Eden Gardens in India is transforming into a Pakistani enclave. Yeah! A motorized procession of India’s previous great stars, notably Wasim Akram, struggled to inspire present and future champions to defeat Pakistan’s competition.
The ease with which Pakistan won the one-day series, resulting in MS Dhoni’s pointless practice innings for a Test inning, was a surprise.
The new laws have freed one-day cricket from batsmen’s control, and Pakistan’s bowlers took advantage of the opportunity in Calcutta. However, in today’s GamePlan Today Talks, we will be comparing the Indian bowlers and the Pakistan bowlers.
Let us step ahead with the blog. We will be seeing the top bowler for both India and Pakistan during the peak years and their achievements.
Top Bowler for India & Pakistan in 1980’s
I hope two bowlers will strike everyone’s mind if we hear 1980 cricket. Yeah! You are right. It’s Kapil Dev for India and Wasim Akram for Pakistan.
Kapil Dev
Take a glance at some of Kapil Dev’s most noteworthy Test performances from 1980 onwards. He had indeed taken 100 wickets in Test matches at the time.
In a triumph against England at the Wankhade Stadium in 1981, he grabbed six wickets and hit 84 runs.
At Lord’s in 1982, he produced one of the best all-rounder performances ever seen in a Test match. He took eight wickets and got 130 runs, including a scorching 89 off only 55 balls (13 English wickets fell in the game).
He virtually single-handedly crushed the Australian batsmen in 1985 on a placid Adelaide Oval pitch, returning with scores of 8 for 106.
Kapil destroyed the foundation of England’s batting line-up with a magnificent display of medium-fast spin bowling at Lord’s in 1986, helping India win the match.
In the same year, he scored a superb 119 to assist India to escape a follow-on and draw the test match against Australia.
In 1989, he scored a match-saving half-century at faster than a run-a-ball in the 100th cricket match, grabbing seven Pakistani wickets.
Wasim Akram
Wasim’s outstanding accomplishments dazzled most eyes and pushed the match-fixing controversy to the back of most people’s minds. Unfortunately, however, it tarnished an otherwise brilliant career.
At equal averages of 23, a score of 414 wickets in tests and 502 ODI scalps is sure to have that impact.
At 22.67 per cent, over half of the wickets in the test, 211, were taken on the subcontinent’s sluggish surfaces. However, Wasim Akram could accomplish even more in the air that the pitch was rarely an issue.
He made 2,898 Test runs, and 3,717 ODI runs, and while his averages of 22 and 16 were not very attractive, they did speak to his importance as a lower-order batsman.
Top Bowler for India & Pakistan in the 1990s
Javagal Srinath
During the 1990s, Javagal Srinath was one of, if not the quickest, Indian bowlers. He seems to be the only Indian bowler to have collected more than 300 ODI wickets. Also, Javagal was the only Indian bowler to offer the South Africans and Australians a taste of their medication.
He took 315 wickets at a rate of 28.1 in 229 One-Day Internationals and 236 wickets at 30.5 in 67 Tests.
Srinath was the first-ever Indian to reach speeds of more than 150 kph. He achieved 157 kph versus Zimbabwe, which was unknown at the time – and by an Indian at that.
Waqar Younis
While Younis’s career seems very impressive, it was not without flaws. Due to problems with the teammate and captain, Akram, Waqar was forced to leave Pakistan’s squad in 2000.
Waqar’s 2003 World Cup had been a difficult time for him. It’s because he was forced to retire from bowling after launching a beamer at Australian batsman Andrew Symonds.
Waqar was named Pakistan’s captain. When Younis attained age 22, he won 17 tests and 62 One-Day Internationals.
He attracted much attention in England in the 1990s when he performed domestic cricket for Surrey.
In 1991, Waqar bowled 582 overs and grabbed 113 wickets alone, supporting the club’s bowling assault on his shoulders.
In 1997, Waqar Younis won the English County Championship while playing Glamorgan.
Top Bowler for India & Pakistan in 2001-2010
Zaheer Khan
In the year 2000, Zaheer khan made his first appearance for India. He was a key player in India’s 2011 World Cup win, claiming 21 wickets throughout the competition.
