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Pakistani bowling legacy remains the greatest farce in history of cricket


Gollum

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As long as bottle caps were being used liberally, Shakoor Rana/Khizer Hayat as home umpires, chucking away happily, biting/eating ball, dancing on pitch they were bowling paaawerhouse.

 

Now with stricter & clear-cut rules and implementation of the same having been tightened, multiple video cameras, video analysts, neutral umpiring plus DRS, clampdown on chucking etc->bowling paaawermouse.

 

From Nawaz, Dim, Wasim, Waqar etc to Musa, Pusa, Chusa

From Chuckmal to someone cos of whom opponent's score moves faster than Hyderabad's auto meters

 

But truth be told however mediocre their current bowlers are, I will respect them more than the cheats of the bygone era. Yasir>>>>Chuckmal always. If you aren't good enough, man up and take the beatings instead of testing the limits of the system and grace/goodwill/magnanimity of others.

 

Not saying Dim and the Ws were inept....they were quite good actually but will always take their ATG numbers with a pinch of salt. No way was Dim an equal of Marshall, no way were Wasim and Waqar at the same level as McGrath, Ambrose, Donald, Bond etc. When opponent teams kept collapsing from 200/2 to 230 all out...not once, not twice but with alarming regularity pardon me but I refuse to believe the Pakistanis were so unplayable with 60 overs old balls and tired bowlers. We faced the brunt of tampering and home umpiring in our 1982-83 tour, where they cheated their way to a 3-0 series win. Don't tell me the ball from their chief tamperer to Vishy was normal, wonder how many bottle caps, knives, saws, lathe machines etc were used to alter the aerodynamics. 

 

Everyone who played for them during their tampering raj benefited, even those who didn't take part in the dark art. Everyone was an accomplice to that travesty of a practice. Smith got banned for a year, Dim is PM....difference in culture I guess. Likewise in more recent times some Pak bowlers were legit, clean action, no ball tampering etc but when a guy like Chuckmal does javelin throws from the other end causing collapses and making batsmen nervous, that plays into the hands of the others. As we see quite often, when pressure is built from one end the bowler from other end benefits statistically....batsmen will take more risks against him, be more panicky, more susceptible to blunders. Larry Gomes was a pie chucker in Lloyd's team but with the ferocious quartet doing its usual thing his rubbish bowling was good enough to secure him a career ODI average comparable to Shane Warne's. Ajmal, Junaid and Hafeez are the biggest cheats of the modern era (post 2000)...Ajmal especially is nothing short of a criminal the way he made a mockery of rules and lied about it all the time. 

 

Can only laugh when people reminisce about the old days of Pakistani phaast bawling superheroes bowling out teams for fun. Thankfully cricket is a much fairer sport now. What we have been seeing in recent times is the true aukaat of Pakistani bowling, hope their fans and admirers make peace with the fact. When everything is fair and equal they have done nothing to prove they are better than bowling units from India, NZ, Eng....WI/Aus/RSA to dur ki baat hai. 

Edited by Gollum
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Agreed . Hence my thread on Abbas vs mohanty 

truly since 2000 as rules becoming fairer , neutral umpires in and checkers kicked out , one truly appreciates the great West Indies team . They were the cleanest and most gentlemanly ever . The aussie team was good too . And the current indian team is third best so far and if they win the maze , they are right there with the windies team 

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41 minutes ago, Gollum said:

As long as bottle caps were being used liberally, Shakoor Rana/Khizer Hayat as home umpires, chucking away happily, biting/eating ball, dancing on pitch they were bowling paaawerhouse.

 

Now with stricter & clear-cut rules and implementation of the same having been tightened, multiple video cameras, video analysts, neutral umpiring plus DRS, clampdown on chucking etc->bowling paaawermouse.

