Even the PM’s a fast bowler
TO UNDERSTAND the culture of fast bowling in Pakistan, look no further than Imran Khan – once a feared quick, and now the country’s prime minister.
Not all of Pakistan’s pacemen will fly so high, but Imran’s rise underlines a tradition where speed is king, and blistering pace is essential for any team.
As if to reinforce the point, Pakistan have eight quicks in their 20man squad for the three-Test series against England, starting today, ready to unleash their trademark pace and swing.
They carry the baton passed by predecessors such as Imran, left-arm great Wasim Akram and his destructive partner Waqar Younis, the unassuming Aaqib
Javed, and Shoaib
Akhtar, the feared “Rawalpindi Express” who is considered the fastest bowler in history.
The current generation includes the precocious Naseem Shah, still only 17, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz, and the accurate Mohammad Abbas.
The production line is so consistent that when one player goes, another is ready to take over – as seen in 2010 when Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, banned for spot-fixing, were replaced by Junaid Khan, Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil and Rahat Ali.
Even Amir’s decision to retire from Tests at just 27 did not slow Pakistan, as Shaheen became the spearhead and Naseem announced himself with a stunning Test hattrick.
But the steady emergence of quicks – left-armers, right-armers, even one who is ambidextrous – raises an obvious question: how does Pakistan keep doing it? Former fast bowler Sarfarz Nawaz,
regarded as the pioneer of reverse swing in 1970s, said the factors included Pakistan’s meaty diet.
“We are a nation obsessed with fast bowling,” Nawaz told AFP.
“We eat meat which strengthens the body, we love wickets clattering and the batsman shivering so it’s natural that we produce fast bowlers.”
Sarfarz passed on his reverse-swing skills to Imran under whose tutelage Wasim and Waqar became “The Two Ws”, a menacing partnership in the 1980s and 1990s.
Wasim said he followed Imran’s legacy, and that pace bowling matches the Pakistani mentality.
“I think it’s the culture (to become a fast bowler), especially this generation of Waqar and I and then Shoaib, we all had a role model in Imran,” he said.
“Generally, when we talk about cricket it’s mostly about the fast bowlers, they get batsmen caught napping. We are aggressive people in nature and that’s what helps.” – AFP