Pathan: Most Promising Young Bowler?

[Rachael]

I really don't see Bravo going on to stand out as a bowler in the class of the WI greats of the past... or as a batsman worthy of mention alongside Sobers, Richards, Lara, etc... but he stands out in the current WI side for attitude and approach... and I'd not be surprised to see him punch way, way above his weight.

If every young WI player had Bravo's character and temperament... the future would be rosy indeed.

[Ninjaman]

Unless he (Bravo) improves his batting, I don't see him staying around as a first XI-er as he has to improve his batting to take the #6 spot.

About 5 players have jumped ahead of him for the bowling spots (he's way too expensive at times) and so unless he becomes a "Flintoff" he will find himself on the outside looking in.

[dextrous]

Bravo is a classic bits-and-pieces players. He needs to focus either on batting or bowling. Handy in ODI squad, not test material.

[Colourful Chaddi]

Now this 20 year old lad is impressing more and more. He has just made a cracking innings in the first ODI v.s. Sri Lanka by smashing 83 from only 70 balls. He was promoted to no.3 as a picnh hitter and it worked, Rahul Dravid qouted that Sachin Tendulkar said to promote him to no.3, now who can argue that Tendulkar is a big influence to the team, on field and off.

Now its quite early to say anything about Irfan Pathan but at the moment i think he can become a genuine all-rounder in oth forms of cricket. Let me talk about his batting because we have already discussed his promising bowling. his batting is even more promising, he has a very good technique, his defensive technique is better than most top order batsmen and has a very good temperment. It took Andrew Flintoff more than 6 years to qualify himself as a top all-rounder and i think Irfan Pathan in 6 years would diffinatly be a quality allrounder himself.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

Well I doubted rachels wisdom on this but a solid 83 coming in at number 3 was pretty impressive. I like his bowling too .

[DomainK]

Cant agree more....Pathan is the most talented among all new commers in the world of pace bowling. His performance in Australia and Pakistan. Why, wasnt he awarded the most promising new comer by the ICC?

[Colourful Chaddi]

Originally Posted by DomainK

Cant agree more....Pathan is the most talented among all new commers in the world of pace bowling. His performance in Australia and Pakistan. Why, wasnt he awarded the most promising new comer by the ICC?

He was given that award by the ICC two years ago when the awards first started.

[Doink]

As far as I can remember it was Sandeep Patil, Pathan's India-A coach said that Pathan had the talent to be India's perfect choice for the no.6 slot. Pathan surely has come a long way! I remember he first made headlines by taking 9 wkts in an u-19 odi match against Bangladesh!

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by DomainK

Cant agree more....Pathan is the most talented among all new commers in the world of pace bowling. His performance in Australia and Pakistan.

Are you sure

Vs Aus - 4 Tests - 434 Runs Concedeed - 6 Wickets Average 72.33
Vs Pakistan - 6 Tests - 752 Runs Conceeded - 18 Wickets Average 41.33

The title of the post is most promising young bowler. Now if he is a batsmen then he may be, or possibly an all-rounder..

But he is not the most promising young bowler...

[Beny]

At 21 years of age with 66 wickets at 26. I think it's fair to say Pathan has more than simply a claim to the tittle. A swing bowler who spends his time bowling on dusty pitches with no bounce and who was thrust into the team at a very young age (19) has since cemented himself as India's opening bowler- outdoing many other older forunners.
This guy had to learn his trade at the highest level and he has done so with class. Despite what the stats say, Pathan bowled very well against an Australia who were at their peak batting wise, when he was last over here...

The English should know better than to trust the stats to tell them how good a young player is, especialy considering Freddie Flintoff's current average and the early proformances of Steve Harmison and Simon Jones.