Top 5 Bowling pioneers from Pakistan (Part 2)
Next to Akram, is fellow team mate and opening bowling partner, Waqar Younis. Together the two were known as the two W’s, as they could crumble any world class batting lineup on their day. Younis at present is the coach of the
Pakistani national side.
At times Younis is considered to be a better fast bowler than Akram, as most of his wickets were bowled. He could bowl inswinging and reverse swinging yorkers at a high speed, which caused difficulties for even the best batsmen
of his era. He also has the best strike rate for any bowler with over 200 test wickets. From a total of 87 test matches he has played, the veteran right-arm fast bowler has 373 wickets to his name. His bowling average in test cricket is an impressive of 23.56.
On the contrary, his ODI track record is also commendable with 416 wickets at an average of 23.84, not to forget his career best of 7 for 36.
Younis is the fastest bowler to reach 50, 300, 350, and 400 wickets in ODI’s and the fastest to reach 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 wickets in test cricket. Along with Akram, the two are considered to be the successors of reverse
swing and are still known as the most lethal opening bowling pair in world cricket. His ability to reverse swing the bowl at a high speed led to him becoming one of the finest bowlers international cricket has ever witnessed.
Among the top 5 bowlers from Pakistani cricket lies the name of the legend and founder of reverse swing bowling, Sarfraz Nawaz. Based on his ability to bowl conventional swing, late swing, and reverse swing he surely is worthy
of making his name in the top 5 list. Nawaz earns the No. 4 position in today’s list of the top 5 pioneer bowlers from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
The technique or skill to reverse swing the ball was discovered by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 then passed it on to the two W’s,
as Akram during his later career in county cricket opened the Pandora’s Box.
Nawaz’s international career includes a massive 177 wickets in 55 test appearances. He also took 63 ODI wickets at an outstanding average of 23.33. Including his 10 wickets haul in a match, the veteran has a commendable 4 five
wicket hauls in test cricket.
His ability to seam the bowl and swing it either way was what made him so amazing at his time. Nawaz was known for his habit to bowl bouncers at rival fast bowlers when batting, such as Jeff Thomson and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Joel-Garner-c67141. His medium
pace bowling could surprise many, due to his ability to seam, swing or bounce the bowl awkwardly at the batsmen.
The last candidate is veteran spin bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saqlain-Mushtaq-c88743. He is best known for pioneering the “doosra”, which was put to great use and effect by the veteran in his career.
Mushtaq took a massive of 208 wickets at an average of 29.83, in the 49 test matches he played. He also has 13 five wicket hauls to his name and three 10 wicket hauls in a match. His best figures of 8 for 164 do say a lot about
the temperament of this spin bowler. His ODI career is also commendable; with an average of 21.78, he took 288 wickets from his 169 ODI appearances.
Mushtaq is credited for the invention of the “doosra”, which means that the ball is bowled as an off break, but when it pitches it turns the other way. The skill of bowling a “doosra” can be very hard to read for any world class
batsmen. Another weapon to his armoury was the arm ball, which again was bowled like a conventional off break, but caused the ball to go straight on without turning at all. He also holds the record of being the only spinner to take a hat trick in an ODI.
The Pakistani cricket team has produced world class talents; the leading bowling pioneers were discussed today, in accordance to their capabilities and contributions. One can hope the current bowling attack in the shape of Mohammad
Asif, Mohammad Amir, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul is not the end of it and more talent will come from this cricket fanatic country, where cricket is considered next to religion.
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