Waqar Younis Options

[Guest_Cha Cha Cricket_*]

I would like to pay a tribute to Waqar Younis, he is one of the greats to have played test match cricket and to only have played 87 tests is pretty sad.

If you were to pick an opening combination in world from the part 10 years i would go for wasim and waqar like most would.

Why i am writing this topic is that i am a very firm believer that a strike bowler should not be captain of any cricket team, it can at times look biased and greedy. Waqar was Pakistans best bowler in the past 3 years with wasim hardly playing a game and while pakistan were being beaten by huge margins i think waqar held the team together nicely, I felt like there was a team there and they wanted to win! Pakistans bad team performances always bring about the demise in their captain but this time i felt that it was a shocking couple of selections over the past year that lead to Pakistans demise ending with Waqars sacking in april 2003!

I think at 32 waqar could have played another 30 tests had he not been made captain.

This is something that i have thought long about recently, i would love some opinoins to have a go at me and disagree please, the issue of the Pakistani captain really gets me thinking because i feel that anyone who has a go at captaining Pakistan will shorten their career!

Will Inzy prove me wrong????

Comon guys
hit me with your opinions!!!!

[MaraudingJ]

I'll get back to you later on this, as I have to get some sleep.

I will say, though, that Inzi is a fairly poor captain. He's sluggish, uninspirational in the field, slow to make decisions, and lacks tactical flair. A small example would be what I just witnessed a few hours ago: putting a third slip at fourth slip's position to his two fastest bowlers, leaving a huge gap at third slip where many regulation chances fall for fast bowlers. What happens? Two easy third slip catches drop in the middle of no man's land, as the first two slips and the new third slip and gully look on.

I think what frustrates me most is that Inzi struggles to seize the initiative when he should be going for the jugular. He's just a little too complacent. A captain with the strike power at his disposal should be getting a lot more done. Then again, he wasn't TOO bad in New Zealand.

Always a great batsman, though. He's one of the few that probably WON'T be scarred because he became Pakistan's captain. But, like I said, I'll get back to you on that.

[Shane]

I would like to pay a tribute to Waqar Younis, he is one of the greats to have played test match cricket and to only have played 87 tests is pretty sad.

If you were to pick an opening combination in world from the part 10 years i would go for wasim and waqar like most would.

Why i am writing this topic is that i am a very firm believer that a strike bowler should not be captain of any cricket team, it can at times look biased and greedy. Waqar was Pakistans best bowler in the past 3 years with wasim hardly playing a game and while pakistan were being beaten by huge margins i think waqar held the team together nicely, I felt like there was a team there and they wanted to win! Pakistans bad team performances always bring about the demise in their captain but this time i felt that it was a shocking couple of selections over the past year that lead to Pakistans demise ending with Waqars sacking in april 2003!

I think at 32 waqar could have played another 30 tests had he not been made captain.

This is something that i have thought long about recently, i would love some opinoins to have a go at me and disagree please, the issue of the Pakistani captain really gets me thinking because i feel that anyone who has a go at captaining Pakistan will shorten their career!

Will Inzy prove me wrong????

Comon guys
hit me with your opinions!!!!

I too am also of the opinion that front line strike bowlers should not Captain a team, but for a different reason.

Captaining a team during a match requires you to have your eyes and thoughts on everything happening on the field and sometimes off.

If the Captain has to pay too much attention to their own game and bowling tactics, they cannot truly have the finger on the pulse with what is really happening around them.

That's probably why Captains mostly seem to be selected from batsmen, most of whom position themselves in the slips area or near to in order to see everything that is going on. He watches his fieldsmen, the batsmen, weather etc etc. Without having to worry about the next over he might bowl, he is able to concentrate on everything without the distractions and formulate tactics without the addeed pressure of thinking of HIS next over.

Having said that though, we must recognise that there have been quite a few bowlers who have performed the duties of Captaincy as good as any non bowling Captain. Three that come to mind are Imran Khan.....say no more....Kapil Dev...again say no more and Richie Benaud or Mr Benno as us silly Aussies call him.

And, let's not forget Shaun Pollock.

But, at the end of the day when you look at those that have been bowling Captains, most really appear to have been all-rounders more than specialist bowlers.

Personally, I don't think any bowling Captain ever really over-bowls themselves. If anything, they probably under-bowl themselves because they probably don't want to be seen to be hogging the limelight.

A classic example of this is former Victorian Captain Canmeron White, early in his captaincy of the VIC team he would often under-bowl himself, but this did change as he gained experience.

If a bowling Captain is getting wickets, then there is absolutely NO reason they should not continue their bowling spells.

[Stirer]

I'm also of the opinion that STrike bowlers, fast bowling allrounders and wicket keepers should NOT be captains. I agree that a fast bowler needs time to "unwind" between spells. Buiding up aggression and bowling does take a lot out of you and you need time to regroup (hopefully in a deep fielding position). Often a quickie will come back bowling better in a second or third spell, when he has had a rest.

Wicket keepers also have a job in analysing the batsman, looking for weaknesses, looking at the field placings fram a batters point of view and communicating this to the captain and team. He can't have his mind on tactics, strategy and working out the arithmetic of declarations, setting targets and in the case of ODIs - the mathematical calculus of interrupted innings.

The captain should preferably be a batter.

[Guest_Shahid-Afridi_*]

I am so sad about Waqar Younis!!He was my most favourite Cricketer!the BEST bowler for me!!!!I am sooo sad!!!its just Unnbelieveable to not have him anymore in our team! (IMG:http://abcofcricket.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:http://abcofcricket.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Pakistan lost.......it didnt hurt me...cuz i has already been hurt because of Waqar younis!!

This post has been edited by Shahid-Afridi: Apr 17 2004, 07:43 AM

[Guest_akbar hussain_*]

hi guys, going back a few replies, BIG MAC>>> i have to totally agree with you about shoiab i am getting tired of him, i think the problem is that he plays for himself and not the team bowling fast is more important to him.
he takes wickets but we see more fours and sixes of his balls, thats the only thing that makes him intresting to watch now (getting hit). why..... batsman practice being bowled at 100pmh they dont fear him, common if Petal (indian wicket keeper) aint scared of shoaib no1 is..... (IMG:http://abcofcricket.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
and that RUN UP its getting silly now, wasting engry and time yes we all use to love it and get excited but not when the ball goes out the ground for SIX. we have to wait 2hz for his runup then watch it go out the ground. thats why pakistan team get done for over rate all the time.
i believe paskistan has the most talented players in the world we have so many the whole county is full of them, i bet there are ppl begging to get a chance outside PCB. those ppl should be given a chance.... COS SHOIAB SEEMS TO THINK HE CANT BE TAKEN OUT THE TEAM PUT SOME PREASURE ON HIM.....

PS.. PAKISTAN GET A BOWLING COACH.........

[Guest_Big Mac_*]

Funny you should say that as Waqar Younis is poised to take over as bowling coach at the PCB Academy. They're just finalising the details of the contract at the moment and apparently he'll be appointed soon.

This could lead to Waqar Younis possibly being put in place as Pakistan's bowling coach in a few months time as well.