In this Part – II of the ‘Impact of Pakistani Pace Bowlers in the WT20 2016, India’, we look at three bowlers who are young but astoundingly talented – one on a comeback trail after serving a 5 year ban for spot-fixing, one trying to establish himself in the pecking order and another who will be looking to make his debut and get a chance to impress if given a chance to play.
Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Amir arrived on the world stage as a teenage pace sensation and immediately made a strong impact on anybody who saw him bowl. He was not only quick but could move the ball both ways, with either the new or the old ball in hand. He was one of their lead actors in Pakistan’s maiden and only World T20 trophy win in 2009 held in England. He bowled quite a hostile spell for them throughout the extravaganza, the most memorable being his taming of the tournaments highest run getter, Tillakaratne Dilshan, in the final, peppering him short balls and finally getting him in the first over for a 5 ball duck.
By the time 2010 arrived, Amir had become of one the world’s best pace bowlers and he had a stellar tour to England when he became the youngest bowler to reach 50 test wickets. But soon after he became embroiled in the spot-fixing scandal and was banned for 5 years upon being found guilty of the heinous offence. He has just made his return but seems to have lost neither his pace nor his swing. He had a fine tour to New Zealand picking up regular wickets with his movement and speed and he has been amongst the wickets in the ongoing PSL as well, having also claimed a hat-trick. He has made a grave mistake in the past, but I hope that he is reformed because the talent that he possesses is rare and it would be a shame to lose a bowler of his calibre to the lure of money.
Impact Rating – 8/10
Anwar Ali
Anwar Ali made the world sit up and take notice when in the 2006 U19 World Cup Final against arch rivals India at Colombo, he sliced through the Indian batting line up with pace and swing, to leave them reeling at 6-9, Pakistan ultimately winning the match by 38 runs even though they were bowled out for just 109 batting first. He has been in good form recently, picking up wickets in New Zealand and the ongoing PSL. He is also a very capable lower order batsman with a strike rate of over 140 in the 15 T20I’s that he has played for Pakistan. He is adept at making the ball talk and he provides the right hand variation amongst all the left arm pacers that Pakistan has picked for the mega event.
Impact Rating – 7/10
Rumman Raees
Rumman Raees is also a left arm medium pace bowler who has been picked up as a back bowler after a strong showing in the ongoing PSL. He has been miserly in the PSL and is amongst the most economical bowler on show.
Impact Rating – 4/10
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
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