, Saqlain even possibly Harbhajan, would have never played any international cricket if the ICC rules were as strict back then as they are now.

 

[Saj]

Sometimes I feel the likes of Murali, Saqlain even possibly Harbhajan, would have never played any international cricket if the ICC rules were as strict back then as they are now.

Saqlain's actioned looked pretty smooth to me. I don't think many thpught his action was dodgy.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Im sorry but they didnt They were done When your unfit to play cricket through age, injuries or simply lack of performance then your career will come to an end

I dont understand what kind of respectful end they shouldve got? Pakistan cricket doesnt owe any player anything U perform you stay in the team, you dont then someone else comes in

Its unfair to domestic players that someone with shot knees whos unfit to get through matches due to lack of fitness is selected ahead of them

You see football players constantly playing through numerous injections and being rushed back and only playing limited appearances and only playing every other game etc
Every player has different levels of fitness
Not everyone can be jonty Rhodes or younis khan

What a good manager does is gets the best out of ageing and injured players who are still very talented

The twilight of giggs and gullit tells you how you can still do it with old players

 

[Savak]

I actually did a quick statistical check on Saqlain Mushtaq. From 1995 to Dec 1999, the guy picked up 210 ODI Wickets at an unbelievable average of 19. However from January 2000 to the end of his career in 2004, the guy could only manage to pick up 78 ODI Wickets at an average of almost 29. His test average is the same at 29 across both time periods. He was a declining force and had been playing on past reputation in his final 3 years and the PCB rightfully moved him on in 2004.

 

[imranyounus]

As far as I can remember he had a major knee injury. Took to long to recover and as usual pakistani players was keen even demanding to return to national side with out proper performance in domestic level.
On top of it he was interested in settling in England after getting married to an England based girl. At one stage he was so eager that he wanted to represent England.

 

[Zaz]

You see football players constantly playing through numerous injections and being rushed back and only playing limited appearances and only playing every other game etc
Every player has different levels of fitness
Not everyone can be jonty Rhodes or younis khan

What a good manager does is gets the best out of ageing and injured players who are still very talented

The twilight of giggs and gullit tells you how you can still do it with old players

Injuries are very different from ageing You can manage ageing players but not crock players

Most footballers are also sold on when they start to get injuries Look at owen he retired relatively early due to injuries and had to play at lower and lower levels in his late 20s The likes of giggs were still fit and injury free into his late 30s hence why he played that long

An aging player in football can still come on a sub here and there for 20 mins -30mins You cant do that in cricket
esp when not fit Youre in the field all day, in tests for 5 days An unfit is a liability - one man down that cant be replaced

This didnt happen overnight Saqlain was having knee trouble for years when his performances started to slip He didnt play a lot of games betwen 2000 and 2004 He was on a continous downward slope over years

Saj also said by late 2000s saqlian could barely jog his knees were that shot You cant manage that How do you expect him to have played cricket at the highest level just a few years before?

Its unfortunate but pakistan had to move on when they did

 

[Savak]

Injuries are very different from ageing You can manage ageing players but not crock players

Most footballers are also sold on when they start to get injuries Look at owen he retired relatively early due to injuries and had to play at lower and lower levels in his late 20s The likes of giggs were still fit and injury free into his late 30s hence why he played that long

An aging player in football can still come on a sub here and there for 20 mins -30mins You cant do that in cricket
esp when not fit Youre in the field all day, in tests for 5 days An unfit is a liability - one man down that cant be replaced

This didnt happen overnight Saqlain was having knee trouble for years when his performances started to slip He didnt play a lot of games betwen 2000 and 2004 He was on a continous downward slope over years

Saj also said by late 2000s saqlian could barely jog his knees were that shot You cant manage that How do you expect him to have played cricket at the highest level just a few years before?

