The Ten Best Cricketers Of All Time

[Days of Grace]

"The first man who really got on top of Shane Warne" - Cricinfo on Salim Malik.

Then had to roll over three times to get off him.

 

[smash84]

Salman, what they get up to in the bedroom is their own private business, jeez

Then had to roll over three times to get off him.

 

[Blaze 18]

Then had to roll over three times to get off him.

 

[Beleg]

Not really. Fazal, saqlain, yusuf, shoaib all have an equally strong case if not more than Anwar.

erm, no. saqlain averaged 28/29 in tests with a crap strike rate. fazal averaged mid twenties but it's facile to do like-to-like comparisons where one of the players played on matting. yousuf wasn't a patch on saeed in terms of talent AND performance. shoaib's got a more legitimate argument but saeed was more consistent than him, for a longer period of time. kinda more debatable though, i'll give you that.

 

[hang on]

yousuf wasn't a patch on saeed in terms of talent AND performance

not a patch?! the numbers certainly do not agree with that, whether averages or 100s. and being able to score 1800 runs in a year would seem to indicate that talent and performance were well harnessed my the artist formerly known as yoyo.

 

[weldone]

Top 10 Pakistani cricketers should be, according to me:
1. Imran Khan
2. Wasim Akram
3. Javed Miandad
4. Waqar Younis
5. Inzamam-ul Haq
6. Hanif Mohammad
7. Zaheer Abbas
8. Shoaib Akhtar
9. Mushtaq Mohammad
10. Wasim Bari

Saleem Malik, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf and Saqlain Mushtaq will be close shouts too.

 

[Fusion]

Top 10 Pakistani cricketers should be, according to me:
1. Imran Khan
2. Wasim Akram
3. Javed Miandad
4. Waqar Younis
5. Inzamam-ul Haq
6. Hanif Mohammad
7. Zaheer Abbas
8. Shoaib Akhtar
9. Shoaib Mohammad
10. Wasim Bari

Saleem Malik, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf and Saqlain Mushtaq will be close shouts too.

That's a pretty good ranking order Weldone. The only quibble I have with your list is placing Shoaib Mohammad in there. I would have any of the "close shouts" you listed before him, as well as Abdul Qadir and Fazal Mahmood. And if you take into consideration "historical impact", I might have AH Kardar second after Imran.

 

[weldone]

That's a pretty good ranking order Weldone. The only quibble I have with your list is placing Shoaib Mohammad in there. I would have any of the "close shouts" you listed before him, as well as Abdul Qadir and Fazal Mahmood. And if you take into consideration "historical impact", I might have AH Kardar second after Imran.

Wrongly mentioned Shoaib Mohammad, should have been Mushtaq Mohammad instead. Mushtaq was a good spin bowler. The difference between his bowling to Saqlain's or Qadir's is compensated by his batting, arguably. Comparing him to Saqlain or Qadir is like comparing Mankad to Kumble, Gupte or Bedi or comparing Benaud to Grimmett - it's always a close call.

Kardar is a different discussion altogether.

 

[salman85]

You have no idea who Shoaib Mohammad is,do you?

 

[Blaze 18]

Greatest Pakistani cricketers?

1) Imran Farhat Khan
2) Wasim Akram
3) Waqar Younis
4) Javed Miandad
5) Hanif Mohammad
6) Zaheer Abbas
7) Shoaib Akhtar
8) Fazal Mahmood
9) Saeed Anwar
10)Inzamam-ul-Haq

 

[vcs]

I would definitely rate Saeed Anwar, Inzamam, and Yousuf above Shoaib Akhtar. Akhtar had great talent but never had the temperament and commitment to make it truly count.

 

[monikarathee99]

Sachin Tendulker is the very good player and you placed him on Number 8.This is not ok with him and Shane Warne is very upper level according to you.Some positions may change if we make the list from public.But you have done really great job.

 

[weldone]

You have no idea who Shoaib Mohammad is,do you?

ha ha...i was speaking about mushtaq mohammad...got confused between those 2 names

 

[Outswinger@Pace]

Top 10 Pakistani cricketers should be, according to me:
1. Imran Khan
2. Wasim Akram
3. Javed Miandad
4. Waqar Younis
5. Inzamam-ul Haq
6. Hanif Mohammad
7. Zaheer Abbas
8. Shoaib Akhtar
9. Mushtaq Mohammad
10. Wasim Bari

Saleem Malik, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf and Saqlain Mushtaq will be close shouts too.

