Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is hoping to establish himself as a bowler of genuine quality, rather than one of simply raw pace.
“I am no longer just concentrating on speed. I am also thinking about line and length and sticking to a more consistent line. You can’t be a quality bowler without that,” he said after taking six wickets in Pakistan’s crushing 153-run win over New Zealand in the first one-day international.
“I am really enjoying my cricket now. There is no pressure on me about my bowling action being suspect any longer. I have got a lot of support from the Pakistan board and my team mates and that is enough for me,” he added on Sunday.
“When you enjoy your cricket then you tend to bowl well and in rhythm.”
Shoaib completed figures of six for 16 to reach 100 wickets in one-day internationals quicker than any player in history except his captain Waqar Younis."
Waqar believes Shoaib is now a more mature bowler.
“He is not only fast, he is also bowling a consistent good line and length and trying to out-think the batsmen, which is a good sign,” Waqar said.
Stand-in New Zealand captain Craig McMillan was disappointed with his team’s display in the first of three matches in the series.
“We never really recovered from the loss of those three quick wickets after a good opening stand. We were always under pressure after that,” he said. "I would describe this as a below-par performance.
“But I would not say that Shoaib Akhtar has any psychological hold over us now. These things happen. He bowled well.”
“WatCh youR tHoughtS; they become words. WatCh youR wOrdS; they become actions. WatCh youR aCtiOns; they become habits. WatCh youR hAbiTs; they become character. WatCh youR chaRactEr; it becomes your dEsTinY."
[quote]
Originally posted by UMAIR316:
**This is start of a great career and if he continues like this, he can become the greatest bowler in the world.
Watch out Wasim!
**
[/quote]
nops i wont agree with u on that.
there can never be another waseem
shoaib can reach high ranks in the world of
cricket but he cant be a waseem akram or like
him
on what basis are you saying that? just wanna know.
In my opinion ofcourse Shoaib can never be Waseem or like him but he can be fitted into one of the following.
He’s NOT better than Waseem.
He’s better than Waseem.
For instance when Imran was on his peek and waseem joins the team he made his way up but could never touch the hight of the peek where Imran stood. Now I don’t know if he crossed Imran or not but persoanally I think there can never be another Imran
. I mean compare the captaincy of Imran with Waseem and I think thats where Waseem had a great chance to be one of the fav. but I think he failed.
So here if we compare Shoaib and Waseem, Shoaib was out of the track initally but he seems pretty sobre now and I think this can make a big difference. He could become one of the fav. and it won’t take long for people to forget about Waseem.
Again its just my opinion persoanally I think Waseem is one of THE best BOWLER(again as a bowler NOT personality wise
) but the way Shoaib is getting better and better he could beat Waseem. For instance when Waseem first joined the team he used to be all over Imran…you know what I mean…Imran bhai ye, Imran bhai wo…and thats how he manage to learned all the tricks from Imran. Now what I observe from the matches Shoaib is doing the same thing and it seems like he is trying to learn all the tricks from Waseem and if he’s able to do that and the same time try to be sobre and gain respect I don’t think people would remember waseem ofcourse they will as the highest wicket taker in ODI, u never know that can be beaten by Waqar or by Shoaib
Every great fast bowler always starts his career as being a super fast bowler, especially in Pakistan.
Wasim never bowled his best tricks when he started playing, he was super fast.
Waqar was the fastest bowler of his time when he started, remember he wasn't the master of reverse swing yoker remember than with help of Wasim he started swinging the bowl.
There is no harm in learning from your more experienced team mate and that is what Wasim and Waqar did and now Shoaib is doing. From purely bowling point of view I rate the Pakistani bowlers as follows:
Wasim
Wasim
Wasim
Imran
Waqar
Shoaib.
Purely my view. Akram is far ahead of any other bowler we produced. Even the great Imran did not have the variety which Akram possess.
Remember Ehsan when Wasim came into the international arena Imran was at his peak of his bowling, he was called the greatest pakistani fast bowler ever and no one could have been better than him but it all changed 5 years later when Wasim was taking wickets in every other bowl.
No one in here has a right to say if anyone can surpass Wasim's accomplishments or not, it may happen and it may not happen.