Its unfortunate but pakistan had to move on when they did

I wonder if Saqlain's knee issues could have been properly dealt with had he received proper medical care.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Injuries are very different from ageing You can manage ageing players but not crock players

Most footballers are also sold on when they start to get injuries Look at owen he retired relatively early due to injuries and had to play at lower and lower levels in his late 20s The likes of giggs were still fit and injury free into his late 30s hence why he played that long

An aging player in football can still come on a sub here and there for 20 mins -30mins You cant do that in cricket
esp when not fit Youre in the field all day, in tests for 5 days An unfit is a liability - one man down that cant be replaced

This didnt happen overnight Saqlain was having knee trouble for years when his performances started to slip He didnt play a lot of games betwen 2000 and 2004 He was on a continous downward slope over years

Saj also said by late 2000s saqlian could barely jog his knees were that shot You cant manage that How do you expect him to have played cricket at the highest level just a few years before?

Its unfortunate but pakistan had to move on when they did

And play the like of shaheenshah afridi through tennis elbows
Shoaib akhtar was played through numerous injuries as well as continuous injections

Saeed ajmal was completely rehabillated, given a different action and given a chance to play again

 

[Varun]

Age is not a factor for a spinner. It doesn't matter even if he was younger. If you live of past laurels, don't work hard on your game and don't develop new tricks, don't learn to disguise your existing tricks, don't strategize and plan on how to get around batsmen developing counter plans against you, you will struggle to survive for long regardless of whether you are 20 years old, 30 years old or 36 plus. This game is all about adapting, making adjustments, developing your skill sets and strategies if you want to have a long and effective career.

Murali is a classic example, he relied heavily on his huge turning off spinner from 1995 to 1998. Kallis showed the entire world how to counter him in the 1998 CT by continuously slog sweeping him. Murali adapted by adding a doosra (which he made sure was well disguised and not easy to read/pick unlike Saqlain) from 1999 onwards and he became a bigger force in world cricket. As he got older and had more wear and tear on his body and shoulders his ability to generate massive spin on the ball started to diminish and the English batsmen in the 2002 series in England showed the entire world how to counter Murali by sweeping him but making sure that their front pads were always outside the line off the off stump therefore taking the LBW out of the equation, this tactic didn't stop Murali from picking 5-6 wickets per innings but the biggest difference is that instead of picking 5-6 wickets for 60-70 runs in 30 overs, he was now having to bowl 50-60 overs for his 5-6 wickets for 130-140 runs and that makes a huge difference. Even the Australians the invincible side of the time commented that they took huge inspiration from England's tactics against Murali and would apply it.

But this didn't stop Murali, he learnt to be more inventive with his field placings and started to go around the wicket to the right hander and spinning the ball into the right hander to make up for his loss of massive spin, revolutions on the ball so that batsmen employing the sweep against him would still get hit in front of the wickets or would be caught bat pad and he employed this tactic and approach from 2002 to the end of his career.

This is what world class bowlers do, they adapt to the opposition and the tactics employed against them. This is why Murali is a legend and Saqlain is regarded as someone who got exposed and useless when batsmen got used to him because he failed to adapt. To be fair to Saqlain, he is not the only one, Ajanta Mendis is another example.

This is an interesting and well researched post.

 

[therealAB]

Simple. Got found out

 

[muqarrab]

I wonder if Saqlain's knee issues could have been properly dealt with had he received proper medical care.

Saqlain never had a stock off spinner and his main game was doosra. Once that got figured out he did not have any weapon.

 

[BreadPakoda]

Sehwag.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On this day in 1999, Saqlain Mushtaq picked up a World Cup hat-trick against Zimbabwe.<br><br>With that, he became only the second man after Wasim Akram to have two ODI hat-tricks <a href="https://t.co/O3RBu6oxhN">pic.twitter.com/O3RBu6oxhN</a></p>— ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1535471915212619778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Abstraction1]

2 digit IQ crayon eaters be like "Sehwag" and "Got found out". ( and it seems to be the usual jingoistic Indian *******)

Like they've never watched cricket before. Murli and Warne went through poor patches and were often mauled in games too. Doesn't mean they were "exposed" or "found out".

Saqlain started in 1995 and was arguably the greatest ODI spinner of all Time. So him being "Found out" doesn't make sense after all the records he broke and his performance for several years.

What happened to Saqlain? Pakistan development. His decline coincidence with the rise of other spinners, namely Kaneria.