 

From Nawaz, Dim, Wasim, Waqar etc to Musa, Pusa, Chusa

From Chuckmal to someone cos of whom opponent's score moves faster than Hyderabad's auto meters

 

But truth be told however mediocre their current bowlers are, I will respect them more than the cheats of the bygone era. Yasir>>>>Chuckmal always. If you aren't good enough, man up and take the beatings instead of testing the limits of the system and grace/goodwill/magnanimity of others.

 

Not saying Dim and the Ws were inept....they were quite good actually but will always take their ATG numbers with a pinch of salt. No way was Dim an equal of Marshall, no way were Wasim and Waqar at the same level as McGrath, Ambrose, Donald, Bond etc. When opponent teams kept collapsing from 200/2 to 230 all out...not once, not twice but with alarming regularity pardon me but I refuse to believe the Pakistanis were so unplayable with 60 overs old balls and tired bowlers. We faced the brunt of tampering and home umpiring in our 1982-83 tour, where they cheated their way to a 3-0 series win. Don't tell me the ball from their chief tamperer to Vishy was normal, wonder how many bottle caps, knives, saws, lathe machines etc were used to alter the aerodynamics. 

 

Everyone who played for them during their tampering raj benefited, even those who didn't take part in the dark art. Everyone was an accomplice to that travesty of a practice. Smith got banned for a year, Dim is PM....difference in culture I guess. Likewise in more recent times some Pak bowlers were legit, clean action, no ball tampering etc but when a guy like Chuckmal does javelin throws from the other end causing collapses and making batsmen nervous, that plays into the hands of the others. As we see quite often, when pressure is built from one end the bowler from other end benefits statistically....batsmen will take more risks against him, be more panicky, more susceptible to blunders. Larry Gomes was a pie chucker in Lloyd's team but with the ferocious quartet doing its usual thing his rubbish bowling was good enough to secure him a career ODI average comparable to Shane Warne's. Ajmal, Junaid and Hafeez are the biggest cheats of the modern era (post 2000)...Ajmal especially is nothing short of a criminal the way he made a mockery of rules and lied about it all the time. 

 

Can only laugh when people reminisce about the old days of Pakistani phaast bawling superheroes bowling out teams for fun. Thankfully cricket is a much fairer sport now. What we have been seeing in recent times is the true aukaat of Pakistani bowling, hope their fans and admirers make peace with the fact. When everything is fair and equal they have done nothing to prove they are better than bowling units from India, NZ, Eng....WI/Aus/RSA to dur ki baat hai. 

Harsh but true.

Especially how Ajmal was allowed to continue despite all and sundry knowing his crimes.

But having said all of this, all of this started to accomodate Murali.  BCCI was the one who looked in the other direction whenever complains were made about Murali to please SL.

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Padma Shri

 

Padma Bhushan

 

This man's commentary during the 92-93 Eng vs Pak series and some random Indo-Pak match where Aaqib Javed was tearing chunks off the ball...'Steady On' from Eng series LINK

Image result for richie benaud

 

Padma Vibhushan

 

Quote

“The ball was not deviating at all,” Imran is quoted as saying. “So I got the 12th man to bring on a bottle top and it started to move around a lot. I occasionally scratched the side [of the ball] and lifted the seam.”

Imran admits cheating: Glenn Moore on the biography throwing light on a touchy subject

 

Bharat Ratna

Image result for ashwin full sleeves

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9 minutes ago, BlackMamba said:

Harsh but true.

Especially how Ajmal was allowed to continue despite all and sundry knowing his crimes.

But having said all of this, all of this started to accomodate Murali.  BCCI was the one who looked in the other direction whenever complains were made about Murali to please SL.

Yup BCCI was wrong there. Also wrong in dealing with Harbhajan, sports should be fair. Lyonn, Swann, Ashwin are living proof that offies can bowl clean and still get success at the highest level, don't need a doosra. 

Edited by Gollum
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14 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Kicking 'em when down.  Age old routine.  Works both ways I guess.

 

Those who cheat the system must always be called out, I wasn't choosing this moment to make a thread, just that I have more free time this Friday night. Also as stated in OP I respect the current Pakistani bowlers, may not be world beaters but are playing fair. 

