Who would be your top 10 greatest Asian cricketers?

[weldone]

When you have Wasim, Waqar, Imran and Murali, do you expect that there will be many set batsmen to take advantage of it?

Yes, of course they'll be expected to play against another great team...

 

[weldone]

That is your opinion of course.

Of course.

 

[ankitj]

Let's see:

1. Imran Khan
2. Muttiah Muralitharan
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Wasim Akram
5. Sunil Gavaskar
6. Kapil Dev
7. Waqar Younis
8. Vinoo Mankad
9. Javed Miandad
10. Vijay hazare

More sure of the top 5. Last 5 can shuffle around depending on the day and mood

 

[smash84]

That is your opinion of course. My perception is Kapil is no where near Waqar as a test or an ODI bowler. Imran would have been a better bet.

I would tned to agree with you on this Migara. Waqar was the master of the yorker. I am not sure anyone has ever bowled the yorker better than him or with more effectiveness (Joel Garner maybe? Wasim???). Waqar is arguably the best ODI bowler ( his ODI strike rate is also amongst the best. Behind Saqlain I think with bowlers having 200 wickets or more). Although his economy rate was quite high


In terms of wicket taking abilities and strike rate he is second to none. I think he is the only bowler with a better strike rate in tests than Malcolm Marshall (i.e. the best strike rate of bowlers over 200 wkts in tests if I remember correctly...I might have to recheck this).

I won't agree about Imran being better than Waqar in ODIs. In fact even Kapil might edge out Imran in ODI bowling. Although I do believe that Imran was a better test match bowler than both of them. In fact on one of the analysis done on cricinfo regarding the quality of batsmen dismissed in Test matches Imran came out on top of the pack. Edging out players like Lillee, Marshall, McGrath, Donald, and Ambrose.

 

[vcs]

Waqar's WC record isn't very special for a bowler of his caliber. He still has an excellent average of 21 odd but there aren't too many memorable performances there.

 

[Migara]

I would tned to agree with you on this Migara. Waqar was the master of the yorker. I am not sure anyone has ever bowled the yorker better than him or with more effectiveness (Joel Garner maybe? Wasim???). Waqar is arguably the best ODI bowler ( his ODI strike rate is also amongst the best. Behind Saqlain I think with bowlers having 200 wickets or more). Although his economy rate was quite high


In terms of wicket taking abilities and strike rate he is second to none. I think he is the only bowler with a better strike rate in tests than Malcolm Marshall (i.e. the best strike rate of bowlers over 200 wkts in tests if I remember correctly...I might have to recheck this).

I won't agree about Imran being better than Waqar in ODIs. In fact even Kapil might edge out Imran in ODI bowling. Although I do believe that Imran was a better test match bowler than both of them. In fact on one of the analysis done on cricinfo regarding the quality of batsmen dismissed in Test matches Imran came out on top of the pack. Edging out players like Lillee, Marshall, McGrath, Donald, and Ambrose.

Now did I sounded something like the above? Waqar > Imran, and Waqar > Kapil in ODIs IMO. You'll also agree I think with me.

 

[vcs]

Waqar vs. Kapil in ODIs is much much closer than the numbers indicate, especially if you give more weightage to big match performances, i.e. World Cups. And this is without taking the batting into account. I cannot agree with your statement that Kapil is nowhere near Waqar as an ODI bowler.

 

[Himannv]

I am not sure anyone has ever bowled the yorker better than him or with more effectiveness (Joel Garner maybe? Wasim???).

Malinga and Andrew Hall imo.

 

[weldone]

Waqar vs. Kapil in ODIs is much much closer than the numbers indicate, especially if you give more weightage to big match performances, i.e. World Cups. And this is without taking the batting into account. I cannot agree with your statement that Kapil is nowhere near Waqar as an ODI bowler.

AWTA

My perceptions are as follows:

As Test bowlers: Imran>Waqar>Kapil
As ODI bowlers: Waqar=Kapil=Imran
As Test batsmen: Imran>Kapil>>>Waqar
As ODI batsmen: Kapil>Imran>>>Waqar
As Test cricketers: Imran>Waqar=Kapil
As ODI cricketers: Kapil>Imran>Waqar

 

[Teja.]