Pakistan has always been poor with rotation, injury treatment and development. It's the same reason why so many Pakistan bowlers burst into the scene, yet fizzle away. The moment a bowler is injured or out of form, Pakistan has several other bowlers on the conveyor belt ready to play.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

1. A brittle body that sadly suffered horrible injuries (knees and shoulder)

2. Although I do believe he is 3-4 years older than his actual age even then 33-34 is no age for a cricketer's body to give away especially spinners who tend to start later. (Ajmal debuted when he was 30 or 31).

Off the spinners I know of, only Vettori had a series of injuries where he was unable to attain match fitness at a relatively young age. Think he stopped playing ODIs after 2011 wc when he 30. And suffered a series of horrible injuries around 2012 after which his body became so brittle that NZ did all they could to carry him to WC 2015. Comparing the Vettori of 2012-15, the guy who spent all his career as a workhorse was struggling to bowl 10 overs a day. You can't say he was an age fudger.

Sometimes the body betrays the athlete. Especially at such a young age, I don't think that was physiological wear and tear.

Pat Cummins basically spent 6 years out of tests. After his debut at 18, he was unable to play another test till 2017 i believe. In the mean time, he would only play a few LOIs here and there and would get injured again. It was feared that he might not be able to don the baggy green again, yet now he is among the fittest bowlers in the world. A magnificent turn around.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Age is not a factor for a spinner. It doesn't matter even if he was younger. If you live of past laurels, don't work hard on your game and don't develop new tricks, don't learn to disguise your existing tricks, don't strategize and plan on how to get around batsmen developing counter plans against you, you will struggle to survive for long regardless of whether you are 20 years old, 30 years old or 36 plus. This game is all about adapting, making adjustments, developing your skill sets and strategies if you want to have a long and effective career.

Murali is a classic example, he relied heavily on his huge turning off spinner from 1995 to 1998. Kallis showed the entire world how to counter him in the 1998 CT by continuously slog sweeping him. Murali adapted by adding a doosra (which he made sure was well disguised and not easy to read/pick unlike Saqlain) from 1999 onwards and he became a bigger force in world cricket. As he got older and had more wear and tear on his body and shoulders his ability to generate massive spin on the ball started to diminish and the English batsmen in the 2002 series in England showed the entire world how to counter Murali by sweeping him but making sure that their front pads were always outside the line off the off stump therefore taking the LBW out of the equation, this tactic didn't stop Murali from picking 5-6 wickets per innings but the biggest difference is that instead of picking 5-6 wickets for 60-70 runs in 30 overs, he was now having to bowl 50-60 overs for his 5-6 wickets for 130-140 runs and that makes a huge difference. Even the Australians the invincible side of the time commented that they took huge inspiration from England's tactics against Murali and would apply it.

But this didn't stop Murali, he learnt to be more inventive with his field placings and started to go around the wicket to the right hander and spinning the ball into the right hander to make up for his loss of massive spin, revolutions on the ball so that batsmen employing the sweep against him would still get hit in front of the wickets or would be caught bat pad and he employed this tactic and approach from 2002 to the end of his career.

This is what world class bowlers do, they adapt to the opposition and the tactics employed against them. This is why Murali is a legend and Saqlain is regarded as someone who got exposed and useless when batsmen got used to him because he failed to adapt. To be fair to Saqlain, he is not the only one, Ajanta Mendis is another example.

He wasn't exposed. His body failed him. As simple as that.

Murali didn't add a doosra all of a sudden after 1998, he used to bowl doosra since his debut. The difference was he started bowling doosra with a scrambled seam (which he admittedly took inspirations from watching Saqi). Previously he used to bowl a doosra which could be read by the batters due to its seam position.

Saqlain never got found out. If anything, Pakistan were over reliant on him as Wasim and Waqar started to feature lesser and lesser in international games.

No one can badmouth our own legends better than Pakistanis.

 

[the Great Khan]

Got found out? Lol only our football devouring young know it alls can come up.with such garbage. Let me tell you something about that Indian opener. He was damn lucky he faced attacks on their last legs..otherwise we saw what happened when the ball deviated an inch to Mr no foot movement.but I digress.

Saqlains body gave way..his knees and shoulders..he just played way too many ODIs but didn't look after himself as he probably should have and also the PCB didn't realise he was a bit more brittle than others. Once your knees go your done..he messed up both and his shoulder..

