Re: Pakistan announce World Cup 15
For all those who love Sami so much for his bowling prowess, this joker is working hard to replace sami.
The Friday Column
Naved loses his ODI nous
S Rajesh
February 9, 2007
The tour of South Africa has so far been a dismal one for Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Given an opportunity to figure in the starting line-up of the first Test at Centurion, Naved repaid the think-tank’s faith by leaking 92 runs from 17 overs in the first innings - he ultimately finished with match figures of 2 for 113 in 24 overs.
Bowling with the red ball has never been Naved’s forte, though - he averages 58 runs per wicket, with just 18 wickets in nine matches - and it was expected that he would bounce back in the pajama version with white ball in hand, spearing in the swinging yorkers with his usual efficiency.** The first two one-dayers, however, have been unmitigated disasters for him: in the first game, at Centurion again, he leaked **92 from eight overs](http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2006-07/PAK_IN_RSA/SCORECARDS/PAK_RSA_ODI1_04FEB2007.html), making it the most expensive spell (at least five overs) by a Pakistani bowler in ODIs, while it became worse at Durban](http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2006-07/PAK_IN_RSA/SCORECARDS/PAK_RSA_ODI2_07FEB2007.html) - none for 43 from four, even as Mohammad Asif bowled an impeccable spell at the other end to further enhance the contrast.
Over his 58-match one-day career so far, Naved has had quite a few moments to savour - most notably when he ripped the heart out of India’s powerful line-up at Jamshedpur in 2005 - but in the last year those moments have dried up. In 22 ODIs since January last year, Naved has gone at a run-a-ball or more ten times - as the table below shows both his wicket-taking and run-saving abilities have taken a beating in the last year.
Naved in ODIs before and since January 2006
MatchesWicketsAverageEconomy rateBefore January 2006366424.625.23Since January 2006223130.586.01
**Naved’s disastrous performances in his last two matches means he is among the most expensive ODI bowlers of all time. His combined analysis of 135 runs from 12 overs in those matches lifted his economy rate from 5.34 to 5.50, which only puts him behind Zimbabwe’s Henry Olonga and Tapash Baisya of Bangladesh in the list of most extravagant ODI bowlers. And if you restrict the analysis to just Pakistan’s bowlers, Naved sits well clear of all other contenders. **