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23 minutes ago, mani sha said:

Agreed . Hence my thread on Abbas vs mohanty 

truly since 2000 as rules becoming fairer , neutral umpires in and checkers kicked out , one truly appreciates the great West Indies team . They were the cleanest and most gentlemanly ever . The aussie team was good too . And the current indian team is third best so far and if they win the maze , they are right there with the windies team 

WI team of the past had notoriously slow over rates to keep their quicks fresh, often 70 overs/day. Relaxed bouncer rules, they often used to physically hurt batsmen to get their way.

 

Aus team had its share of bullies, rogues, cheats, crybabies, more often than not umpiring used to favor them especially at home. Unsporting as hell. 

 

Those 2 legendary teams had their share of flaws, no one can be perfect. Besides to reach that GOAT level need ruthlessness, arrogance...a little bit of cunning nature as well. 

 

But yeah cricket is fairer now than any era of the past and I couldn't be more grateful. 

Edited by Gollum
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1 hour ago, sandeep said:

Kicking 'em when down.  Age old routine.  Works both ways I guess.

 

Not to forget romanticising Srinath's 150 kph thunderbolts. Just because we have a great bowling attack now, we are trying to even see the likes of Wassan, Razdan and Ankola as 90 mph bowlers, also claiming Zak to be overrated because he wasn't pacy enough.

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1 hour ago, Gollum said:

Those who cheat the system must always be called out, I wasn't choosing this moment to make a thread, just that I have more free time this Friday night. Also as stated in OP I respect the current Pakistani bowlers, may not be world beaters but are playing fair. 

I'm not denying that rule-breaking and ball tampering were not alien to the 90s Pakistani bowlers. BUT, you also have to accept the fact that they were early adopters of reverse swing due to their experience with shitty damaged balls.  They were able to do more with a older ball - maintained or tampered.  That was also a factor in their success.  Its not all just "tampering".   

 

If you are going to be blatantly one-eyed, and overlook the non-cheating aspects of their achievements, then that's that.

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7 minutes ago, MechEng said:

Not to forget romanticising Srinath's 150 kph thunderbolts. Just because we have a great bowling attack now, we are trying to even see the likes of Wassan, Razdan and Ankola as 90 mph bowlers, also claiming Zak to be overrated because he wasn't pacy enough.

Ankola and Razdan weren't terrible actually, just raw.  But yes completely agree with you.  

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Pakistan cricketers seem like a bunch of lazy asansols... they don't seem to have the zeal to compete.. Ireland would probably be more competitive in Australia right now. I guess their board itself is looking for the next mercurial talent to emerge instead of taking measures to ensure that those on field are maintaining high level of fitness and skills.. They should look at teams like New Zealand or even Afghanistan to draw some inspiration.

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1 hour ago, Gollum said:

WI team of the past had notoriously slow over rates to keep their quicks fresh, often 70 overs/day. Relaxed bouncer rules, they often used to physically hurt batsmen to get their way.

 

Aus team had its share of bullies, rogues, cheats, crybabies, more often than not umpiring used to favor them especially at home. Unsporting as hell. 

 

Those 2 legendary teams had their share of flaws, no one can be perfect. Besides to reach that GOAT level need ruthlessness, arrogance...a little bit of cunning nature as well. 

 

But yeah cricket is fairer now than any era of the past and I couldn't be more grateful. 

The Wi team was not perfect but were not cheats . And never got into verbal altercations 

 

the aussies played aussies . Not very different from kohli india - they were streetsmart . But yes they were bullies - few of them and the fact that quality of opposition bowling wasnt great helped them ; england india New Zealand had far inferior attacks . 

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27 minutes ago, sandeep said:

Ankola and Razdan weren't terrible actually, just raw.  But yes completely agree with you.  

Indians are not naturally built for fast bowling, so we needed dietary changes and strength training for hormonal balance and muscle mass to bowl fast and IPL atmosphere provided that. 