Overall one of the greatest. And ro bowl a doosra without the major chink was awesome and inventing it was even greater

 

[Savak]

Saqlain was found out and exposed. A huge underachiever who relied on talent, qudrat ka nizam rather than hard work.

 

[Bewal Express]

Saqlain was found out and exposed. A huge underachiever who relied on talent, qudrat ka nizam rather than hard work.

He was over bowled by Surrey. I met him in 2002 and saw his spinning finger and looked like the dog had chewed it. And the knees also went and he never recovered

 

[Suleiman]

Got found out? Lol only our football devouring young know it alls can come up.with such garbage. Let me tell you something about that Indian opener. He was damn lucky he faced attacks on their last legs..otherwise we saw what happened when the ball deviated an inch to Mr no foot movement.but I digress.

Saqlains body gave way..his knees and shoulders..he just played way too many ODIs but didn't look after himself as he probably should have and also the PCB didn't realise he was a bit more brittle than others. Once your knees go your done..he messed up both and his shoulder..

Overall one of the greatest. And ro bowl a doosra without the major chink was awesome and inventing it was even greater

Agreed. The Indians who claim that Sehwag ended the career of a Saqlain on his last legs should also make peace with Pakistani pacers ending Sehwag’s ODI career in the aane do series. And Gambhir’s t20 career in that same series.

 

[ElRaja]

Saqlain was found out and exposed. A huge underachiever who relied on talent, qudrat ka nizam rather than hard work.

nearly 500 international wickets during essentially a 6 year career is mental. had he maintained fitness (i.e. not had a pehlvan stand on his knee) he would have been the most successful odi bowler of all time. anyone who saw him bowl to india in test matches would understand his skill and mentality, he challenged batsmen who made murali and warne look like club bowlers, all while he was far from his prime. you dont do that by chance.

anyone who has tried to bowl a legit doosra knows how demanding it is on the pivot leg, with his knees shot there was no hope. he was never exposed, in the year prior to his injury he took 50 test wickets at 24.

younger people who didnt see his prime just remember his last 2 or 3 years when his paced dropped, his flight flattened, his off spinner stopped turning as much, he hardly played and when he was pbly not even 25% of his peak, and all that before even accounting for the fact that most spinners dont mature until their early thirties.

 

[Mamoon]

You don’t get found out after the type of career & impact he had. He was an amazing off-spinner, very good in Tests but exceptional in ODIs.

He was by no means 28 when he played his last Test in 2004 against India and got smacked by Sehwag. He was already in his mid 30s with very dodgy knees.

Saqlain, like Razzaq & Waqar, did not decline early. It is an illusion because their age-fudging was ridiculous.

Saqlain was already in his mid 20s when made his debut but PCB advertised him as an 18 year old teenager.

 

[ElRaja]

You don’t get found out after the type of career & impact he had. He was an amazing off-spinner, very good in Tests but exceptional in ODIs.

He was by no means 28 when he played his last Test in 2004 against India and got smacked by Sehwag. He was already in his mid 30s with very dodgy knees.

Saqlain, like Razzaq & Waqar, did not decline early. It is an illusion because their age-fudging was ridiculous.

Saqlain was already in his mid 20s when made his debut but PCB advertised him as an 18 year old teenager.

he injured his knee in his second test (like shaheen, fielding or diving), and used painkillers and anti inflamatory injections whilst he was injured to continue playing. I'm guessing his knees never healed.

spinners can bowl into their forties, he was pbly 3 or 4 years older than he said, u can see pictures of him, his face matured a lot with time, i doubt he was more than 21 or 22 when he debuted, also it wouldn't make sense for someone as good as him to not play FC cricket till his mid-twenties.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Saqlain was found out and exposed. A huge underachiever who relied on talent, qudrat ka nizam rather than hard work.

Did you follow Saqlains career at the time or are you basing this on his big belly and statements during his coaching tenure?

He was never found out, nor exposed and doesnt become one of the first exponents of the doosra (perhaps the only legit one) and one of the few spinner death bowlers without hardwork.

