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Who would be more threatening to Sehwag, Asif or Steyn

Xuhaib

International Coach
If you consider the very precise weapons/techniques, who has more lethal wicket taking delivery against a batsman like Sehwag. I mean it goes without saying that on an average day, Sehwag will rape fasties on a flat deck...however, there is always a deceptive slower one, or the one that moves in that may get him while he is eyeing the cover boundary....in that sense even on a flat deck, i personally think Asif's bowl that comes back in is probably the best one. Sehwag does not move his feet much when he thrashes the outswingers or off stump line deliveries to the boundary...this almost always leaves a bit of a gap between his bat and pad, Asif is a specialist in nipping the ball back in and this is why i think that on any track Asif will always have a greater chance to get Sehwag then Steyn.....you can very well substitute Shaun Pollock for Asif here...Pollock was the same master class in nipping the ball back in with his wrist..........
yeah Asif is a replica of post 2000 Pollock but I think you are underrating Sehwag a touch here he may not move his feet but he still has good balance I don't expect Asif to trouble him on a flat deck infact I can see a lot of carnage.The only bowler who I see that can trouble Sehwag on a flat deck is someone who gets late outswing(Steyn,Hilfy) or gets extra bunce with good pace(Morkel).
 

Sir Alex

Banned
Pardon me, but isn't Asif a tad overrated? He's been there for about 5 years, but hasn't even taken 100 test wickets. Roughly he's the equivalent of a batsman who's scored 1500 runs in 5 years of test cricket. I don't think he's played enough to really get a fair assessment of him as a versatile bowler either. His figures are hugely skewed by some ridiculous average in sri lanka where he's taken bout a 5th of his test wickets in just 2 matches. Hmmm.
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
Pardon me, but isn't Asif a tad overrated? He's been there for about 5 years, but hasn't even taken 100 test wickets. Roughly he's the equivalent of a batsman who's scored 1500 runs in 5 years of test cricket. I don't think he's played enough to really get a fair assessment of him as a versatile bowler either. His figures are hugely skewed by some ridiculous average in sri lanka where he's taken bout a 5th of his test wickets in just 2 matches. Hmmm.
No he isn't and his record is good everywhere (besides Pakistan though few matches played there and to a lesser extent an averagish record in Australia which he took a step towards rectifying on their recent tour despite having a lot of wickets dropped).
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
Pardon me, but isn't Asif a tad overrated? He's been there for about 5 years, but hasn't even taken 100 test wickets. Roughly he's the equivalent of a batsman who's scored 1500 runs in 5 years of test cricket. I don't think he's played enough to really get a fair assessment of him as a versatile bowler either. His figures are hugely skewed by some ridiculous average in sri lanka where he's taken bout a 5th of his test wickets in just 2 matches. Hmmm.
So why having a good record in SL goes against him, how many fast bowlers do well in Lanka against that batting line up.

asif has had some fantastic series against quality batting its not like his figures are boosted by minnow bashing
 

wfdu_ben91

International 12th Man
Pardon me, but isn't Asif a tad overrated? He's been there for about 5 years, but hasn't even taken 100 test wickets. Roughly he's the equivalent of a batsman who's scored 1500 runs in 5 years of test cricket. I don't think he's played enough to really get a fair assessment of him as a versatile bowler either. His figures are hugely skewed by some ridiculous average in sri lanka where he's taken bout a 5th of his test wickets in just 2 matches. Hmmm.
Didn't see him bowl in South Africa or Australia then?
 

mohammad16

U19 Captain
Pardon me, but isn't Asif a tad overrated? He's been there for about 5 years, but hasn't even taken 100 test wickets. Roughly he's the equivalent of a batsman who's scored 1500 runs in 5 years of test cricket. I don't think he's played enough to really get a fair assessment of him as a versatile bowler either. His figures are hugely skewed by some ridiculous average in sri lanka where he's taken bout a 5th of his test wickets in just 2 matches. Hmmm.
WTFudge?? Asif overrated???

He hasnt played enough in all those years, he was banned remember?

Asif probably is the best flat track bowler in the world, this guys able to somehow get seam movement in any conditions.

And no hes not a swing bowler, he gets insane movement both ways of the seam which is far more threatening than swing.

Asif is Glenn Mgrath like accurate and has caused enough problems with his medium paced but quickly rising bouncers.

I would say Asif would get the best of sehwag 7 times out of 10. There are obviously the odd times when Sehwag would dominate, thats always a given.

Asif made Pieterson look foolish though consistently.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
The spells he bowled in SL were amazing and he made the likes of Jayasuria and Sangakara look like elementary school kids batting. Just look at how many times he shattered the furniture in SL when no shot was being offered by a batsman.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
Watch this clip from 0:45 to 1:20: YouTube - Muhammad Asif Destroys Indian Batting

Turned like an offbreak. Amazing.

