I didn’t see Waqar at his fearsome peak, a peak that is said to be the highest high of all fast bowlers. By the time I got to see Waqar he was beginning to lose his place in the team. Akram has always been irreplaceable however.
So, my question is what set these guys apart from say an Akhtar and a Sami. I mean Akhtar is the fastest bowler ever and Sami’s bloody amazing as it is. Yet they do not and have not run through sides on their own. For that matter no one has like the W’s.
The one thing that strikes me is the mental toughness both the W’s had. They just didn’t choke. They might lose the match on their gamble but gamble they would. Even leading upto the World Cup Pakistan rarely lost an ODI having scored 200 with the W’s leading their attack. It seemed that they picked up wickets at will. They’d scare the batsman into getting out. You don’t see anyone do that anymore. Presently Lee and Akhtar can be fearsome but even at their best they’re no W.
any theories? Were the W’s a once in a lifetime thing? Or have you seen bowlers as dominating as these two? what was their motivation to set never before seen standards? Around 1700+ international wickets between them. Really blows you away for a while, step back and look at that figure again. 1700. wow.
This was undoubtedly the greatest bowling pair ever to grace the cricket world. Yes, arguers will say that Walsh ambrose or Holding Marshall were close but Two Ws reached the heights mostly on subcontinent pitces, with a rather below average batting attack and not as fearsome bowling supports.
‘Fast bowlers hunt in pairs’. And thy did. What set them apart in my view, was that both were differnt in styles, Yet had the common quality of picking wickets as frequently. Waqar was a low trajectory, toe crusher, while Wasim was a bowler who could bowl 12 differnt delievers at you in two overs.
Akhtar and Sami, both being above 90 miles per hour have a lot, and that means A LOT to learn before they even come close in the vicinity of the greatness both Ws head. But i really hope that ** Two S’s ** ‘Shoaib and Sami’ bring laurel to thier country as thier predecessors did ** Two W’s ** did so splendidly.
Lee only scares the Tailaneders with nast bouncers to scare them out but Waqar and Wasim did this to one of the greats of Cricket, ian botham in the 92 series in England. He would literally take guartd outside the leg stump to avoid his toes being hit and was out bowled on more then one occassion.
For me, Two WS were once in a life time thing. I really hope that Shoaib and Sami make a fearsome bowling pair but for me , pakistan team can never be the same without Wasim Akram and Waqar younis..
P.S you have a beautiful choice of words sambs… :k:
I completely agree with you. I have to watch that England tour. I heard Was and Waqar put all the whining Poms in wheelchairs.
The one fastie I think very highly of after Was and Waqar is Ambrose. So, for the only bowling pair close to the W’s is Walsh and Amby but there is quite a gap between first and second in my opinion.
I tend to get so nostalgic whenever I come to KK. Man, I have to get videos of the W’s in their pomp.
That England tour is one of the higlights of two Ws careers, the way they demolished Poms was just a sight to behold…
Next time u come to pak, dont forget to contact me OR i have an idea how to make some Great Pak victories cassttes or vcds reach you.. will let you know
waisay can your good writing sense be attributed to Tahir sheikh?
how do you know Tahir Sheikh - I’m shocked. yaar, I’m a horrible writer. Tahir Saab used to hate my writing. I remember he gave me some writing pieces of his students and asked me to be creative and all. Then I wrote something up before our next sitting and he didn’t have one good thing to say about it. haha. I’ve always wanted to improve it, I guess I came to GS as an avenue to do just that. Either way, I have the highest of respect for Tahir Sheikh sahib. He helped me prep for Hasan Abdal’s entry exam. He was one of those few people who changed me for the better because of who they were. He was a great, great teacher.
man if you could get the casettes or VCDs to me, I’d love you so much more than I already do. seriously speaking yaar, I’d pay anything to get my hands on those matches. so if you come up with something lemme know.
amma, don’t worry about Ehsan bhai. He’s a nice guy despite what he’d have us commoners believe about him.
You’re lucky you had Tahir Sheikh sahib as a teacher. He was not an ordinary person. People like him ought to be respected as national heros. Instead they get thrown out for speaking out against the corrupt establishment. Anyways, I await the pm. thanks
I think we should stop judging sami and shoib under wasim/waqar’s shadows.. both of these bowlers are relatively new and both have a lot of potential they haven’t quite utilized yet.
Which season was that when waqar/wasim destroyed england?? was it the same one when amir sohail scored his double century in one day??
out of wasim and waqar i think i have always favored waqar for some reason. Sure wasim is a legend, but waqar has always had this deadly bowling action plus his inswinging yorkers, wasim can never match those. In effect i guess waqar was always more attacking than wasim and i always found that exciting. does anyone remember when waqar got lara out (after being hit for 10 runs off the first 3 balls)??? lara played all around that and fell to the ground.. that was an absolutely unplayable delivery.
well hopefully sami and shoib well follow in the footsteps as well
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by sambrialian: *
I didn't see Waqar at his fearsome peak, a peak that is said to be the highest high of all fast bowlers.