 

[Mamoon]

he injured his knee in his second test (like shaheen, fielding or diving), and used painkillers and anti inflamatory injections whilst he was injured to continue playing. I'm guessing his knees never healed.

spinners can bowl into their forties, he was pbly 3 or 4 years older than he said, u can see pictures of him, his face matured a lot with time, i doubt he was more than 21 or 22 when he debuted, also it wouldn't make sense for someone as good as him to not play FC cricket till his mid-twenties.

A lot of spinners are late bloomers, both Ajmal & Yasir became really good in their late 20s. It takes a lot of time & effort to master the craft.

I would concede that Saqlain did look young when he first came onto scene, but he didn’t look 28 by any means in 2004 and he doesn’t look 45 today. He is most certainly 50+.

 

[Savak]

nearly 500 international wickets during essentially a 6 year career is mental. had he maintained fitness (i.e. not had a pehlvan stand on his knee) he would have been the most successful odi bowler of all time. anyone who saw him bowl to india in test matches would understand his skill and mentality, he challenged batsmen who made murali and warne look like club bowlers, all while he was far from his prime. you dont do that by chance.

anyone who has tried to bowl a legit doosra knows how demanding it is on the pivot leg, with his knees shot there was no hope. he was never exposed, in the year prior to his injury he took 50 test wickets at 24.

younger people who didnt see his prime just remember his last 2 or 3 years when his paced dropped, his flight flattened, his off spinner stopped turning as much, he hardly played and when he was pbly not even 25% of his peak, and all that before even accounting for the fact that most spinners dont mature until their early thirties.

Vast majority of Saqlain's wickets where during his purple patch from 1995 to 1999. His stats are very ordinary in his main format ODI Cricket from 2000 to 2004, he only picked 78 wickets.

He became such an ordinary bowler that even the likes of Courtney Walsh, Makhaya Ntini (pure sitting duck tailenders) were able to easily pick and deal with his Doosra.

The PCB honoured him by keeping him in the team from 2000 to 2004 on account of his past performances in his prime but they should have moved on from 2001.

Even Waqar the then captain got fed up with him and in 2002 in Morroco told him that his recent performances were not good enough and that he better start performing or he is going to ask the selectors to bench him. In the 2003 post WC interview on Geo when the reporters asked him why did you bench Saqlain against Australia, India, Waqar responded that he just wasn't bowling well in the nets.

Then Saqlain gets recalled against Bangladesh where he only gets the wicket of tailender in 2003. He gets recalled against South Africa in 2003 where he gets whacked for six of a rank long hop by Andrew Hall and he put South Africa just above the Duckword Lewis par score before bad light halted play in South Africa. Then Saqlain gets recalled against India in 2004 and Sehwag demolishes him into oblivion.

The PCB really went over board with the charity by allowing Saqlain to play from 2000 to 2004 when they should have been ruthless.

 

[Major]

A lot of spinners are late bloomers, both Ajmal & Yasir became really good in their late 20s. It takes a lot of time & effort to master the craft.

I would concede that Saqlain did look young when he first came onto scene, but he didn’t look 28 by any means in 2004 and he doesn’t look 45 today. He is most certainly 50+.

wait, saqlain mushtaq is 45? how the hell is this guy younger than Misbah?

Misbah is 48 and even he has accepted that he fudged his age by 2-3 years

 

[ElRaja]

Vast majority of Saqlain's wickets where during his purple patch from 1995 to 1999. His stats are very ordinary in his main format ODI Cricket from 2000 to 2004, he only picked 78 wickets.

He became such an ordinary bowler that even the likes of Courtney Walsh, Makhaya Ntini (pure sitting duck tailenders) were able to easily pick and deal with his Doosra.

The PCB honoured him by keeping him in the team from 2000 to 2004 on account of his past performances in his prime but they should have moved on from 2001.

Even Waqar the then captain got fed up with him and in 2002 in Morroco told him that his recent performances were not good enough and that he better start performing or he is going to ask the selectors to bench him. In the 2003 post WC interview on Geo when the reporters asked him why did you bench Saqlain against Australia, India, Waqar responded that he just wasn't bowling well in the nets.

