so all this time you've been talking about how he has the potential to become an all time great, not to mention comparing his record to the all time great bowlers. and ive seen several other people who've put his name down amongst the top 5 bowlers today, and some who've put him on their world XIs.
I hate saying the blitheringly obvious but here goes.
Pathan HAS the potential to be an alltime great. He is NOT an alltime great RIGHT NOW.
Kapische ?
The records of great bowlers at similar stage was quoted when dolts where slagging him because of his current average for comparison.
Top 5 bowler today ? no way. Top 15? Perhaps...but that is no big shakes these days.
i seriously doubt it. if pathan bowled the way he has been so far in his career for england, hed been dropped by now
For who ? Anderson ? 'wunderkid' wishes. Jones ? well if Jones manages to stay on two legs most of the time and spend less time on the physio's table then perhaps.
err no, you could go on averaging a shade under 30 all your career, as many bowlers have done, and still keep a place in your side. bowlers like vaas for example have certainly maintained the same average for an extremely long period of time.
And how much competition does Vaas have for his spot ?
If there is competition(and there certainly is in IND pace dept.) then you dont survive without improvement. Period.
And the current bowler Pathan is, he is good enough to average 30-ish in Test
cricket....ofcourse i expect him to average near 20 by the time he is done but thats a different story.
Even then, Vaas and others who averaged 20 had to improve after debut or else they would be history. Vaas is 10x the bowler he is than he was 10 years ago.
so what? young doesnt automatically equal improvement, as people like anderson would tell you.
No it doesnt. But equivalent performance at a much younger age means you have a high chance of success IF you work at it because you got more time. Plus it means that as far as bowlers go, he is less developed currently than a 23-24 year old debutant like McGrath or Ambrose would be.