Originally Posted by Prabhu Ram
Nice intro. Hope to read more. Particularly about...
Hi Prabhu, I will try to answer some of your questions as far as I know and heard from my pakistani friends
1) About his pace. Have heard from Wasim Akram that he was among the fastest bowlers in his heyday. And if the injury that ate up a couple pf years (?) of his career had not happened, he would have been among the leading wicket takers.
Imran had pace from the beginning. In fact he got one of the visiting Indian batsman of 1974(England) in his very first over with his bouncer. The batsman held the bat like periscope and got caught. He was considered one of the fast bowlers of that time. Infact in 1979 Imran took part in a fast bowler competition where the best 10 fast bowlers took part. He clocked a steady 139 to 143 in his hey day. Due to his shin trouble he couldnīt sustain his pace for a long time but he was a very clever bowler. He missed lot of tests due to his injury and he played in lot tests only as a batsman without bowling. Gavasker writes in his memoires that the 3 overs Imran bowled him in Calcutta (not sure)before Imran broke down due to back problems was the fastest he ever faced.
2) Picking cricketers from nowhere: Akram, Waqar, Abdul QAdir, Inzamam ul Haq
Imran had an eye for young hungry youngsters whom he took personally under his wings and groomed. I am not sure about Abdul Qadir since AQ was playing from 77/78 and at that time Imran was not the leader which he became later
3) The tour of Pak where he decimated India with his outswingers - a battery of slips and gullies
I will write about the 1978 tour separately
4) His gentleman tag. Gavaskar and Imran shared a good camaraderie I hear. I once heard Gavaskar say: "those were the days when opposing captains used to be able to talk without the umpires having to come in between and separate them" :lol:
Up to my knowledge Imran was gentleman on the field. I have never heard of any controversy. Ofcourse Gavaskar had a good relationship with Imran from 1976 as they stayed in Delhi at the same house for benifit match
5) While searching for a pic there was one I saw where Imran was pulling up Saleem Yousuf for claiming a catch which was grounded
you should try for a picture of his bowling. The smooth run up with a beautiful hop and the side wards delivery is perfect
6) His relationship with Javed Miandad. It was always thorny I hear but they put on many partnerships on the field. The one I remember best is the '92 WC final. You can recount more memorable ones too
As Murali mentioned Imran belonged to a old, rich family which had ties every where. Imran was a sort of cosmopolit where as Javed from Karachi was not that educated. Moreover everything came to Imran as he wished whereas Javed had to fight for it. Imran and the Lahore Gang went to the WSC whereas Javed initially picked up for the squad didnīt get to play a single game. Javed insisted that only players who play for the local cricket should be considered which was not applicable for Imran who came from England everytime to play a Test match in Pakistan. In Javedīs point of view Imran got all the credit where as Javed could be considered as the best batsman pakistan ever produced didnīt recieve that much [/b]
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