Then Saqlain gets recalled against Bangladesh where he only gets the wicket of tailender in 2003. He gets recalled against South Africa in 2003 where he gets whacked for six of a rank long hop by Andrew Hall and he put South Africa just above the Duckword Lewis par score before bad light halted play in South Africa. Then Saqlain gets recalled against India in 2004 and Sehwag demolishes him into oblivion.

The PCB really went over board with the charity by allowing Saqlain to play from 2000 to 2004 when they should have been ruthless.

if it were a case of him having been found out, he would have continued to have kept playing at a lower level for many years, but he was pretty much done soon after, which indicates his failing fitness was the reason behind his loss of form.

he himself admitted that he didnt want to play the last year or two because his knees weren't up to it, but PCB asked him to play the india game when he was way way past it. an excellent example of someone getting found out is how Mohammad abbas's career played out.

also none of that backs up ur original point, that he got to where he was without hard work.

 

[moghul]

Vast majority of Saqlain's wickets where during his purple patch from 1995 to 1999. His stats are very ordinary in his main format ODI Cricket from 2000 to 2004, he only picked 78 wickets.

He became such an ordinary bowler that even the likes of Courtney Walsh, Makhaya Ntini (pure sitting duck tailenders) were able to easily pick and deal with his Doosra.

The PCB honoured him by keeping him in the team from 2000 to 2004 on account of his past performances in his prime but they should have moved on from 2001.

Even Waqar the then captain got fed up with him and in 2002 in Morroco told him that his recent performances were not good enough and that he better start performing or he is going to ask the selectors to bench him. In the 2003 post WC interview on Geo when the reporters asked him why did you bench Saqlain against Australia, India, Waqar responded that he just wasn't bowling well in the nets.

Then Saqlain gets recalled against Bangladesh where he only gets the wicket of tailender in 2003. He gets recalled against South Africa in 2003 where he gets whacked for six of a rank long hop by Andrew Hall and he put South Africa just above the Duckword Lewis par score before bad light halted play in South Africa. Then Saqlain gets recalled against India in 2004 and Sehwag demolishes him into oblivion.

The PCB really went over board with the charity by allowing Saqlain to play from 2000 to 2004 when they should have been ruthless.

Bottom line, he was found out and he was much older than his stated age with very poor physical fitness. Saqlain was way past his brief prime when India came to Pakistan and Sehwag's inning in Multan test proved to be the last nail in the coffin of his career.

 

[Stewie]

People talking about him being found out. Lol ..

He had terrible knees and had to give up. He was not good enough physically. Please put to rest other theories. The guy is the best off spinner in the history of cricket (best offie with a clean action that is)

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He was not the same bowler after 1998. Declined progressively and was done by 2003.

Sehwag didn't finish his career. Smith and Gibbs did. Absolutely smashed him to pieces.

 

[muqarrab]

People talking about him being found out. Lol ..

He had terrible knees and had to give up. He was not good enough physically. Please put to rest other theories. The guy is the best off spinner in the history of cricket (best offie with a clean action that is)

I don't know which cricket you were watching, he was taken apart in SA, his perfomance in the old trafford test in 2001 was an exception and lergely due to a wearing pitch. He was bowling almost 4-5 doosra's every over and that meant he had no threat at all since he never had a big off spinning delivery. His game simply didn't keep up with time and evolve, its that simple.

 

[Stewie]

I don't know which cricket you were watching, he was taken apart in SA, his perfomance in the old trafford test in 2001 was an exception and lergely due to a wearing pitch. He was bowling almost 4-5 doosra's every over and that meant he had no threat at all since he never had a big off spinning delivery. His game simply didn't keep up with time and evolve, its that simple.

I don’t know whose post you wanted to respond to but this in no way seems like a response to anything I wrote on the topic.

 

[Mainul]

I don't really get to understand why anyone is so sure about age fudging and moreover claim that the fudging was very big?

Did you see that cricketer's birth live on TV or in maternity clinic?

Just on basis of suspiciion you can't blame anyone until he admits his age fudging.


Face doesn't always tells the truth. David Warner looks like 50 plus but we all know that he is not 50 plus. Rasel Arnold still looks like 30 but he is actually not.

 

[Hitman]

One thing to notice about Saqlain is he did so well in the only Test series he played in India, a place where even the great Shane Warne and Murali struggled everytime they toured.