Noone quite as good, on the yorker topic, to Waqar IMO.

Garner's main advantage with his yorker was his height which made it hard to see the ball releasing. His yorkers didn't swing much. Also, He was not an express pacer and that kinda negated the surprise element of his yorkers IMO. Still had an exceptional yorker.

Malinga's yorker is quite brilliant, though on occasions he overdoes it. Can get very good swing on his yorkers particularly in D/N games while bowling at the death in SL ODIs. Not quite the same weapon in tests though. Atleast, not yet.

Waqar's on the other hand reverse-swung wildly like a loaded Frisbee and the Batsman often had no idea of the extent to which it would swing in the air and therefore had to be wary of the ball pitching on any of the three stumps. That combined with Waqar being one of the fastest bowlers to ever play the game made his yorker 'the' best.

 

[akilana]

Waqar is a far better ODI bowler than Kapil.

I know the stats don't tell the whole story but you can't argue with it when the differences are so big.

Kapil - 253 wickets at 27.4 with just four 4-fors.
Waqar - 416 wickets at 23.8 with 27 4-fors

 

[Shri]

Yeah, shouldn't even be a contest unless we are picking Waqar as an allrounder.

 

[fredfertang]

At his peak, which admittedly wasn't overly long, I think Waqar was as good a fast bowler as has ever graced the game - mighty all rounder that Kapil was on bowling alone they don't really bear comparison

 

[Teja.]

At his peak, which admittedly wasn't overly long, I think Waqar was as good a fast bowler as has ever graced the game - mighty all rounder that Kapil was on bowling alone they don't really bear comparison

It was a good five years which is about half-a-pacer's-career tbf.

 

[vcs]

I don't think Waqar is a far better ODI bowler than Kapil. Admittedly I have not followed Kapil's career in its entirety but his World Cup exploits in comparison to Waqar's are a definite point in his favour. Waqar was sublime, at times absolutely the most destructive bowler in history in some games against NZ and SA in the early '90s (his bowling in this match in particular took my breath away), but he also had the tendency to get punished if he got it wrong.

 

[weldone]

Waqar is a far better ODI bowler than Kapil.

I know the stats don't tell the whole story but you can't argue with it when the differences are so big.

Kapil - 253 wickets at 27.4 with just four 4-fors.
Waqar - 416 wickets at 23.8 with 27 4-fors

Let's not forget the difference between the ER of 3.71 and 4.68 which is a big one even after keeping the difference in the respective eras in mind. I think ER is as important a stat as average in ODIs, and the difference in their ERs (almost 1 run per over) offset the difference in averages (in spite of the different eras).

Kapil's average bowling day in an ODI: 10 overs 37 runs and 1.35 wickets
Waqar's average bowling day in ODI: 10 overs 47 runs and 1.97 wickets

Definitely comparable.

Of course, Waqar was a much better bowler in tests, so much that they're not comparable as test bowlers. But as ODI bowlers, they are certainly comparable.

 

[weldone]

At his peak, which admittedly wasn't overly long, I think Waqar was as good a fast bowler as has ever graced the game - mighty all rounder that Kapil was on bowling alone they don't really bear comparison

Yes, you are certainly true.......... for test matches

 

[akilana]

I ignore the different eras but they certainly play a part. Waqar more than makes up for his worse ER by his ability to run through batting line ups and put his team in a position to force wins more like what Sehwag does these days with his batting. What Kapil does is a solid job by not leaking too much runs and not getting many wickets but he is less likely to win you matches.

It's like comparing Gilly with Dravid in ODIs. Though Gilly does't have a good average like Dravid does but he's like to win you more matches on his own.

 

[weldone]

It's like comparing Gilly with Dravid in ODIs. Though Gilly does't have a good average like Dravid does but he's like to win you more matches on his own.

Why not like comparing Sehwag and Ponting in ODIs??? Because Gilly and Dravid suited your argument?

 

[vcs]

...

It's like comparing Gilly with Dravid in ODIs. Though Gilly does't have a good average like Dravid does but he's like to win you more matches on his own.

That really is not a good example. Dravid did not play a big part in winning his team a World Cup. I'd say it's like comparing Aravinda De Silva and Lara. Very much comparable.