Greatest Pakistani fast bowler - Wasim or Imran?

[IndianByHeart]

At their peak (Imran, Waqar, Waseem) it was Waqar Younis who was the most deadly pacer (probably among the top 3 pacer ever that were most lethal at their peak). I remember Waqar use to clear the top order while Waseem use to wipe off the tail at a certain period.Unforunately Waqar faded away far too soon (wasn't the same bowler after those injuries).

[Jono]

Ridiculously tough, but as great as Wasim was, and Waqar was in his peak, I'd just sneak Imran above the both of them. He really was a champion bowler, hell all 3 were.

[Top_Cat]

Of these two, too tough to call. I'd put Waqar just above both of them, though.

[Salamuddin]

Of these two, too tough to call. I'd put Waqar just above both of them, though.

For once Mr Top Cat and I agree.

Waqar at his best was the most lethal bowler the world has ever since.
The English go on and on about Simon Jones' ability to reverse at 90mph...well Waqar could do that at 150 km/hr.

[Beleg]

The English go on and on about Simon Jones' ability to reverse at 90mph...well Waqar could do that at 150 km/hr.

Are you really this pedantic or are you getting your units mixed up? If it's the former then it's moronic and the latter's just ironic.

[Salamuddin]

Are you really this pedantic or are you getting your symbols mixed up? If it's the former then it's moronic and the latter's just ironic.

Beleg sahib, Well I'm merely pointing out if people think JOnes is good, well what do theyt say about Waqar because he could do even more with the ball than Jones and at higher pace.

[Richard]

Go with the "other" myself: Waqar Younis for me. At his peak he was the most devastating bowler I've ever seen. His yorker was an absolute joy to behold.

Waqar's is a case I've recently been compelled (by tec, of course) to study...
Early in his career there's little doubt that Waqar was a phenomenon the like of which cricket has rarely seen, but equally he was relatively ineffective for quite a lot of the time after that.
For mine, Waqar was a bowler of rare skill for a time, but that time was relatively speaking short enough for him to fall just short of the very top post-1970 pantheon of Marshall, Hadlee, Imran, Ambrose, Donald, Holding, Garner, McGrath, Wasim. He fits, IMO, in the 2nd tier of Lillee, Gillespie, Pollock, de Villiers, Willis, Bishop, Walsh.

[Richard]

The little mentioned earlier Pakistani pacers - true pioneers shouldn't be forgotted here. I don't think any one would have seen them play but from reports they were prpetty good. Guys like Fazal Mahmood.

Pretty fruitless to compare the 1950s and 60s with the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s IMO.
Pretty good, sure, but we can only compare them to other pacers of their era, the Lindwalls, Millers, Bedsers, Stathams, Truemans, McKenzies, Halls, Tysons even.

[Richard]

Speaking of yorkers- you ever saw THAT yorker that felled Lara ? I think even Bradman would've been foxed by that one.

That must be THE 2nd-most-famous delivery of the 1990s, surely?

[Richard]

Beleg sahib, Well I'm merely pointing out if people think JOnes is good, well what do theyt say about Waqar because he could do even more with the ball than Jones and at higher pace.

Indeed - it's over-enthusiastic of anyone to compare the two, really, though there's no doubt they share some similar virtues.
So far, though, Jones has only really demonstrated devastating, Waqar-esque bowling for a single series. He has to do plenty more than that to be rated close to Waqar.
Incidentally... when was Waqar clocked at 150kph? Would he have been timed (accurately - ie not in 1996 when he was measured at 75mph average ) until 1999\2000? If he was still bowling at 150ks in 1998\99 or 1999\2000... God knows how quick he was in 1994.
Likewise... Donald definately was bowling at 92mph in 1998. How quick was he, do we reckon, in 1994?

[Xuhaib]

I will not vote since i cant seperate the two.

Speaking of Waqar i cant forget that golden period in which he use to regularly bowl spells like 6-3, 4-8, 5-6. These spells came with so regularity that even when the opposition needed some thing like 50 runs with 9 wickets in hand, one would still have a believe that the match could be won.

[Richard]

If you are willing to judge Waqar purely on the 1989-1994 period he is the greatest seamer of the modern era... better even than Marshall.
I, however, am not, and find it more accurate to say that he was a sensation for a relatively short period of time and a pretty average bowler for much of the rest of his career - which numbered plenty more matches than his sensational period.

[Fusion]

I tend to agree with those that give the edge to Wasim. Imran at his peak may have been better, but Wasim takes the edge overall for me. Waqar is not that far behind the two. Alas, it's a shame the two W's couldn't get along better in the 90's. They could've gotten even better results for Team Pakistan.

[SJS]

I think I would take bowlers at their peak (peak not being one test or even one series or a couple of them. But some players retire very close to their peaks and others linger on well past them (kapil) and one tends to rate the latter lower.

Similarly some blossom early and other take longer.

Taken at his best (which must be close to a 6-8 year period) Imran was the better bowler. I think by more than the whisker some have suggested than Wasim at his best.

[BlackCap_Fan]

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1...15MAR1979.html

Holy crap! Reminds me of Hadlee's 9/52.

I'd have to say Wasim. Just. Waqar, at his peak, was the most destructive bowler in the world, but Wasim seemed to do it for ages and ages.

Richard, those stats are nothing short of incredible.