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Imran Khan vs Dale Steyn

Who was the greater fast bowler?

  • Imran Khan

    Votes: 12 21.4%

  • Dale Steyn

    Votes: 44 78.6%
  • Total voters
    56
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
It is very close between Imran, Steyn, Ambrose. While I feel Steyn and Imran were better tested across conditions, and Ambrose was not that tested in SC, he was good everywhere he bowled and he is leagues ahead of Imran and Steyn in Aus and even somewhat clearly better in Eng. Steyn perhaps had the best bowling conditions at home, and the argument for him bowling in a batting friendly era is somewhat neutralised by the fact that he didn’t do that well in Aus and Eng, where the tracks had become flatter. I choose Imran by a smidgeon due to him having the best short term bowling peak ever, and his ATG performance against the greatest test side of all time(80 wickets@21)
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
HouHsiaoHsien said:
It is very close between Imran, Steyn, Ambrose. While I feel Steyn and Imran were better tested across conditions, and Ambrose was not that tested in SC, he was good everywhere he bowled and he is leagues ahead of Imran and Steyn in Aus and even somewhat clearly better in Eng. Steyn perhaps had the best bowling conditions at home, and the argument for him bowling in a batting friendly era is somewhat neutralised by the fact that he didn’t do that well in Aus and Eng, where the tracks had become flatter. I choose Imran by a smidgeon due to him having the best short term bowling peak ever, and his ATG performance against the greatest test side of all time(80 wickets@21)
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Excellent. The WI record is a serious clincher for me too.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
kyear2 said:
On paper and without scrutiny or objective review Imran should for all rights and purpose be a top three player of all time.

The fact that he isn't should pose questions.
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Imran in the 1980 decade played 16 test series. He was man of the series in half of those.

That includes three consecutive series against the WI, two in England, one in Australia and one in India.

Reached the highest bowler rating of any post-war bowler. Then got injured and scored well as a pure bat before returning as a bowler to the same success.

No modern cricketer can touch that level of performance in their peak.
 
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shortpitched713

shortpitched713

International Captain
kyear2 said:
On paper and without scrutiny or objective review Imran should for all rights and purpose be a top three player of all time.

The fact that he isn't should pose questions.
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Bradman (duh), then clearly Sobers. Imran a great shout for 3, and gets it for his exceptional leadership and influence for mine. But he's far closer to the pack than Sobers, imo.
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

International Coach
ankitj said:
Wow didn't realize this about his player of the series awards. As @ataraxia said once, you don't realize how good Imran's record was until you actually see it. I still keep learning facts that blow my mind.

View attachment 36840
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The casual 44–19. Mindboggling, yeah.
subshakerz said:
I am not sure if cricket will see a cricketer like Imran in the 1980s, once he emerged from WSC.

From his first major all-round series against WI in 1980/81, he had a sequence of being man of the series 8 times in 18 series until retirement.

That included four MOS awards on the trot in Pakistan, India, England and WI. In fact, he likely would have had six on the trot but rain stopped the 1988 series in NZ in which he performed from fully completing.

He has three MOS awards against WI, including at their peak in 80/81. Unlike Kallis' bowling, he has two MOS based purely on his batting performances against India. Most impressively, in this time, he never had a series when he collectively failed with bat and ball. He was the ultimate performer.
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You did like this post in the same thread btw
 
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
Top 30 cricketers of all time attempt.

1) Donald Bradman
2) WG Grace
3) Garfield Sobers
4) Imran Khan
5) Sachin Tendulkar
6) Jack Hobbs
7) Malcolm Marshall
8) Sydney Barnes
9) Richard Hadlee
10) Glenn McGrath
11) Shane Warne
12) Keith Miller
13) Vivian Richards
14) Muttiah Muralitharan
15) Walter Hammond
16) Leonard Hutton
17) Bill O'Reilly
18) Dennis Lillee
19) Curtly Ambrose
20) Brian Lara
21) George Headley
22) Dale Steyn
23) Sunil Gavaskar
24) Adam Gilchrist
25) Wasim Akram
26) Jacques Kallis
27) Steve Smith
28) Fred Trueman
29) Ian Botham
30) Frank Worrell
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

International Coach
1 Grace
2 Bradman
3 Imran
4 Sobers
5 Hadlee
6 Miller
7 Marshall
8 Warne
9 Kallis
10 Murali

Ranking people as 'cricketers' doesn't strike me fondly as I'm never sure how to approach it – how, for example, would one rate Gilchrist for being so far ahead of the wicketkeeping pack? This is a spur-of-the-moment impact list; it ranks players on their sheer utility.
 
Chin Music

Chin Music

State Vice-Captain
I do remember Imran in the early 80s and he was fantastic. I think he is underrated as an all-rounder. A very fine bowler in his own right and a good test match middle order player. He was easily the best of the 1980s quartet of himself, Kapil, Botham and Hadlee. However, as a bowler alone, he was a bit behind Steyn. Steyn twice won series in Australia and was just the most fluent, rhythmic bowler to watch for so long.
 
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