In 92 Tests for India, Zaheer took 311 wickets at a rate of 32.94. After Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, and Harbhajan Singh, India’s fourth-highest wicket-taker.
He also appeared in 200 One-Day Internationals, taking 282 wickets. In 20-20 internationals, he also took 17 wickets in 17 matches.
Zaheer Khan’s match-winning session of 5-21 in the Ranji Trophy final earned him an invitation to the Indian squad at 21.
In terms of wickets and influence, Zaheer’s most substantial stretch in international cricket occurred between 2007 and 2011.
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar was and continues to be the quickest bowler in cricket history. Akhtar grabbed 128 ODI wickets at a strike rate of 20.36 from January 1999 to the 2003 World Cup.
He was unstoppable. During the first half of 2002, Akhtar hit his peak inside a peak. Then, in April and May, he had a couple of spectacular six-fours against New Zealand.
Initially, in an ODI in Karachi, he banged off a series of 95mph yorkers that were too much for the Black Caps, nearly racing in from the outside rope.
He then grabbed 6-11 in a Test against Pakistan in Lahore a few weeks later, bowling the foreigners out for 73 in reaction to Pakistan’s first-innings total of 643. Akhtar was at his most excellent best a couple of months later in Brisbane.
Top Bowler for India & Pakistan in 2010-2020
Ishant Sharma
When he began to concentrate on Test cricket, he reached a turning point. Ishant’s final T-20 international was in 2013, while his last one-day international was in 2016. And in the previous five years, there has been a stunning development.
The cliche in cricket is that bowlers mature with age, but Ishant has shown that pacers can say the same. In his first 79 matches, he took 226 wickets; in his following 20, he has taken 76 wickets.
His average, which was formerly 36, has risen to a far more remarkable 32.
Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Amir was called to the national squad after taking 55 wickets in the 2008 1st season. As a member of Pakistan’s T20 World Cup-winning side in 2009, he scooped up six wickets in 7 matches with his pace, sharp swing, and wicket-taking skills.
Even in the disastrous series against England, Mohammad Amir had a fantastic start. Then, however, all the potential, optimism, and aspirations came to a screaming stop at Lord’s when he took 19 wickets in four Tests.
Current Top Bowlers for India & Pakistan
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Jasbir Singh Bumrah is the Indian bowling attack’s foundation. Bumrah is currently ranked seventh in the ICC rankings for bowlers. In all forms of cricket, Bumrah is regarded as the finest bowler in the plod over.
He bowls with a steady speed of 140–145 km/h, making him one of India’s quickest bowlers. He is also skilled in delivering swinging yorkers.
In 64 ODI matches, he owns 104 wickets to his name. Jasprit Bumrah is the 2nd fastest Indian to get 100 wickets in one-day international cricket.
Bumrah took 68 wickets in 14 test matches, with his most incredible bowling stats of 6/27.
Bumrah is a potent bowler, accounting for his 59 wickets in 50 games. He had an economy rate of 6.66 and the best bowling record of 3/11.
In T20 format, Bumrah has an 18.2 strike rate. It means he captures a wicket for just 18 runs, which is relatively uncommon in this format.
Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen Afridi, a left-arm pace bowler who can routinely bowl in the high-80s, is one of the star players in fast bowling across the world right now.
In the second innings, he got eight wickets and only gave up 39 runs in 15 overs. His PSL debut has been nothing short of spectacular, as he took five wickets for only four runs in a group encounter for the Lahore Qalandars.
Such performances drew notice, and he was quickly called up to the side to face the West Indies in April 2018. He was also a member of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup team, where he was the team’s top bowler with 12 wickets.
Final Thoughts
Compared to Pakistan’s bowlers, Indian bowlers have a lot more experience. Due to the cloudy weather, dew factor, and bowler-friendly surfaces, Pakistan possesses a superior bowling attack than India.
GamePlan Today Talks hope you all got the best insights into Indian and Pakistan bowlers. We will meet you all in the super next blog.