Nehra vs Pathan vs Zaheer

[tooextracool]

i dont think zaheer is a swinger. Hes a hit the deck bowler. Same with nehra but pathan is a swinger for sure ive seen him swinging before with wasim akram

if you think that nehra cant swing the ball, then you've obviously not been watching him bowl very often. in fact he swung the ball loads in the current series in Zimbabwe.

 

[Arjun]

Individually, each of them is very talented, just as much as many pace bowlers leading ODI attacks today (with the notable exceptions of McGrath, Lee, Bond, Akhtar, Sami and Pollock), but the problem is that they don't combine well, either with themselves or with the rest of the bowling lineup.

 

[Arjun]

He has a fantastic seam position on the ball and I have seen him seam the ball in and out a lot of times. If you look at the WC, he was really good most of the time there and he was getting movement in both directions off those pitches. Plus he is the quickest of that lot, and add to that a good yorker and a decent slower one, I still think he is the best OD bowler amongst that lot, if he improves his discipline and accuracy that is.

Zaheer isn't much of a swing bowler and doesn't have to be. He's at his best as a power player. His main strength is his bust-up act and the yorker. Look at his spells in England, particularly the Headlingley Test- that may be Zaheer's best ever bowling performance in a Test match- he may have got less than five wickets an innings, but the intent was good, and so was the execution. If he can repeat that regularly, he can act as a good foil for Irfan's swing and Nehra's steady line and length.

 

[Arjun]

Zaheer can swing the new ball a bit if conditions are conducive to it. He did it a bit in the second innings at Nagpur against Australia, as well as seaming it in easily the best spell I've seen him bowl.

Anyway, Pathan has the most talent of the three I think, but I find his lack of pace a bit worrying. While of course there are plenty of examples of excellent bowlers who aren't particularly quick, without a great deal of pace or height the chance of him getting smashed around when it isn't swinging is significantly higher.

Irfan does not have the experience or the refinement to lead a pace attack. You can't afford to have someone who 'loses the ability to swing the ball' as a strike bowler. He's still young, he has a little to practice and sharpen his skills, so there's no need to thrust such a difficult role on him. That was the mistake made by the selectors and the people in charge- he's done well, but more is expected from a striker.

 

[Legglancer]

All three are mediocre, Pathan Can swing the ball but really lacks the Pace, Accuracy and bounce of Akram.

Nehra is at the moment the best of the lot because of his greater accuracy but still gets tonked around because he lacks pace and height.

 

[Arjun]

Nehra is at the moment the best of the lot because of his greater accuracy but still gets tonked around because he lacks pace and height.

Nehra has decent pace, though not the Shoaib Akhtar range, but sustaining that pace is crucial. He's not too short- rather, he's very tall by Indian standards- the Indian attack is often led by one of Snow White's dwarfs. His real problem is lack of control of a new ball- he often struggles with it early on, but he's a lot better when he's bowling later in the innings.

 

[aussie]

Zaheer- most experienced & probably the most accurate
Nehra - has a good wicket-taking ability, but is not an economical bowler
Pathan - has more natural abilty with the ball than them both

So overall right now i would say Zaheer but in the coming years i would expect Pathan to become better.