I never said Ankola and Razdan were terrible but we must admit that we were never really naturally inclined to bowl fast, it is a very recent thing.

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Very Interesting read on Pakistan's Fast Bowling Production Line

 

Quote

 

Lynton Crosby, an Australian political strategist, came up with the concept of the Dead Cat Strategy, but Misbah-ul-Haq is the one who has exploited it to its full potential recently. Loosely defined, the tactic involves diverting attention from a complex issue you would rather not address to a simpler one, preferably with the populist appeal to dominate the agenda. That might not have been front and centre on Misbah's mind, but his squad selection for the Test series in Australia had the sort of effect Crosby himself would have been proud of.

Sat in a press conference room at Gaddafi Stadium last month, Misbah reeled off the names of the teenaged fast bowlers Pakistan were taking to Australia: Shaheen Shah Afridi was going, of course, as was Mohammad Musa, and the real kicker, 16-year-old Naseem Shah.

It led, predictably, to one of the most entrenched feedback loops there is in cricket: how much fast-bowling talent there is in Pakistan, and how the production line never quite seems to run dry. It was undoubtedly a happier discussion as far as the head coach and chief selector - Misbah, both - was concerned. After all, his tenure had begun with a home T20I series whitewash to Sri Lanka, followed by the unceremonious removal of captain Sarfaraz Ahmed from the Test and T20I teams.

The talk would move back to the sorry state of affairs after a genuinely horrific three-match T20I series in Australia, but that's when the trump card was rolled out. Naseem would make his debut in the first Test at the Gabba. Having lost his mother just a week earlier, his courage was to be lauded. For large stretches of the game, he was the quickest, regularly topping 145, and even going up to 148 occasionally. He dealt a painful blow to the elbow to Joe Burns, who had unwisely chosen to eschew an armguard when facing the debutant. He was exciting, fast, young, and Pakistani. The feedback loop went into overdrive.

At the other end, Australia stuck with the three pacers they have used for the best part of the past decade. Pat Cummins was the least experienced of the lot, having played only 26 Test matches, largely because he spent half a decade out dealing with recurring injuries. Even so, that was 11 more Tests than the three Pakistan quicks at Brisbane had played combined. Josh Hazlewood, who made his debut less than five years ago, will play his 50th in Adelaide this week. In Pakistan's history, Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are the only fast bowlers to have lined up in more Test matches. Mitchell Starc's 228 Test wickets, or indeed Hazlewood's 190, are only bettered in Pakistan by Imran, Wasim and Waqar.

But instead of becoming iconoclastic about Pakistan's reputation as a fast-bowling nirvana, let's stick with the more recent era. The side had one of its most lethal fast-bowling partnerships in Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir ripped out following the spot-fixing scandal in August 2010, and had to start anew. And while the excitement around any new Pakistan pacer is always fairly frenzied, what's also high is turnover. In the nine years since, Pakistan have handed three or more Test caps to 16 fast bowlers; for Australia, that number is nine.

Now who, at this moment, would you reasonably feel will feature in a Test match for Pakistan in one of those fast-bowling slots? You might have said Mohamad Abbas last week, yet here we are. Afridi's the next name on that list, but this, remember, is a 19-year-old who has played no more than four Tests, and opinions change rather swiftly in Pakistan. Hasan Ali's injury came at an unfortunate time, but even when he was on top of the world in the ODI rankings, Pakistan never quite seemed sure about picking him in the Test side.

 

ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It isn't just a conundrum for this particular series, but one Pakistan has wrestled with for much of the past decade. Wahab Riaz's hype and explosiveness could never stand up to the consistency of the longest format, and by the time he retired, he was never a serious red-ball option anyway. Pakistan struggled to manage Amir's workload to his satisfaction, while he struggled to get his form back up to those frankly unrealistic levels of 2010. Imran Khan was, without putting too fine a point on it, the sort of bowler they wouldn't have looked twice at while they still had the other Imran Khan fresh in their memories.

