Nope, i'm not referring to Pakistan's latest attempt to transition to a some semblance of a working democracy. The subject refers to the seemingly inexorable assembly line of fast bowlers that Pakistan is famed for. An assemble line that, in my opinion, is the very lifeline of Pakistani cricket. It is no accident that some of the most famous test wins in our cricketing history have been scripted by our pacemen. Be it Fazal Mahmood, Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan, Wasim, Waqar or Shoaib, Pakistan have seemingly always possessed a matchwinner capable of turning a game on its head with a single rip roaring spell. Pakistani pacers are also the reason why the country has a better away record than India, which has always had the much stronger batting. At the end of the day, you can put all the runs on the board you want but if you can't knock over the opposition twice, you just don't win games. And knocking 'em over, whatever the conditions, has been somewhat of a Pakistani speciality.

Today, Pakistan's bowling options are in relatively far less rude health. Consider this: Should any of the current lot on tour in India break down, who would be the replacement? Any names come to mind? I can think only of Sami, Rana Naved (if he's not injured - from what i recall he suffered quite an ugly shoulder injury playing for Sussex) and Azhar Mahmood! The embarassment of bowling riches has become...well...an embarassment. Im sure there will be people out there who disagree with me. But it is no accident that Pakistan opted to spin out the South Africans in the recent test series rather than relying on their traditionally strong pace attack. This with an aggressive Australian fast bowler as coach! I think that the team management recognizes that they no longer have the cutting edge when it comes to the pace attack - rather than blasting out the opposition, boring them out was thought to be a better course of action. As if wickets in Pakistan weren't turgid enough, suddenly we have to endure Kaneria and Abdul Rehman whirling away all day.

Let's consider the facts. Let me start off by saying that the true test of a bowler is his ability to take wickets in the five day version of the game. One dayers are not really a true reflection of a bowler's ability to slice through a batting line-up given that batsmen are far more likely to fall to shot played to up the ante rather than any particularly brilliant piece of skill from the bowler. Having got that out of the way, we can proceed. Shoaib, post-2002, has made only sporadic 'guest' appearances for Pakistan and has not played enough games for us to consider him as an available bowler for the purpose of this piece. Furthermore, at 32 he's nearing the end of his shelf life, especially given the nature of his bowling and his brittle body. So let's discount him for now. Of the rest, the 'bountiful' bowling cupboard boasts of Sami, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Rana Naved and now Sohail Tanveer. Of this ensemble, only Mohammad Asif can claim to be a world class bowler without avoiding eye contact while doing so. The rest are neither consistent nor exciting enough to be given any such label.


Sami is a prodigious waste of talent, breath, and words. Bestowed with such great pace, he's managed to fluff his lines and finds himself cast adrift with no sight of a way back on board. And rightfully so. He's been given more opportunities than most could ever wish for yet he has never been able to fulfill the promise he showed in his first year when he combined wicked pace with some prodigious swing to get everyone hot and bothered.


Umar Gul has yet to convince. I feel he is still inconsistent and prone to bowling too short. From what i saw of him in the one dayers against the Proteas, he also seems to be having trouble keeping the seam straight - most of his deliveries were released with a scrambled seam which meant that the probability of the ball swinging or seaming was considerably reduced. Morever, he has yet to produce anything to rival that magnificent spell against India in lahore that promised so much. As impressive as he was in the 20-20 World Cup and in ODIs in general, he hasn't delivered an incisive spell since that game against India. Anyone watching the recent away series against England will remember how a Pakistan attack spearheaded by Gul struggled to find a way through the English defences. He just cannot intimidate or dominate batsmen yet and until he can change that particular state of affairs, he is unlikely to usurp the mantle of the latest heir to the throne of firebrand fast bowlers who play for the star and crescent. But there is plenty of time for him yet and i pray and hope he can force me to eat my words.


Sohail Tanvir will eventually be worked out by opposing batsmen. The novelty of his action will wear off and soon enough batsmen will be picking him better from his hand. I fear this will signal the beginning of the end for the lad. If there ever was a beginning, that is, in the first place in the five day game. It's very simple - if Mr. Tanvir does not learn to swing the ball back into the right hander, he'll be as useful as a hole in your sock. Left armers are only effective when they get batsmen worried about the ball coming back into them. Otherwise, when in a spot of bother, they can just leave the ball all day and get their eye in. But he remains a good option in ODIs.


Rao Iftikhar Anjum. Is he the Angus Fraser of Pakistan? A work horse who will run in all day and put in an honest effort without really requiring the good batsmen to dwell too much on how to play him. Is he the sort of bowler that comes to mind when we conjure up romantic tales of the lean mean Pakistani bowling machine. I think, and hope, not. Imagine him bowling on a flat test pitch to someone like Dhoni or a Sehwag. Absolute carnage. I imagine he might do well on early English summer wickets where his seamers may be more of a test for opposing batsmen.


So who does that leave? Rana Naved ul Hassan? A bowler who, ironically, rose to the limelight during Pakistan's last visit to India and warmed hearts with his energy, spunk and sheer audacity in taking on the famed Indian batting line-up almost all by himself and delivering in spades. But he has lost direction and, along with it, his place in the Pakistan team. I find that very difficult to understand though given his absolutely sterling form for Sussex in the English first class set-up. Together with Mushtaq Ahmed, he has been the main driving force behind Sussex's title success, yet has been unable to replicate the same form on the International stage. Very strange.


As i write these words, i feel even more depressed about our bowling resources than at the beginning of this post. We no longer have an attack capable of prising out bastmen. For all of Asif's industry and skill, the brutal truth is that he is a very 'UnPakistani' bowler who relies more on bowling line length with subtle movement rather than pace and conventional/reverse swing. You put him on a flat wicket and the difference in effectiveness is painful and obvious. Yet he is our main strike bowler and leads our pace attack. A harbinger of things to come?

What do you think?

By the way, does anyone know what happened to Anwar Ali and Jamshed Ahmed, the two architects of Pakistan's incredible victory over India in the final of the 2006 Under 19 World Cup? Read about how these two young fast bowlers defended 109 here.