It’s that time of the year. In about twelve more weeks and three short months, the ban imposed on Shabbir Ahmed will be lifted and, starting from now, one might come to a conclusion that he will be targeting to play under Inzamam shortly thereafter, possibly before or during the World Cup (or even after, under the captaincy of Younis). What percentage of a chance do you think he holds in regards to his return to Pakistan Cricket Team? Realistically speaking, do you think Shabbir Ahmed will be selected in the team based upon his merit (which, I agree, he has to show first and put on display that he still has that firepower left in him before even knocking on the doors of selectors)? One thing is for certain, bowling resources we have aplenty of. Two A’s in Akhtar and Asif with Naveed and Razzaq part of the team, it would seem next to impossible for him to join the ODI (or even the test) squad, but if one of them is forced to sit on the bench, I would really like for the selection committee to take a look at him before giving the red-carpet treatment to Sami and Iftikhar (I am out of words of praise for these two). Shahid Nazir could be another lively option (and several other prospects from domestics), but besides them really, who else do we have on the circuit who would let the world know, through his actions, that “he still has that potent left in him”?
Should Shabbir be given the ink-and-paper to re-write the pages in history?
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
Shabbir Ahmed is a great bowler. He is a Asif like bowler, but doesnt have the control which Asif has, but Shabbir's height of 6'6 gives him the extra bounce which makes up for his lack of control sometimes. But, the only problem is that he chucks, and there's no doubt about it. Unless, he improves his bowling action, there is no hope for him. Even if he does improve his action, I fear he will not be the same bowler.
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
No doubt we could have Shabbir as a backup bowler. With Akhtar's reliability always questionable, he can complete the pair with Asif.
He has that West Indian style of bowling due to his height, only problem that his body was not flexible enough and hence he chucked. So if he changes his action so that he can flex his arm a little more, he can still bounce the ball high enough to give most opening batsmen a run for their lives. He can get out the like of tendulkar, sehwag, sangakara, strauss, tresco-think etc.
He can also trouble the middle order of most teams. It all goes back to captaincy or management of the team.
I think he should be given another chance. I mean look at players like Symmonds of Australia, out due to a ban for so long and now back again. Although like Fridi said, I agree let him show some form in the local or A-team matches.
Ok.I am running out of steam..
Ramadhan mubarak to all!!
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
The most important question is whether ICC is going to lift the ban on him or not, after reviewing his case?
Last thing I heard was PCB sending him to Australia for some biomechanics lab tests in order to improve his case for review. According to PCB, he is playing league cricket in England and has improved his action as well (thats what they said earlier as well before his 1 year ban).
Anyway, if everything goes well, and he is cleared, there is some chance for him to regain his spot in the test team, specially as Dhobi Bhai said in case of injury to one of the main bowlers.
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
I think he is mentally quite a tough person,Otherwise he had already left the game a long time ago after being reported so many times.He will probably be given a chance atleast in Tests ,
but how he performs remains to be seen.Comparing him with Asif,who has slightly more nip and pace than him,but i think Shabbir is a more patient bowler and also gets extra bounce,also Some times i feel that when Asif dos,nt get Wickets he becomes impatient and erratic,while Shabbir keeps plugging away.Both r good bowlers nevertheless and i think a Pace attack comprising Shoaib,Asif and Shabbir on their day can blow away any batting order in the world.
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
Shabbir was a fairly decent bowler, but his chucking habit seems to be ingrained into his bowling action. He had been given chances before, but always reverted to chucking.
Re: What percentage of a chance does Shabbir Ahmed hold in regards to his return?
One year away from competitive cricket is a long time but heck Imran came back to the side after even a longer lay off but then again Imran didnt have ot change fundamentals of his bowling while Shabir is coming back with a new action so let's see. He has an enviable record as a test bowler, he is a wicket taker no doubt but we have a big list of fast bowlers so he will have to prove that he is still good enough before he jumps the queue. Asif and Akhtar have a place in both ODI and test side. Gul and Rana should be fighting for the remaining spot. While Gul I think might have a little edge over Rana as a bowler but Rana is handy with the bat while Gul has no clue how to bat. THen we got Sami, Shahid Nazir and Rao Iftikhar so Shabbir will have to show something in the domestic games before thinking of a comeback for the national squad.
On the other hand PCB has spent a lot of moneyh on him to remodel his action, send him to Australia to get it checked out etc so they might be keen to give him a chance as soon as he is available.