YouTube - Mohammad Asif 3 bowled in Karachi

@ Sehwag,
'You could drive a tram through that bat and pad'. :laugh:

Only bowler I've ever seen get consistent movement off a subcontient track. Phenomenal.
This....exactly what moved me to start the thread....


It is not even so much about Sehwag's lack of foot work that got him, to me Asif's ability to deceive is what makes him more threatening.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
yeah Asif is a replica of post 2000 Pollock but I think you are underrating Sehwag a touch here he may not move his feet but he still has good balance I don't expect Asif to trouble him on a flat deck infact I can see a lot of carnage.The only bowler who I see that can trouble Sehwag on a flat deck is someone who gets late outswing(Steyn,Hilfy) or gets extra bunce with good pace(Morkel).
I just feel that Sehwag does get carried away with his off side drives and aggressive intent and a bowler like Asif who is known for deception and "out-thinking" the batsman is very well equipped in dealing with Sehwag.

I don't underrate Sehwag. This is the reason why i am comparing 2 top test bowlers going against Sehwag. What he did to the SA attack last series was only a confirmation of his batting abilities.
 

mohammad16

U19 Captain
Watch this clip from 0:45 to 1:20: YouTube - Muhammad Asif Destroys Indian Batting

Turned like an offbreak. Amazing.

YouTube - Mohammad Asif 3 bowled in Karachi

@ Sehwag,
'You could drive a tram through that bat and pad'. :laugh:

Only bowler I've ever seen get consistent movement off a subcontinent track. Phenomenal.
To be fair that Karachi wicket was not a flat track, a lot of grass had been placed on that wicket due to the criticism from the fitrst 2 matches. Its the match where Irfan got the hattrick. Yeah Pakistan piled on the runs in the second innings, but it wasnt a flat wicket.

One thing that has to be noted about Asif is that he is able to get the ball to cut in off the seam even off wobbly seam positions.

If you look at most of his in cutters off the seam, the seam is hardly ever straight. Its quite amazing how despite this he is always, almost on all kinds of tracks able to get the ball to cut in consistently time and time again.

To a player like sehwag who is always looking for room to thrash to the offside, its a perfect way to dismiss him.
 
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Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
But i thought usually the seam is scrambled + the wrist pushes the ball to bowl the off cutter.
 

mohammad16

U19 Captain
But i thought usually the seam is scrambled + the wrist pushes the ball to bowl the off cutter.
Its not that kind of off cutter, what Asif does is move the ball in off the seam. Its not rolling your fingers on one side so the ball leg cuts or off cuts. To cut the ball in, the idea is to land the ball on the seam, and that is much harder to do with the scrambled seam. But yeah his wrist release is fantastic.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
One thing about Steyn is his largest weapon is his late outswing. Sehwag stays nice and side-on to the ball all the time, which nullifies the effect of that outswing because he never gets squared up. He's more unlikely to be bowled neck and crop a la Vaughan or others.
 

Shri

Mr. Glass
If the current issues don't cool down between Ind-Pak, we may never see Sehwag face Asif again in tests. Just an observation. Would be pissed off if this thread descends into India vs Pak because of this post.:p
 

slowfinger

International Debutant
If the current issues don't cool down between Ind-Pak, we may never see Sehwag face Asif again in tests. Just an observation. Would be pissed off if this thread descends into India vs Pak because of this post.:p
Yeah well then don't bother trying to turn it into another ind.pak thread.
 

slowfinger

International Debutant
Sometimes I get the feeling that Asif is lazy(not unlike myself), but when he keeps getting constant breakthroughs I somewhat feel injustice done to him on that behalf, and that sort of makes me feel that Asif is better than Steyn ever-so-slightly, if you really need a breakthrough quickly. Another feature of Asif is that he can get an old ball to swing quite a lot if there is anything in the pitch at all. But with the new ball, Steyn > Asif. And Steyn is slightly more durable that Asif at times, and against Sehwag you need two qualities, Wits and Patience, two of which Asif has. So to cut it short, I think Asif will be slightly more successful than Steyn given a slightly juicy track in the middle/end of an innings, and vice versa at the start, especially as Steyn fires them in with a hint of swing and a hint of accuracy.
 

Faisal1985

International Vice-Captain
If the current issues don't cool down between Ind-Pak, we may never see Sehwag face Asif again in tests. Just an observation. Would be pissed off if this thread descends into India vs Pak because of this post.:p
You are right it will be very sad and its not Pakistan's desire for this to happen. We want to see another Karachi Test or another Chennai Test.... :)
 

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