Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Wasim Akram in ODIs

[rkt.india]

All of these bowlers were second rate compared to the great Paras Mhambrey.

Dodda Ganesh the greatest fast bowler we have produced yet.

[kosingh]

Prashant Vaidya was fantastic also.

[Cricket_Hacker]

With the introduction of modern legends such as Vinay Kumar and Ashok Dinda,some of those bowlers were being forgotten. Thanks for reviving them :hatsoff:

[rkt.india]

Salil Ankola the only who had some potential. A pretty tall guy with decent action and pace. Have faded memories of him during 1996 WC if I remember.

[zep1706]

I cant vouch for something I have not seen. Mostly 130's and the ball does not swing anymore than Bhuvi.

No one is asking you to vouch for anything, anyone who saw Wasim bowl in the 1990s knows that he was much quicker. He probably had the quickest bowling action of all time.

[Midfielder]

It does not matter if bhuvi is as quick or quicker than akram not does it matter how much swing he got.Just look at his performances.The thread is aimed at sarcasm do not take it seriously. In my view akram was one of the most skilled and talented bowlers in cricket history.He had mastered everything from inswinger to outswinger ,bouncer ,bowling over ,around,reverseswing .He was so skiddy off the pitch as well his the way he used his wrists was brilliant,

If your uncles , aunts, nephew claims that Wasim bowled at 200 then it is upto you to believe it. For me there is no substitute of speed gun. As a matter of fact when Nehra played India had the fastest attack in the world.

[Midfielder]

No one is asking you to vouch for anything' date=' anyone who saw Wasim bowl in the 1990s knows that he was much quicker. He probably had the quickest bowling action of all time.[/quote'] He probably did not. It is just an urban legend.

[Midfielder]

Ok @ some sensitive souls getting serious in this thread. This is just a joke thread in case you still have not figured it out :haha:

I am serious as a heart attack.

[zep1706]

He probably did not. It is just an urban legend.

It is common sense that someone who could bowl 135 kph at the age of 36-37 would be at least 10 kph quicker when he was 10 years younger.

[FreakazoiD]

So to clarify both Kumar and Agarkar are better than Akram.

Don't think Vinay Kumar was better than Akram TBH, but he had a better straighter ball than Akram. Also because of his shorter height and lower trajectory, the ball bounced less than batsman expected making him unplayable at times

[Midfielder]

It is common sense that someone who could bowl 135 kph at the age of 36-37 would be at least 10 kph quicker when he was 10 years younger.

Too many variables to make a blanket statement like that.

[kosingh]

I don't get all the hate for Akram. Just because he's Pakistani. Akram may not be in the same class as Balaji or Debasis Mohanty, but still, I think Wasim had some talent. In fact, in terms of talent, I would probably put Wasim in the top 100 bowlers of the last 25 years.

[express bowling]

Salil Ankola the only who had some potential. A pretty tall guy with decent action and pace. Have faded memories of him during 1996 WC if I remember.

Salil Ankola was considered to be genuinely quick in 1989.... when he started off. He had injury issues and had to cut down his run up and change his action. After that , he became a bouncy fast-medium bowler. He was good. Politics in selection was a very big issue those days. Cost us 4 decent pacers...Jaidi, Wassan, Ankola and Rajdan. The Bangalore lobby was very strong then and Prasad, Ganesh, Johnson etc. got chances more easily.

[express bowling]

If your uncles ' date=' aunts, nephew claims that Wasim bowled at 200 then it is upto you to believe it. For me there is no substitute of speed gun. As a matter of fact when Nehra played India had the fastest attack in the world.[/quote'] I have watched Akram bowl during his prime. He was not an express bowler. He varied between fast-medium and fast. As I told you before ... there were no speed guns ... so we will never know exactly. But one thing is sure .... He bowled hostile bouncers quite frequently. Bowled a lot of quick yorkers too. Hurried batsmen often. He was not a medium pacer by any stretch of imagination.

[Muloghonto]

Lot of his swing and pace are myths. When Akram was fast he had little control. As far as new ball swing is considered I don't see the so called superiority. Let me address the issue of pace also. Look at Akram and his muscle mass. There was indiscriminate use of anabolic steroids in those days to. So please quit rubbishing Bhuvi and putting Akram on a pedal.

