Both are young. One is 19, the other just turned 20. Both within a year of their international debut. Both potential future stars for their respective countries. Both bowl in the mid-80’s. Both rely on line & length more than brute pace. Both pathans. Both huge fans of Wasim Akram. Both tutored by Wasim Akram. Both very determined and hard working.
Makes me wonder where they will be 10-12 years from now.
Place your bets NOW
i am betting Irfan. Not because he has more talent but because he is more likely to get a whole lot more chances than Umar. Right now we have Shabbir, Shoaib, Sami, Razzaq etc taking care of the bowling so he has to sit out unless someone gets injured. What do you think?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ChthonicPowers: *
Lets see now:
Both are young. One is 19, the other just turned 20. Both within a year of their international debut. Both potential future stars for their respective countries. Both bowl in the mid-80's. Both rely on line & length more than brute pace. Both pathans. Both huge fans of Wasim Akram. Both tutored by Wasim Akram. Both very determined and hard working.
Makes me wonder where they will be 10-12 years from now.
Place your bets NOW :D
i am betting Irfan. Not because he has more talent but because he is more likely to get a whole lot more chances than Umar. Right now we have Shabbir, Shoaib, Sami, Razzaq etc taking care of the bowling so he has to sit out unless someone gets injured. What do you think?
[/QUOTE]
CP bhai I agree with you my money is on Irfan, Though not for the same reasons.
If Gul is not Encouraged and Trained and Motivated enough, you will have ONLY the Pakistani Management to blame.
NB: remember a few days back I replied to a post of yours where I mentioned There is no lack of Talent, only lack of management.
Pathan is more likely to make the bigger impact. His ability to swing the ball means even on flat pitches he'll be a threat, Gul is more a seam bowler who needs some help from the pitch. Gul can move it pretty sharply both ways though and with his height gets some bounce too. He's moved back in front of Shabbir in the race for 3rd seamer...and if Shoaib or Sami don't do better next time out their places are under threat.
one match or one series makes no one a star....
lets wait for a year or so and compare their performances (own) with what we r expecting from them now....
only a few players live up to the expectations....
e.g. zaheer khan, ntini, sami, kaneria (his first 2 matches against b'desh made him look like a super-warne) etc etc....
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
one match or one series makes no one a star....
lets wait for a year or so and compare their performances (own) with what we r expecting from them now....
only a few players live up to the expectations....
e.g. zaheer khan, ntini, sami, kaneria (his first 2 matches against b'desh made him look like a super-warne) etc etc....
[/QUOTE]
so the above mentioned players lived or not lived upto expectations?...
Too early too call. I will wait for Gul's 2nd inning showing. Note that Gul has never before bowled against India, they will be watching his video tapes. I remember reading a news clip couple of days ago, where Tendulkar wanted to video tape Gul during his warmup. Also pumping fist on dismissals of tendy and sehwag is asking for trouble as Hondo, Mcgrath and warne will testify.
But Gul did seem like best of current Pak bowlers today. However, Pak has to stick with him even if he fails a few times and do not show him that all familiar revolving door.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by armughal: *
one match or one series makes no one a star....
lets wait for a year or so and compare their performances (own) with what we r expecting from them now....
only a few players live up to the expectations....
e.g. zaheer khan, ntini, sami, kaneria (his first 2 matches against b'desh made him look like a super-warne) etc etc....
[/QUOTE]
Its true now is not the time to compare these two but at the moment they do have quite a bit in common to evoke the question. I am asking this keep in mind that both these have very similar start to their careers and it'd be interesting to see what they both achieve in 10-12 years from now. Sort of like Sachin and Lara starting their craeer in the same year and at the same age.
Were those Mr and Mrs Pathan in the VIP lounge today?. The gentleman was sporting a mehndi colored beard and the lady was in niqaab. Just wondering. They showed them when Irfan was batting and also when he got out. I had headphones ON listening to something else.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
Were those Mr and Mrs Pathan in the VIP lounge today?. The gentleman was sporting a mehndi colored beard and the lady was in niqaab. Just wondering. They showed them when Irfan was batting and also when he got out. I had headphones ON listening to something else.
[/QUOTE]
YES..they were Irfan's Parent. Remeber his father is a Muazzin and sells Itar in a Masjid's Campus. So Muhtarma has to be in Naqaab.
it's too early to tell.. Irfan has played a lot more than this other lad..but still not enough to judge him.. But Irfan has been more impressive so far and he is the cuter one of the two.. :-p
YES... But Irfan's test matches are against AUS and PAK where as Umar's is Bangladesh and NZL. ;)
[/QUOTE]
Weak argument. Australian pitches are conducive to Gul's type of bowlers. He would have been a lot more successful there.
But, nevertheless, I don't think it is fair to compare two totally different type of bowlers. One is an aggressive swing bowler and the other accuracy freak with lateral movement.