And yet, there was a reason he made his debut when he did; Imran was, as were many like him, prolific on the domestic circuit. Aizaz Cheema, Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Talha and Bilawal Bhatti all played Test cricket for the same reason, though the lack of success they enjoyed at that level was perhaps the most eloquent rebuke to the quality of pitches in first-class cricket in Pakistan. Medium-fast bowlers just need to land the ball in the vicinity of a good length and allow the pitch to do the rest, and there was little motivation to improve one's skillset.

Bhatti, for example, averaged 48.5 with the ball in two Tests, 73.16 in ten ODIs and 51 in nine T20Is with an economy rate of 9.80. Yet, in the three seasons before he made his Test debut, on the domestic circuit he took 76 wickets at 18.73 (2011-12), 28 wickets at 24.03 (12-13) and 9 wickets at 23.77 (13-14).

 

Misbah-ul-Haq didn't have much wriggle room when he announced the squad AFP

In the nine years since that Lord's Test, not a single Pakistan pace bowler has featured in the top 25 Test match wicket-takers; Riaz's 76, coming at an average of 35.11, is at No. 26. Above Wahab are half a dozen Australians, five Englishmen, four South Africans, three each from New Zealand, West Indies and India, and one from Sri Lanka. Jasprit Bumrah, who only made his Test debut last year, already has 62. If Doug Bracewell were Pakistani, he would be the second-most prolific Test fast bowler for them. If Pakistan is a factory for pace bowling, a lot of the products of late have been defective.

 

And this is the dilemma the board might have put itself in. If you think you have got an unlimited supply of fast bowlers, you're less motivated to appreciate them, invest in them, and care for them. Pakistan have already seen multiple bowlers, most prominently Wahab, Sohail Khan, Rumman Raees and Junaid Khan, come back vastly diminished from injury, while the likes of Rahat Ali and Imran have stagnated, never quite able to improve even as they accumulated experience At some point, it has to be something the coaching and medical staff must take responsibility for. Particularly when you look across to the other changing room, specifically at Cummins, who at one point seemed lost to injury. He is, instead, the best bowler in the world right now.

In hindsight, there wasn't too much wriggle-room Misbah had when he announced the squad, following the retirements of Amir and Wahab and the injury to Hasan. They didn't help themselves by then leaving out their most reliable bowler Abbas in Brisbane, but that those two absences necessitated the naming of such an inexperienced bowling attack suggests there is much work to be done before a Pakistan fast-bowling line-up can be considered the finished article.

It will require expert coaching, commitments to world-class medical treatment, and perhaps psychological support for a young attack likely to be subjected to the most fierce criticism when results are poor. Pakistan have discarded fast bowlers as readily as they have hyped them up of late, but if the factory really is shutting down, these last specimens must be treated like the collector's items they should be.

 

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6 hours ago, MechEng said:

Not to forget romanticising Srinath's 150 kph thunderbolts.

 

Srinath is " romanticized " simply because he was the first Indian bowler to bowl fast for 6 to 8 years. Something which no Indian had done before. He showed the later generation of Indian pacers that we too can bowl quick for multiple years.

 

Not because he was a better bowler than Bumrah.

 

It is hailing a pioneer.

 

Quote

Just because we have a great bowling attack now, we are trying to even see the likes of Wassan, Razdan and Ankola as 90 mph bowlers, also

 

Rajdan was never 90 mph. He was fast-medium.

 

But Wassan was quick in 1990. Anyone who saw him bowl then, knows it.  

 

Ankola was quick in 1989 ... but wayward. Had a foot injury in 1990, I think, and lost a lot of pace. In those days, recovering pace after injury, was not that well structured.

 

Why do you think that they were not quick in the beginning of their careers ?  Any basis for that ?  No one is claiming that they were great bowlers or bowled quick for a long time.

 

 

Quote

claiming Zak to be overrated because he wasn't pacy enough.

 

How about Zak's test match bowling average of almost 33 ?   And test match strike rate of 60  ? 

 

This is borderline poor.

 

 

Edited by express bowling
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