Top 10 Pakistan Bowlers Who Helped to Win Crucial Matches

In the world of cricket, Pakistan has an outstanding reputation for generating elite fast bowlers. The nation has historically produced some of the greatest fast-bowling stars. The bowlers had these lethal tools at their disposal, whether it was pace, bounce, or swing. The fundamental core of a fast bowler is to use all of his or her techniques to fool the opposing batsman when it counts.

In order to turn the tide of the game in their favour, Pakistan possessed wicket-taking bowlers who broke important alliances. The Pakistani pacers have been very successful at taking advantage of the green fields over the years. Given that the ball doesn’t grip the surface very well, pacers found this specific surface to be a paradise because it allowed them to control the ball pretty well.

Here is the list of the top 10 Pakistan fast bowlers:

• Imran Khan against England:

Imran Khan excelled as both a bowler of the highest calibre and a leader. In addition, he played all three positions, making him one of the most complete cricketers. In 1987, from July 2-6, there was the third test match of the series hosted between Pakistan and England at Leed Stadium. In that inning, Pakistan bowled first and England scored only 136 runs, Imran Khan secured 3 wickets.  Imran Khan grabbed seven wickets for just 40 runs to help Pakistan win the match by one inning and 18 runs after England’s second innings saw them collect only 199 runs. Pakistan had produced a significant total of 353 runs in their first inning.

• Shoaib Akhtar against Australia:

In Pakistani cricket history, Shoaib Akhtar held the record for the quickest pacer. He was widely known for his astonishing pace and was commonly referred to as the “Rawalpindi Express“. Additionally, twice in his career, he set a record for bowling at 100 miles per hour, making him the first bowler to do it. In the matches of the ODI series, just before the last match, the score was 1-1. In 50 overs Australia scored 256 runs with 7 wickets. Then Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling took a stormy entry. He took 5 wickets for 25 runs in 8 overs, enabling Pakistan to win the match by 91 runs and the series 2-1. 

• Wasim Akram against England:

One of the best fast bowlers of all time was largely regarded as Wasim Akram. There has never been any question about his impact on Pakistani cricket. Additionally, his statistics in Tests and ODIs have been particularly remarkable. Wasim played a significant part for Pakistan in the 1992 world cup finals, scoring 33 runs in just 18 balls and bowling a game-changing session that included three wickets, including that of Allan Lamb, who was scoring runs at the time. His bowling contributed to Pakistan’s first world cup victory when they defeated England by 22 runs.

• Waqar Younis against England:

Waqar Younis, well known by the nickname “Burewala Express,” was one of the most feared bowlers during the playing days of his career, similar to Wasim Akram. Between England, Pakistan, and Australia, the NatWest series was a TRI series. Waqar Younis took an astounding seven wickets for just 36 runs in ten overs in the seventh game of the series between Pakistan and England, which was played on June 17, 2001. This broke the back of England’s batting order, and after Pakistan scored 153 runs in 39.5 overs, England decided to award the match to Pakistan. England batted first and scored a total of 156 runs, but was eventually bowled out.

• Shaheen Afridi against India:

Shaheen Afridi is a left-arm pace bowler with the potential to bowl consistently in the high-80s, making him one of the top prospects in fast bowling right now. His 6 feet 6-inch height gives him the advantage of adding extra pace and bounce to his bowling, and he is also a useful batsman. The 2020 World Cup, which was scheduled to take place in India in 2021 but instead took place in Dubai because of the Covid-19 outbreak, included the first match between India and Pakistan, the two countries with the greatest rivalry in cricket history prior to this World Cup. Unfortunately, Shaheen Afridi bowled his greatest spell in the encounter, taking out INDIA’s top order (Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul) as well as the wicket of (Virat Kohli), which enabled Pakistan easily win their first-ever match against INDIA. Prior to that match, Pakistan had never defeated INDIA in a world cup match.

• Haris Rauf against New Zealand:

In their match against New Zealand during the T-20 world cup in 2021, Pakistan won the toss, decided to bowl, and held the Kiwis to a score of 134/8. Haris Rauf had his best bowling stats in a T-20I game during this one, taking FOUR wickets for just 22 runs, which enabled Pakistan to win the game and advance to the semifinals.

• Mohammad Amir in The Champions Trophy Final:

One of Pakistan’s top bowlers is Mohammad Amir. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 finals on June 18 at the Oval, Pakistan batted first and amassed a total of 338/4 in 50 overs, which was a respectable total considering the INDIA batting order. Mohammad Amir’s fierce bowling claimed the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan, breaking the back of INDIA’s batting order, and this helped Pakistan win the 2017 Champions Trophy.

• Umar Gul against South Africa:

During his playing career, Umar Gul was a reliable speed bowler for the Pakistan cricket team. In addition, he was among the extremely few fast bowlers from Pakistan who participated in all three game formats. In the second T-20i match of the Pakistani team’s tour of South Africa, Umar Gul had an incredible performance against the South African team. He bowled the best bowling spell of his career, taking five wickets for just six runs in only 2.2 overs. He also completely destroyed every batsman who stood in his way, limiting the South African team to just 100 runs and helping Pakistan win the game by 95 runs.

• Hasan Ali against Sri Lanka:

On October 18, 2017, in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka played their third one-day international match. Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka was only able to score 208 runs in 48.2 overs while losing all of their wickets. Hasan Ali turned out to be their major worry as he claimed 5 wickets for 34 runs in 10 overs. In just 42.3 overs and with 7 wickets in hand, Pakistan quickly chased down the score.

• Shahid Afridi against West Indies:

West Indies was the destination of Pakistan’s 2013 visit. When the West Indies came to bat in the first one-day international between the two teams on July 14, Pakistan batted first and scored a total of 224 runs in 50 overs at a 9 wickets loss, but as Pakistani bowlers continued to bowl fire at them, the West Indies wickets fell one by one in a series, and as a result, West Indies got all out at just 98 runs in 41 overs. The match’s MVP was Shahid Afridi, who played superbly That game and series were both won by Pakistan.

Also Read: History And Evolution Of Cricket Balls: From The 18th Century To Today

“Get more breaking news, cricket updates, fixtures, and trending news only on cricfiles.com. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel today.”