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Most intelligent bowlers atm and in history

morgieb

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All the Indian Bowlers, Asif, Amir, Akhtar and Gul
I presume the OP was talking in terms of cricket smarts. Asif in particular despite either being as dumb as doornails or being the biggest **** of all-time struck me as a very intelligent bowler.
 

OverratedSanity

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Wasim Akram. The most intelligent bowler I've seen. With the variety he had, it was a sight to behold him setting up batsmen.

Wasim probably the smartest of them all. And not to forget his tutor, Imran.
He was incredibly skilled but I've seen interviews where he admits that for a very long time he'd have no idea what he was going to bowl that over, that before each ball he just bowled what he felt like at that moment and didn't really plan his dismissals as much as other people did. Said the wickets mostly just.... happened.
 
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smash84

The Tiger King
He was incredibly skilled but I've seen interviews where he admits that for a very long time he'd have no idea what he was going to bowl that over, that before each ball he just bowled what he felt like at that moment and didn't really plan his dismissals as much as other people did. Said the wickets mostly just.... happened.
Well, he did usually set the batsman up very well, something which he learnt from Imran.

I would say Imran Khan, Dennis Lillee, and Andy Roberts quite deserving of getting a mention here.

Hadlee would say that he would try and think like Lillee in order to get the batsmen. Imran was a medium pacer when he first played for Pakistan and over time turned himself as one of the greatest fast bowlers to have played the game. Learnt the art of figuring out the weakness of a batsman and passed it onto wasim. Andy Roberts, would alwaybe out thinking the batsman and setting them up to either knock them out himself or ensuring that holding picked him up.
 

Daemon

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Zaheer struck me as very intelligent in the few years where he was one of the best quicks in the world. Too bad injuries and fitness caught up.

For certain bowlers with lots of variations it's hard to tell whether they use them after reading the situation accordingly or just try them at random. Interviews and anecdotes are probably going to be more useful in this thread then performances or footage.
 

OverratedSanity

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Zaheer definitely was very intelligent at setting batsmen up once he developed his skills upto test standard.

Shame he wasn't smart enough to realise that athletes are supposed to have a gym membership though.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Best thing about Warne though was watching him fool batsmen into thinking Warne was bowling better than he actually was. There were so many times when Warne wasn't actually causing too many problems but he'd mind**** the batsman into thinking he was in trouble.
Yeah on this, he was an absolutely hilarious troll when he'd talk pre series about a new ball he'd come up with. He had about 6 "variations" of balls that did **** all off the pitch but pinned batsmen who were **** scared by his aura and were incapable of attacking him.
 

AldoRaine18

State Vice-Captain
He was incredibly skilled but I've seen interviews where he admits that for a very long time he'd have no idea what he was going to bowl that over, that before each ball he just bowled what he felt like at that moment and didn't really plan his dismissals as much as other people did. Said the wickets mostly just.... happened.
he was probably being humble as usual, not try to come across as some genius, because I've seen him talk about the bowling tactics a lot in small interviews where he has shown a great understanding of when to use a variation. But I agree with the one who said that bowlers with as much variations as someone like Wasim would probably throw a lot of them at times to see if just the surprise factor is enough. I mean, I won't call someone like Ajantha Mendis a genius, he just kept changing his deliveries without much of a plan. But in case of someone like Wasim's, I think he surely put a lot of thought into his deliveries. His later career as captain and how he handled other bowlers and bowling tactics as well also enforces this point further. And plus of course, he comes across as a very well thought out man in his interviews and stuff.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
T' greatest bloody fast bowler who ever drew breath, and another Yorkie, Glen Chapple, not far behind
 

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