Shoaib Akhtar at no. 8, seriously?

It's sacrilege that Fazal Mahmood and A H Kardar are not mentioned and that fat, perenially unfit excuse of a fast bowler finds a place in your all-time greats. I'd have Qadir, Shoaib Mohd., Asif Iqbal, Mushtaq Ahmed, Khan Mohd., Majid Khan, Younis Khan and a host of others before I even consider Shoaib as an ATG test performer. Just my two cents!

 

[salman85]

Greatest Pakistani cricketers?

1) Imran Farhat Khan
2) Wasim Akram
3) Waqar Younis
4) Javed Miandad
5) Hanif Mohammad
6) Zaheer Abbas
7) Shoaib Akhtar
8) Fazal Mahmood
9) Saeed Anwar
10)Inzamam-ul-Haq

Inzi should be in the top 5.

I would even go on to say that his place in our cricketing history is greater than that of Waqar.There's a very thin line that separates the greatness of Miandad,Waqar and Inzi IMO.He even has a very good argument to be our greatest ever Batsman.

 

[vcs]

Inzi should be in the top 5.

I would even go on to say that his place in our cricketing history is greater than that of Waqar.There's a very thin line that separates the greatness of Miandad,Waqar and Inzi IMO.He even has a very good argument to be our greatest ever Batsman.

Agreed.

 

[weldone]

Shoaib Akhtar at no. 8, seriously?

It's sacrilege that Fazal Mahmood and A H Kardar are not mentioned and that fat, perenially unfit excuse of a fast bowler finds a place in your all-time greats. I'd have Qadir, Shoaib Mohd., Asif Iqbal, Mushtaq Ahmed, Khan Mohd., Majid Khan, Younis Khan and a host of others before I even consider Shoaib as an ATG test performer. Just my two cents!

I won't object if you keep a few batsmen above him, because comparing batsmen to bowlers is and has always been tricky.

But arguably Shoaib has been a better performer than any Pakistani bowler other than those in my list, and arguably Fazal.

Shoaib Akhtar was not always a 'fat' and 'unfit' bowler. In his best days he was a genuinely good fast bowler. He troubled all the best batsmen in the world, except perhaps Ricky Ponting. Besides the pace, he could move the ball either way, had a lethal yorker, and his control wasn't Shaun Tait-esque either. Of course he was no Malcolm Marshall; but regardless of how much you hate him, you can't deny that Shoaib has been a better performer with the ball than all pace bowlers who started playing test cricket with or after him, except Dale Steyn and to an extent Shane Bond.

 

[DingDong]

o'brien
vettori
c. cairns
astle
fleming
bond
southee
williamson
styris
ryder

 

[Blaze 18]

Inzi should be in the top 5.

I would even go on to say that his place in our cricketing history is greater than that of Waqar.There's a very thin line that separates the greatness of Miandad,Waqar and Inzi IMO.He even has a very good argument to be our greatest ever Batsman.

Waqar and Miandad are all-time greats of the game, whereas Inzamam (IMHO) is not. Personally feel there isn't a whole lot that separates Inzamam from the two Ys.

 

[salman85]

I won't object if you keep a few batsmen above him, because comparing batsmen to bowlers is and has always been tricky.

But arguably Shoaib has been a better performer than any Pakistani bowler other than those in my list, and arguably Fazal.

Shoaib Akhtar was not always a 'fat' and 'unfit' bowler. In his best days he was a genuinely good fast bowler. He troubled all the best batsmen in the world, except perhaps Ricky Ponting. Besides the pace, he could move the ball either way, had a lethal yorker, and his control wasn't Shaun Tait-esque either. Of course he was no Malcolm Marshall; but regardless of how much you hate him, you can't deny that Shoaib has been a better performer with the ball than all pace bowlers who started playing test cricket with or after him, except Dale Steyn and to an extent Shane Bond.

These videos spring to mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWwLblgBeJ8&feature=related

YouTube - ‪Shoaib Akthar vs Ricky Ponting PART ONE - HOSTILE BOWLING SPELL - PERTH 1999‬‏