 

[Savak]

The number of series Saqlain cost Pakistan with his ineffectiveness

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Home series 1999-2000

Pakistan vs West Indies Test Series 2000 (Couldn't even get Walsh out when it mattered the most)

Pakistan vs England 2000 (Struggled even against the English Tail i.e. Gough, notoriously poor players of spin
played him at ease and Pakistan lost to England in Pakistan for the first time)

Pakistan vs New Zealand 2001 (Destroyed by Craig Mcmillan in the 4th Odi and in the third test match, his lack of effectiveness with the ball cost Pakistan that series, even the new batsman Mathew Sinclair found it easy to play him)

Pakistan vs Australia 2002 (Offered no real support to Danish Kaneria and was treated like a part timer by the Australians in the second and third test)

Pakistan vs South Africa 2003 (Absolutely destroyed by Smith and Gibbs in the third test match and Saqlain just had zero penetration with the ball and was routinely smashed around by all the South African players)

Pakistan vs South Africa 2003 ODI in Faislabad (Pakistan had South Africa under control with the run rate in check before Saqlain bowled a rank long hop to Andrew Hall which got pulled for six, SA just about get ahead of the run rate and bad light ends play with SA declared winners)

Pakistan vs India 2004 in Multan (Sehwag finally ends Saqlains terminally declining career for good)

Saqlain cannot cry of any injustice, he was carried way too long by the PCB and if he had any ounce of honesty he should have retired by 2000 because he was no longer effective with the ball

 

[muqarrab]

I don’t know whose post you wanted to respond to but this in no way seems like a response to anything I wrote on the topic.

I was largely agreeing with you and responding to the guy above your post, guess i don't know doing multiple post quote

 

[Bilal7]

Injuries and age caught up with him. However, he retired as the ATG spinner in LO cricket and a very good spinner in tests.

Pakistan needs to find another doosra bowler to take our bowling attack to the next level. Pair our current pacers with someone on the same level as Saqlain or Ajmal and you have one of the greatest bowling attacks of all time.

 

[Xoib]

He was not the same bowler after 1998. Declined progressively and was done by 2003.

Sehwag didn't finish his career. Smith and Gibbs did. Absolutely smashed him to pieces.

98?

He took 25 wirckets in 3 tests vs India in 99.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

98?

He took 25 wirckets in 3 tests vs India in 99.

Im talking about ODIs. He did not have the same impact as he did in the 95-98 period when he was the best ODI bowler in the world.

 

[Saj]

He's listed as age 45 at the moment.

I reckon he's probably closer to age 50.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Former Pakistan player and coach Saqlain Mushtaq rejoins the BLACKCAPS as bowling coach for the three away Tests, his first assignment will be New Zealand's one-off Test match against Afghanistan.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Former Pakistan player and coach Saqlain Mushtaq rejoins the BLACKCAPS as bowling coach for the three away Tests, his first assignment will be New Zealand's one-off Test match against Afghanistan.

now NZ would have to depend on Qudrat ka Nizam lol

 

[sweep_shot]

He lost form and became ineffective later on.

He still ended up with close to 300 ODI wickets. A Pakistani legend.

 

[pakistani pride]

Saqlain was a gem.
A true raw talent.

 

[Fanboy375]

He had knee problem.Plus his doosra became predictable.In ODI,Saqlain from 1995 to 1998 had ave 18 but from 1999 to 2003 he had 26.He rely to much on his doosra.Also it could be possible that he had eye sight problem.

 

[Kianig89]

Bad knees and another one he was age fudger

 

[Abid Z]

Bad knees. He’s spoken about this a lot as he was mistreated by some pelwan and just couldn’t bowl after. He limped along but was ineffective. Of course by early to mid 2000’s we had the two of Hafeez and Shohaib’s Malik who could both bowl and bat and also bowl the doosra (SM until it was banned in 2003).

Saqlain just had an unfortunate end to his career. Came back in the ICL looked like he might do ok in t20 leagues for a while but then not to be.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I think he overdid the County cricket circuit.

He should have stopped playing County cricket after he started having injury issues, but he continued playing which was a mistake.

