Shoaib Akhtar is currently peak of his career and bowling really fast even on the flat Pakistan pitches. He still has good couple of years left in him which will allow him to bowl at this pace if he stays injury free.
However, after this his body will take strain which may mean that he will no longer be able to bowl as quickly as present. This is expected with any fast bowler. Even when he doesn’t take any wickets - he still poses psychological fear in the opposition. In the recent test series the big difference was the pace of Shoaib Akhtar and lack of such bowlers in the Indian side.
What I would like to discuss is this is all good for Pakistan at present - what about in the future when Shoaib Akhtar begins to decline or loses his pace - are there any really fast bowlers waiting who could eventually replace him. When I am talking about really fast bowlers I am mean bowlers who can bowl in 90 + mph consistently, because we will need them.
^ what happened when Pakistan visited India last time? How fast was Shoaib bowilng? Its not really about bowling "fast and furious" which counts, Sami was also "fast and furious" but now he is "out and curious" ;)
Sami can bowl 90 mph + on a regular basis but he has proven to be useless. Rana and Asif both bowl at a livley pace and along with Shahid Nazir still waiting in the ranks I think we have a decent back up battery of fast bowlers.
We were talking about this similar situation in one of the other threads. Pakistan has a lively history of producing great quality bowlers. We are a country richly engulfed in molding and creation of skilled technicians, and I am positive that when the time comes for Shoaib to hang up his boots, there will be another genuine pace bowler ready to shine his name in the limelight, as we will witness another edition of passing the torch, from one great cricketer to another.
:chusni: :chusni: :chusni: :chusni: They all will be ready in few months until Shoby retires , so worry not!
There was a time when we thought there might not be good replacment for Sarfraz Nawaz / Imran khan / Waqar / Akram , Or indians to replace Kapil or Prabharker etc etc,Life goes on!
We have Yasir Ali and Mohd Irshad, I don't know when'd be they give a good chance besides a one game here and there.... that was before Bobby took charge I blv.
Fast bowlers are a gift of God and Pakistan certainly has been blessed starting with Imran Khan followed by Waqar and now Akhter. Wass was never fast and furious but lethal with his swinging deliveries.
Presently we have many contenders for the bowling department, but none of them can be classified as genuine speedsters in the same category that of Lee, Simon and Akhter. Nothing to worry, Iam sure there is a genuine quickie just flexing his muscles waiting for his one chance of glory.
Akhter can play for some time, Sami will make a comeback very soon, he is still young and he can play another 3-6 years easily. There will luckily be other fast bowlers available during that time.
As for Asif, medium-pacers like him enter and leave and some are lucky to be noticed. They look great when they are quite new but with time, they will not have much to offer to amuse oppositions. Pathan is a good example of this category. About a couple of years back, he was perhaps the most successful bowler against Pak, and ESPN(India) were very keen to prove that he is a modern version of Wasim Akram, but now even Rana or Akhter can hit Pathan 6 fours in an over.
Except for the fast-bowlers-turned-medium-pacers like Akram or Mcgra, the regular medium pacers must not be included in the squad too often as all their variations and expertise will expose and they can just perform well in Super-Skills. However if they can play as all-rounders like Pathan and Razaq, then that is another case.
:chusni: :chusni: They all will be ready in few months until Shoby retires , so worry not!