What myths ? I've seen Akram pretty much his entire career. Have you ? When Akram was fast, he had excellent control.Infact, except for Ambrose and McGrath, i cannot think of a single pacer from the 86-2003 period who was more consistent and accurate than Akram. He bowled on much less friendly wickets than most ATG pacers did and especially in the ODIs, there is no other pace bowler who has a less than 4 rpo in ODIs despite playing most ODIs on the pitches in Asia that are more fast scoring-especially in the 90s. You may not see the superiority, those who saw Akram his whole career will tell you that comparing Akram and Bhuvi's ability to swing the ball is like comparing Sachin's straight drive with Raina's. I don't care whether Akram did or did not do anabolic steroids, what i do know is that he was a much faster, much more compete pacer from both sides of the wicket than Bhuvi is. Bhuvi moves the ball a lot but mostly the inswing. That does not make him a better swing bowler than Akram.

[kosingh]

Abey Kuruvilla. He was for several years the most feared fast bowler in the world.

[Muloghonto]

I have watched Akram bowl during his prime. He was not an express bowler. He varied between fast-medium and fast. As I told you before ... there were no speed guns ... so we will never know exactly. But one thing is sure .... He bowled hostile bouncers quite frequently. Bowled a lot of quick yorkers too. Hurried batsmen often. He was not a medium pacer by any stretch of imagination.

There have been very few true express bowlers in cricket. Since I've been watching cricket, i can only state that Jeff Thompson, Michael Holding, Shoaib Akhtar & Brett lee are express in the sense of bowling consistently over 150kph. Except for Michael Holding, i don't rate any of them in the same category of threat as many other bowlers because none of them (except Holding) could sustain that pace bowling 7-8 over spells. Bowlers like Akram, Marshall, Ambrose, Donald, Waqar, Akram were all in the consistent 145-148 kph bowlers (ie, 90-92mph bowlers) in their prime. Akram was not the fastest but he could definitely bowl in the speeds of Dale Steyn. Except because he was a God of swing bowling and the ball swings the most in the 135 kph mark, that is where he mostly bowled his stock balls. He used his pace as a shock and awe tactic, sometimes sending down 2-3 overs of dizziying fast bowling, 90-92mph easy, follwed by swing bowling but mostly, sneaking in a fast ball or two per over and mostly letting the ball swing around in the 85mph zone. He is the most complete fast bowler I've seen because the man had more skills than any other fast bowler. The only thing Akram couldn't do, is bowl in the 155-160kph corridor. Everything else- he could do. he was peerless swing the ball. he was almost as good as Walsh when it came to pinging the batsmen back with fast-medium bouncy 'heavy balls'. he could bowl fullish at 90-92mph and just rely on seam movements almost as well as Donald. And he could make the ball talk like no other in the air. There are many non-pakis who rate Akram as the most complete fast bowler ever and its not without its credibility.

[Midfielder]

What myths ? I've seen Akram pretty much his entire career. Have you ? When Akram was fast, he had excellent control.Infact, except for Ambrose and McGrath, i cannot think of a single pacer from the 86-2003 period who was more consistent and accurate than Akram. He bowled on much less friendly wickets than most ATG pacers did and especially in the ODIs, there is no other pace bowler who has a less than 4 rpo in ODIs despite playing most ODIs on the pitches in Asia that are more fast scoring-especially in the 90s. You may not see the superiority, those who saw Akram his whole career will tell you that comparing Akram and Bhuvi's ability to swing the ball is like comparing Sachin's straight drive with Raina's. I don't care whether Akram did or did not do anabolic steroids, what i do know is that he was a much faster, much more compete pacer from both sides of the wicket than Bhuvi is. Bhuvi moves the ball a lot but mostly the inswing. That does not make him a better swing bowler than Akram.

Like I mentioned indiscriminate use of steroids and doctoring the ball gave him a huge advantage. It is more than a minor detail for me and is an ethics issue at that level. I never said he is bad but Bhuvi has better control and more swing. Just is 3-5 km slower.

[CSK Fan]

Akram had more control than even McGrath. Not only could he swing (both normal and reverse) a mile at good speeds, but he would bowl those balls exactly at the right places. He was Steyn with more movement and could move ball equally on both directions

[Midfielder]

Akram had more control than even McGrath. Not only could he swing (both normal and reverse) a mile at good speeds' date=' but he would bowl those balls exactly at the right places. He was Steyn with more movement and could move ball equally on both directions[/quote'] He is no Dale Steyn. Steyn is once in a lifetime athlete who can bowl for continous spells at a pace Akram could only dream of. There is no comparison.