100%, also the fact he started over using the doosra in County cricket which then made him easier to negate. The surprise element dissapeared. At one point he was unplayable as a bowler at his peak.

 

[Bewal Express]

100%, also the fact he started over using the doosra in County cricket which then made him easier to negate. The surprise element dissapeared. At one point he was unplayable as a bowler at his peak.

And also over bowling. I saw him at an event in 2002 and he showed me his spinning finger and it looked like a dog had chewed it.

 

[adzzy786]

Those telling you otherwise did not watch or see him bowl. He was amazing in the 90’s and brought a new dynamic to the spin bowling world. Was a class act. Injuries at the end of his career really hampered him. Wasn’t the same any more, I don’t think he was finished. Should have taken time out of the game and got back in the Pakistan cricket team if the PCB given the chance, but as Kaneria was coming up as a new sensation and was bowling well, a long with some fake allrounders it was time for goodbye

 

[Major]

I don't really get to understand why anyone is so sure about age fudging and moreover claim that the fudging was very big?

Did you see that cricketer's birth live on TV or in maternity clinic?

Just on basis of suspiciion you can't blame anyone until he admits his age fudging.


Face doesn't always tells the truth. David Warner looks like 50 plus but we all know that he is not 50 plus. Rasel Arnold still looks like 30 but he is actually not.

i used to play club, and Sabih Azhar would inform the coaches of the clubs 3 months before the trial that trials are coming up ask your kids to get their ages fixed. Things were soo bad, there are players that ended up playing on their siblings birth certificate.

 

[moghul]

Saqlain was one of those uneducated Pakistani cricketers who never worked on their fitness , particularly spinners . That was the main reason behind his quick decline at the later stage of his career. He was a gifted spinner who did wonders when he was very young but the moment he got a bid older, his fitness was not the same and he became and easy pray for the aggressive batters like Sehwag.

 

[moghul]

i used to play club, and Sabih Azhar would inform the coaches of the clubs 3 months before the trial that trials are coming up ask your kids to get their ages fixed. Things were soo bad, there are players that ended up playing on their siblings birth certificate.

Long time ago, I went for under 16 trials for Lahore , I was in school and I was asked to bring school certificate with DOB wich I did but one of my older brother's friend ( who was more than 2 years older than me ) produced some made up birth certificate and made himself younger than me and was accepted .

One of the biggest joke about age fudging is that of Indian batter Gill, not sure its true or not, but as per Indian social medial , as per Gill's official DOB, he is 3 months ( yes 3 months , lol ) younger than his sister who actually is two years younger than him

 

[Mainul]

i used to play club, and Sabih Azhar would inform the coaches of the clubs 3 months before the trial that trials are coming up ask your kids to get their ages fixed. Things were soo bad, there are players that ended up playing on their siblings birth certificate.

Thats is really a horrible picture.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Mushtaq was great spinner and he still has a lot to offer to the players of the country but yep PCB system...LOL

Nobody is willing to stay here for long.

 

[Bhaijaan]

A combination of extremely batting friendly flat Pakistani pitches back then, poor fitness and being a possible offender of age fudging also.

Because he clearly deteriorated as a bowler by mid 2000s. In the late 90s and early 2000s he bowled very energetically and passionately and the balls he delivered were with very high rev.

Still I think if the pitches in Pakistan weren’t so flat he could have still had a few good years in home tests.

Absolutely top notch spinner in his prime. People really struggled to pick him and had the best doosra in the game ever. That ball to Caddick was quite crazy , honestly more impressive to me than Shane Warne’s ball of the century. That thing changed course like a cobra

 

[FearlessRoar]

Saqlain Mushtaq shares inspiring feedback from women cricketers who worked with top mentors & coaches.

With holistic development underway, he predicts 2025 to be a breakthrough year for women's cricket in Pakistan!

 

[NishanKonar]

Sometimes I feel the likes of Murali, Saqlain even possibly Harbhajan, would have never played any international cricket if the ICC rules were as strict back then as they are now.

Don't think anybody can bowl the doosra legally. Nowadays nobody bowls it any more

If only Saeed Ajmal was a bit smart & retired before he got caught - he wud have retired with his reputation intact