[/QUOTE]
You my friend, might have lost out on one of the most majestic sights to be witnessed on a cricket green. In his peak, Waqar's bowling was sheer poetry.
Raw pace and prodigious swing that left batsman not knowing whether to be glad or dismayed when they fell victim to this destructive machine.
Those of you who didn't see Waqar at his peak, just imagine Shoaib's performance in Australia being repeated over and over again.
The way Shoaib performed in the series was exactly Waqar was for couple of years. He was completly unstoppable.
Unfortunatly Waqar didn't play in the WC, or Pakistan might have won in a very convincing fashion.
Saby I disagree with you when you mentioed that these 2 fast bowler didn't have good support.
I mean in that era, they had the likes of Imran Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed whome I consider as one of my top 10 bowlers ever, regardless of the quality of bowling lineup, Wasim and Waqar still manage to take this much amount of wickets
I think (in my opinion) it is disgrace for the 2 W’s to comapre them with Sami and Shoaib. The 2 S could be faster but no where near to what the 2 W’s had. The W’s bowling was a treat to watch, inswings, outswings, toe crushing, reverse swing, deadly yorkers…that was something to watch. Sami and Shoaib could bowl some yorkers but they can never ever come up with those toe crusthing yorkers and master of the swing Wasim’s and Waqar’s reverse swing and famous Akram yorkers. I wish I could turn back the time to the point when the 2 W’s entered the sceen or to the point when Khan Sahib entered the world of cricket and took everyone by storm :). I have followed most of their tours (Windies, English, Aussies, Indians) and I could never take my eyes off every time these 2 take charge of the bowling. During 2 W’s era most of the test playing teams had good solid batsmen and it was a treat to watch the 2 W’s taking on those solid batting line up and ripping them through. :k:
sigh those were the days of Cricket now Cricket doesn’t have any excitement :(…
I had the pleasure of watching the two W's during the 1992 tour of England. Anyone who had seen that series would realise that it is an insult to compare the two W's with the two S's. They were sheer poetry and magic and to their opponents sheer terror. Those toe crushing yorkers from waqar and swinging bowls from Wasim were in different league. The two S's might develop into something like that in the future but looking at their current performance and comparing it with the two W's 92 perfomance 2 out of 10.
There is just no comparison. I dont think there will be another pair like it.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I had the pleasure of watching the two W's during the 1992 tour of England. Anyone who had seen that series would realise that it is an insult to compare the two W's with the two S's. They were sheer poetry and magic and to their opponents sheer terror. Those toe crushing yorkers from waqar and swinging bowls from Wasim were in different league. The two S's might develop into something like that in the future but looking at their current performance and comparing it with the two W's 92 perfomance 2 out of 10.
Ther is just no comparison. I doint think there will be another pair like it.
[/QUOTE]
I cannot forget thos days either, specially the last two test matches, and the OVAL(SURREY) one,, when the comentator used to say,,
after Waqar bowleds or used to LBW some one, "Waqar on Song "
and the " and the Timber is disturbed yet again "
man those were days of exciting fast bowling..
and I must say that they were BORN legends, Shoaib is in his late 20's and he is not an inch neraer to Two W's
and even the Sami, he might tke some time, but he will better than Sami, I hope...
hay, are you talking about the TAHIR SHAIKH of ALKHOBAR…
hay Saby who is this Sambralan…
and do you ahve any new of TAHIR SHAIKH these days,
man I m trying to find him for some days now…
if you ahve any news, then please tell me,
I m also one of the faan of him, and I cannot forget him at any time of my life. :k: the best teacher I have seen.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ammarr: *
Which season was that when waqar/wasim destroyed england?? was it the same one when amir sohail scored his double century in one day??
Does anyone know where can I order that England test series, I barely remember the bowling but I remember it was one of the best bowling displays ever.
Diablo, thanks that made me feel real good now that the Ws are gone.
Guys, I didn't mean to compare Akhtar and Sami to the Ws. You know I'd never be party to such blasphemy. What I was trying to get at was that if the Ws were a once in a lifetime miracle as many people have said here, then what was their motivation to bowl like they did. I mean, what inspired Waqar to aim for the stumps instead of the batsman like the Windies bowlers? As Umair said that stretch Aktar's performance down under over a number of years and you have Waqar. What made Waqar what he was? How did Wasim master every trick in a fast bowler's armoury? He was always a step ahead of the batsman. And Waqar was always there for giving the batsman a working over when Wasim was done with the mind games. Who was responsible for bringing together this phenomenon that ravaged the batsmen for over a decade?
I was hoping to perhaps hear a different point of view but I guess we all agree that the Ws were ahead of everyone else by a good mile.
plus his inswinging yorkers, wasim can never match those. In effect i guess waqar was always more attacking than wasim and i always found that exciting. does anyone remember when waqar got lara out (after being hit for 10 runs off the first 3 balls)??? lara played all around that and fell to the ground.. that was an absolutely unplayable delivery.
aur kaunsa 
