current state of our test bowling

[al Furqaan]

All in all things look reasonably promising, Sakib is as venomous as ever, Rajib's got his groove back, etc.

But there are few things worthy of discussion. For example is Sakib already the best ever bowler we've ever had? Is Shahadat going to fade away or is he here to stay? And wasn't Mash a very solid Test bowler once upon a time, and if so, what happened to him?

Sakib vs Rafique

Its not fair to compare the two SLAs, because of several reasons. For one thing, Rafique had many hurdles to overcome, and was often missing a quality bowler at the other end. But in this regard, Sakib has also usually lacked a pressurizing partner to bowl in tandem with. The overall career numbers point heavily in Sakib's favor, but it must be remembered that Rafique also had a sub-30 average for first part of his career. But Sakib, can also get better as he is still very young. Further, Rafique never averaged in the mid 20s as Sakib is currently doing going into the 3rd innings of the India Test.

Let us look at both players when in their peak form: the five wicket haul. Fivers are generally regarded as being the bowler's equivalent of a century. Both spinners also have roughly the same number of Michelle's and it makes for a good comparison.

Sakib

7-36 (NZ, Chittagong)
6-99 (SA, Centurion)
5-62 (IND, Chittagong)
5-70 (SL, Mirpur)
5-70 (WI, Grenada)
5-130 (SA, Bloemfontaine)

Rafique

6-77 (SA, Dhaka)
6-122 (NZ, Dhaka)
5-36 (PAK, Multan)
5-62 (AUS, Fatullah)
5-65 (ZIM, Chittagong)
5-114 (SL, Colombo)
5-118 (PAK, Peshawar)

The first thing that one notices is that Sakib has the best figures, but that also 5 of his 6 fivers come at a cost of less than 100 runs per haul; Rafique only has 4 of 7.

Rafique's average haul is 5.29 for 84.86, whereas Sakib's is 5.5 for 77.83. More wickets for less runs, and his overall econ is better too.

Sakib also seems to be more of a "classical" spinner, slower through the air, turns the ball on most surfaces, and relies on clever variations to get the batsmen out. He is more of an attacking spinner than Rafique who waited for the batsmen to lose his focus. Sakib also seems to be a very thinking bowler and is always changing the field to meet the demands of the situation, something captains like Bashar and Ashraful didn't do as much.

Shahadat's Return

Shahadat's comeback of sorts, is also promising not only for wickets but for pace as well. Its promising for Mortaza is feared to be finished with the longer version, and we have too much inexperience to rely on other pacers. Sakib too needs some support, preferably from a non-spinner, and he has it for now. Shahadat's recent performance has cemented his place as our best ever Test quick, but also reassures us that his potential and ability are still here, no matter how ugly he might look at times. He also brings that rare energy of emotion (a la Kevin Garnett) which makes it impossible to tell if he's just taken a hattrick or been smacked for six 6s in an over! No matter how ordinary or brilliant his last delivery, his follow through facial expression always seems to say "How did that miss!???" Thats a far cry from Mortaza, whose body language is often droopy and lackluster when things are not going so well.

What Happened to Mortaza?

Since the end of the 2005 England tour, Mash has averaged 51 with the ball in Test cricket. Before that, his numbers were quite solid, not too far from the likes of Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul, Lasith Malinga, James Anderson, and other "stand-out" pacers. Exactly, what went wrong, will perhaps never be known.