What else could be lethal than a panther with his extreme pace and venom. Shoaib Akhtar’s come back is phenominal. Doesn’t matter how many wickets he got in this series, but one thing is clear that he was totally unplayable by English batsmen. He reminded me of his early days when he stunned the biggest name in the business with his sheer pace and accuracy. I hardly seen any ball that was not aimed at wicket. His accuracy in this series is comparable to McGrath’s. Be it the regular good length, often intentional short ball or a yorker he is placing it where exactly he wants and with controlled varible pace.
He has proved himself in this series. If he continued with his hostile attacks in coming Indian and English tours he would be the best bowler in the world and highest wicket taker for year as well.
He is one heck of a bowler...I missed him watching when he first burst on the international cricket but watching him now I can imagine why people were crazy about the Pindi Xpress.
If Shoaib continues like this I think Pak tour of England will be a very interesting one to watch because we will have Shoaib fired up from Pak side and we will see similar attacking bowling from Jones the only difference will be pace or maybe Shoaib will be a little more cleaver I think. :p
I have only seen Umar Gul for a very brief period. Not to an extent to form any opinion. And Muhammad Asif is a completely unknown entity for me. I hope you guys and more importantly, the selectors, Woolmer and Inzi are more knowledgable and have an idea on how to get a more reliable new ball partner to Shoaib.
As far as up coming English tour is concerned, I have a feeling that for that particular tour Rana Naveed will be fabulously sucessful. He is a genuine seamer who moves the ball both ways and has a lot of variety. English conditions, just like Aussi conditions, will suit him very well.
Shoaib is such a “character [positive connotation]” not just in our team but in the world of cricket. He sets our emotions high… when he acts stupid, we spend our utmost energies to bash him and when he gives his heart out of the field, we feel soo proud of him and the same amount of energy. It is so much fun watching shoaib play. Even though he is not getting too many wickets, he is entertaining as ever. His batting has been outstanding too.
We have got our Shoaib back … InshaAllah, he will keep giving his best …
I agree Sami is just not the "right" bowler to open the bowling for Pakistan, heck he is not a bowler who should be playing for Pakistan anymore. He has been given numerious chances now and he has failed to impress. Now it;s time to move on and try others. Forget about Shabir. Rana is decent and he swing the ball very nicley. He may not be as quick as Sami but he bowls at a very lively pace. Then we have Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif and Shahid Nazir. Of all of them Shahid Nazir can bat a bit. Umur Gul is not very quick but is very accurate. I think the bowling attack will be more dangerous with either of them in the side in place of Sami. Sami's playing days are over unless he improves his bowling dramatically.
I concur with your remarks though I would like to point out that English conditions are somewhat different from Aussie conditions. In Australia, pitches are harder generating far more bounce than in England. (That is why Pakistani batsmen always fail in Aus but they have scored reasonably well in England. Interestingly, we have scored 4 double centuries in England but none in Australia!). In England, bowling conditions are more conducive to swing bowling and I am sure Rana would be a big success, Inshallah.
This is one thing I don’t get about you desis, you praise him when he is on top, but you bad mouth him and show no support when he has hit rock bottom.
Nobody has ever doubted shoaib's abilities. Its his attitude that people hated. Me alongwith smooth_guy have been a few of shoaib's biggest haters. But we've always been sick of him because of his 'Im God' attitude. We have never doubted his abilities to bowl when he is super fit.
It is one thing to hit rock bottom because of circumstances that are not in your control (for example how Ganguly's batting went down the drain nobody knows). Everyone knows however that all that demons that had been haunting shaoib were his own creations. And fortunately for himself and the rest of us all, he has decided to fight them off and come clean.
Just last year when Shoaib failed to perform against India, he was struggling with his fittness, people in the media called for his head.
And now they praise.
I don’t get the logic.
Comparing to English media who have been understanding of England players’ performance, and haven’t overly criticized them in this series, because they know you win some and you lose some.
True fans support their team even when they are down.
We werent the only ones hating shoaib for the right reasons. But still you dont have to take our word for it.
If its English media that you trust more, look up a few threads or google some old news on shoaib on what an ENGLISH county manager had to say about him.. the county that he played for this summer.
All I can say is I put my izzat on the line so many times here on Gupshup just to defend Shoaib, and he has come good and slapped many here on their faces! Let's hope he continues and shows such attitude for the rest of his career.
