Who is your favourite player from Pakistan?

[bunny]

Marshall was one of the greatest bowlers, no doubt but he enjoyed quite the luxury of being in a bowling attack that was amazing throughout his career. He started his career bowling alongside Andy Roberts, Garner, Holding & Croft and ended his career bowling alongside Walsh, Ambrose and Bishop - ANY of those bowlers would walk into ANY attack ( including Australia) any day of the week. With that callibre of bowling around him, Marshall could afford to attack all the time. One common qualifier to Ponting's performance often is that he has had the luxury of batting in a great batting lineup throughout his career and hasnt had to carry the batting like Lara or Tendulkar has had to. I think we should remain fair and hold the same standard for Marshall as well. I played cricket mostly as a bowler and it makes helluva lot of difference if you know that the batsmen are going to be at the defensive 100% of the time, because all 4-5 of your bowling clique are excellent and there is nobody to clobber. Wicket-taking becomes far harder when batsmen deciede 'hmmm, these two bowlers are great, i am going to shut shop for the next 10-15 overs, see them out and clobber the noobie at the other end'.

Let's see your argument here. Assume that Marshall is playing alongside Ata-ur-Rehman and Andre Nel. So you are saying that the batsmen will defend him and look to play him out. Now assume that Marshall is playing alongside Donald and Ambrose. So, now what are the batsmen going to do? They are still going to defend him. The batsman's approach remains the same. They cannot change the game plan. Moreover, Marshall had an economy rate of 2.68 which is better than even Kapil's (who was one of the most economical bowlers). So it's not like Marshall was just looking out to attack all the time. Marshall moreover bowled around 20 overs per innings which is the same as what Ambrose or Akram bowled. So it's not like Marshall wasn't carrying the workload as well.

[Lord]

Even more remarkable was Azhar's 29 off 10 balls.Came and thrashed Ata-ur to all parts of the ground and made 20 runs off the last over.Mind you' date=' Azhar was going through a lean patch before this match.[/quote'] yup he hit four 6's i think.i remember that gesture to critics after one of his six.classic

[sharma]

wheres the great afridi not in the list? i think hes a good player...for the opposition. hence my fav :)

[DomainK]

wheres the great afridi not in the list? i think hes a good player...for the opposition. hence my fav :)

Of course. With him, the opposition captain has to worry about 9 wickets only.

[CC1981]

Let's see your argument here. Assume that Marshall is playing alongside Ata-ur-Rehman and Andre Nel. So you are saying that the batsmen will defend him and look to play him out. Now assume that Marshall is playing alongside Donald and Ambrose. So, now what are the batsmen going to do? They are still going to defend him. The batsman's approach remains the same. They cannot change the game plan. Moreover, Marshall had an economy rate of 2.68 which is better than even Kapil's (who was one of the most economical bowlers). So it's not like Marshall was just looking out to attack all the time. Marshall moreover bowled around 20 overs per innings which is the same as what Ambrose or Akram bowled. So it's not like Marshall wasn't carrying the workload as well.

If the batsmen are faced with 1 or 2 great bowlers with 2-3 mediocre bowlers, batsmen will look to play out those 1-2 bowlers and attack the 2-3 mediocre ones. If the batsman is faced with 4-5 great bowlers in succession, he has no choice but to attack/take risks against all of them,after prolonged periods of being on the defensive, because all of them are greats. If you do not get this simple logic, i am afraid you have much to learn about the dynamics of bowlers bowling in tandem as a unit.

[bunny]

If the batsmen are faced with 1 or 2 great bowlers with 2-3 mediocre bowlers, batsmen will look to play out those 1-2 bowlers and attack the 2-3 mediocre ones. If the batsman is faced with 4-5 great bowlers in succession, he has no choice but to attack/take risks against all of them,after prolonged periods of being on the defensive, because all of them are greats. If you do not get this simple logic, i am afraid you have much to learn about the dynamics of bowlers bowling in tandem as a unit.

Ok then why is that when Marshall was playing with Holding, Croft, Garner, etc. he averaged around 21 and when he was playing with Ambrose and Walsh he averaged around 19.5. And Ambrose and Walsh averaged 24 and 26.6 respectively when playing alongside Marshall which was above their career averages by at least 2 points. By your theory Marshall should have averaged more when playing alongside Walsh and Ambrose because they weren't as good as Holding etc (I mean the young Ambrose, Walsh weren't as good as Holding etc in their prime which is reflected in their averages). And similarly Ambrose and Walsh should have averaged lesser when playing with Marshall, no? Or which great bowler did Ambrose play alongwith other than Walsh? In a test match if you are facing the great bowlers you will defend them, no matter what. I certainly cannot buy your logic that people tried to attack Marshall because of which he had a better average. Just give some stats to prove this. (After Holding etc retired Marshall played alongside a young Walsh and some unknowns and Roger Harpe, and he had some of his best series then. How did that happen?)

[riya]

I am confused between Imran khan and Wasim Akram . If i ask my brain it would say Imran simply because u can't find a complete cricketer than him .His work ethics ,his bowling ,his batting and his captaincy .Simply miles ahead of any pakistani legends. He achieved every thing by sheer hardwork alone .A true role model . Now if i ask my heart ,it would say Wasim .There was no other bowler who i loved to watch more than him . A true spectators delight .But a huge underachiever ,with the ball ,with the bat and with the captaincy .He had the skill to surpass Imran in all the three categories . A natural bowler unlike Imran .such an effortless run up,action .Really a born bowler .Yet ,he underachieved . A good clean hitter of the ball ,but far too inconsistent and lazy .Never tried to improve in that part . Capataincy ,good brain .But was very divisive and vindictive .And personal favouritism did affect his decisions .Unlike Imran who just was able to look past his differences with Miandad on the field . So at the end it is about favourite ' ,i have to go with my hearts content .Wasim. From the current ones ,Younis Khan .I will never accept Akhtar as a legitimate bowler .

[riya]

Wasim Akram' date=' one of my all time 5 favorite cricketers. Can win a match from a no hope situation in 15 minutes, few equals , and [b']perhaps the best ever fast bowler in the world IMO Looks like he wins by a long mile here :-)

He had the skills ,but not atleast on paper , Marshall ,Holding ,Ambrose ,Lillee ,Imran,mcgrath > Wasim on paper .i mean in statistics . Skill wise ,Holding = Wasim.

[Shane]

On a serious note ill go with the diabetic guy ... 900 intl wickets aint no joke and we dreaded facing him !!! Sir ur a Legend !!!