Inzamam the best player of quicks after viv?

[mohammad16]

Well we all know his talent was never quite realized, he lacked focus and dedication required away from matches to perfect ones skills, but in terms of raw talent, where does he really rank?

Mohammad Zahid, who at his peak was quicker than Shoaib and also bowled an unplayable over to Lara, getting him to miss 5 deliveries and dismissing him on the 6th, had the following to say:

PakPassion.Net: We've all heard the stories of Inzamam thrashing Waqar and Wasim in the nets, when they were both at their prime. How did Inzi handle Zahid in his prime?

Mohammad Zahid: Inzamam is a different story altogether, he was always too good. I never saw him impressed with what I did, it didnt matter how fast I was bowling to him he just wasn't bothered by it. It didn't matter if I was bowling to him in the nets or in a match, the result was the same. It used to amaze me that even when I was bowling at full tilt and holding nothing back, Inzi would still be playing me quite comfortably. I've never seen another batsman who has so much time when playing the ball.


Also, Shoaib himself asserted in an interview that he never even came close to troubling Inzamam in the nets or domestic cricket, despite their much publicized differences. That inzi seemed to have a ridiculous amount of time to play pace bowling.

I also recall a practice game against some Australian side when Brett Lee was in his prime, Lee was charging in at full pace, and it literally felt like Inzamam was playing a medium pacer. I think Lee ran right upto him at one point, and Inzamam jokingly told him to stop bowling off spin.

It is also interesting to note that Lara also told Zahid after that famous over that he was the quickest bowler he had ever faced.

 

[marc71178]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Definitely no.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Imran always rated him as a great player of fast bowling. It was true in his younger years but later on in his career he lost his reflexes.

 

[mohammad16]

Well Tendulkar also consistently has played pace well, but I cannot think of another batsmen since Viv that at seemed to be so comfortable playing pace as Inzamam was at times.

 

[robelinda]

Is this a joke? Inzamam had close to zero idea against Australia or South Africa, their quicks demolished him. He was clumsy and leaden footed at best.

 

[mohammad16]

Is this a joke? Inzamam had close to zero idea against Australia or South Africa, their quicks demolished him. He was clumsy and leaden footed at best.

Well this isnt talking about his technique, its more to do with the time he had to play genuine pace. He had trouble against good pace bowlers obviously mostly due to swing/seam, but he never seemed rushed against genuine pace.

 

[Viscount Tom]

How can you say a player is the best player of quicks after Sir Viv and then say this isn't about his technique.

Also -Right Arm Shotgun vs Right Handed Fatman.
Steve Harmison 6/19 - England vs Pakistan 2nd test at Manchester 2006 - YouTube

Genuine pace and rushed by it.

 

[ankitj]

I wonder how many of the top batsmen at that level are rushed in by pure pace consistently.

 

[Spark]

Very few nowadays. Often a player appearing to have "time" is down to the trigger movements in their technique and not all that much to do with how well they actually play pure pace.

 

[Satguru]

IMHO, the best player of pace ive seen is definitely Ponting of 2002-06... anything pitched up he would drive on the up and anything even marginally short he would dispatch with that amazing pull of his. Simply sensational, destroyed really quick bowlers regularly

Sachin, Lara close behind him for me

 

[Shri]

Aravinda de Silva > Inzamam against pace in his own time.

 

[Teja.]

Is Inzamam one of the top handful of players of the last twenty of years with re to appearing to have a lot of time playing pure pace? Yes.

Does that mean he was a great against fast bowling in general? No.

Using an extreme example, Afridi might have the best hand-eye coordination of any test batsman over the last 30 years, better than say, Greg Chappell or Sunny G. That does not make him the best batsman of the last 30 years.

 

[Jono]

Yes Inzy was indeed the best player of Indian "quicks".

 

[weldone]

Is Inzamam the best player of quicks after Viv? No.

Dravid, Ponting and Tendulkar are the best players of quicks after Gavaskar IMO

 

[unam]

one of the best players of fast bowling, along with Ponting and Arvinda. (never seen viv play live so can't say anything)
Tendulkar and Brain Lara close behind them? don't think so

 

[Shri]

Tendulkar/Lara just great against all types of bowling without being the best against any particular type of bowling. Ponting was the best against pace of his generation while being good against spin. Inzamam great against pace with de Silva being the best against pace of his time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing for any of the mentioned players.

 

[weldone]

How are we defining 'best against pace'? On our pre-conceived notions about players being good against pace (like having time to play shots, being counter-attacking against hostile pace, good pull shots, copybook footwork etc), or on which players actually scored runs against quality pace bowlers consistently? Inzamam and Aravinda, very good players they were against pace, will fall short of Dravid, Ponting and Tendulkar (and possibly Kallis and Sangakkara too) on the second measure.

In the other thread about spin bowlers this is the same thing I told to Himanv while comparing Sangakkara and Ranatunga. Himanv was claiming that Ranatunga is a better player of spin. I asked him whom he'll back up more often to make a big century against spin bowlers among the 2? His instant answer was Sangakkara.

 

[smash84]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Definitely no.

Is this a joke? Inzamam had close to zero idea against Australia or South Africa, their quicks demolished him. He was clumsy and leaden footed at best.

Aravinda de Silva > Inzamam against pace in his own time.

Agree with the above

Yes Inzy was indeed the best player of Indian "quicks".

Had to lol at this

 

[Migara]

Well Tendulkar also consistently has played pace well, but I cannot think of another batsmen since Viv that at seemed to be so comfortable playing pace as Inzamam was at times.

Must have not seen Aravinda de Silva. Both him and Inzy were possibly best players of short bowling in their era, but both sucked when ball was pitched up. De Silva has some magnificient innings against moving ball to show that he was not alaways ****, but Inzamam has very few in that aspect. So short answer definietly no. If I was to name a player who was good against pace bowling I would nominate Daryll Cullinan. Basically played every great pace bowler with ease.

 

[weldone]

Must have not seen Aravinda de Silva. Both him and Inzy were possibly best players of short bowling in their era, but both sucked when ball was pitched up.

Yes, that's another error people commit while judging players against a particular type of bowlers.

Good pull shot players are often confused with good players of pace bowling (I know it's an essential quality of playing pace well, but not the only), just like they confuse good six-hitters with good players of spin.