I would prefer Shoaib / Wasim opening the bowling for Pakistan instead of Waqar /Wasim. Shoaib will always be a tad bit faster with the new ball. And Waqar is always better with the old ball. What do you all think?
i think he'd be expensive in the first coupla overs
Waqar can get wickets with the away swinger with the new ball. Plus it's kinda frightening for the opposition to see off the two W's only to see Shoaib warming up.
I don't think he should open bowling in presence of waqar with wasim...especially not against Australia....
I am a big Waqqa-fan. I just don't like it when he starts bowling good length balls on middle and leg. He gets hammered so bad. He MUST kee an off or outside of off line or else be prepared to be driven by Hayden and Gilly. I bet you Waqar is gona bowl middle and leg against the Aussies. I hate it when he does that.
Waqar's problem is that with losing some of his old pace he can't afford to stray in line any more otherwise he gets pulverised. He can still make use of the new ball when he's on form though. Plus I have a feeling he'd come in for heavier punishment if he bowled first change.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Mr Xtreme: *
Waqar's problem is that with losing some of his old pace he can't afford to stray in line any more otherwise he gets pulverised. He can still make use of the new ball when he's on form though. Plus I have a feeling he'd come in for heavier punishment if he bowled first change.
[/QUOTE]
well Waqar has lost his pace but he is still 135-140 ish, which is decent... and since a while now he is most impressive with the new ball. And shoidb cant swing the new ball that much so Waqar/Wasim , Ashoib is best first change bowler in the world :)
doesn't matter, whoever can really attack batsmen and stop them from getting boundries.
I think it would be bad idea, Shoaib is too expensive in the begining and he can't do anything with the new ball except being fast.
As we saw in Brisbane in June, he is a perfect bowler to come in at first change, with the ball being slightly old and being able to be swing which Shoaib can do very effectively. Waqar can do the same but he doesn't have the same speed he had 10 years ago. Shoaib being able to swing and be fast at the sametime is a very dangerous combination.
This is one area where Pakistan probably miss the services of bowler like Aaqib Javed. Waqar too at the begining of his career was a first change bowler and I still think he can be an extremley dangerous first change bowler. Wasim Akram is in a class of his own you can hand him the ball at any stage and he can turn the magic on... I dont think we have another person in the national side that can take his place. But for now Waqar still is a better choice then Shoaib... with the new ball being hard Shoaib can be fast but edges will go for a lot of runs and he might not be able to trouble top order batsmen as the new ball wont swing as much as the old one.
I think Shoaib is better 1st change becoz Waqar can swing the new ball away but no longer can bowl when the bowl gets old. If Shoaib opened the bowlin the batsman wud see him off n be in "comfort zone" wen Waqar cumz on 2 replace him. If it was down 2 me id drop Waqar n play Sami. Waqar gets 2 135-140 km/h mayb once r twice in 10 overs! The major problem 4 Waqar is he gaives 2 many runs away! The game cud b over b4 Shoaib cumz on!
This is one of our luxuries. We have 3 great pace bowlers, admittedly two are not quite prime cuts any more-but they both have the experience and the guile to be fantastic performers for us.
Personally, I would open with Shoaib at all times, his extra yard can provide immediate fire power and blast thru a top order in a very short space of time. Sure he may be expensive, but I'd settle for Australia (for instance) at 40/3 of 7-the pressure would be on, the shots reduced and the runs would naturally dry up.
In such conditions, Waqar could come on 1st change, swing the ball out and make life miserable. Also Waqar is expensive, his RPO is around 4-thats high, so without his speed of yesteryear-putting him straight into the firing line can prove dangerous. And yes he is better with the old ball.
There efforts of these 3 will be HUGE in determining how far we get in this WC-if Shoaib is on song we can go far-if he's got the support-we can go yet further.
Waqar may have the ability to swing the ball better than Shoaib but what he doesn't have is speed like Shoaib. A fast inswing yoker can do more destuction than a slow insiwing yoker.
It dosen't seem too gd an idea to give shoaeb the new ball. He's too quick, and he would be having a hard time controlling the direction of the ball on the fast pitches of SA. Plus his ball is gonna fly from the bat, and we dont have sharp enough fielders to cover up for his pace. Our best bet is to bring him in first change. The 2 W's are not what the used to be, but still they Wasim "the Wily" and Waqar do a decent job as an opening pair.
Just wanted to make sure nobody missed my original post on this thread :D
Waqar didn't fancy bowling in the middle when Symonds was hitting Razzaq and Afridi. Shoaib bowled well with the new ball though.