Shoaib Akhtar - Is He An Easy Target ?
Shoaib
By Waheed
October 14 2004
Shoaib Akhtar - Probably the most talked about Pakistani cricketer ever. Is he an easy target or excess baggage for the Pakistani team?
I don't know what it is but we seem to have a blame culture and want to knock down our stars like the british media do their sporting stars.
These stars don't just come around every other season, look how hard it for Pakistan to replace Greats like Saeed Anwar, Waqar, Wasim and Co.
Just reading some of the threads posted after the defeat to Australia calling for Shoaib to be dropped and other players to be dropped after a few bad performances.
I agree with Fessel and others that Shoaib is not a Team Player and his attitude has a lot to be desired.He is not in the same league as Wasim & Waqar both in terms of class and commitment.
But I think we can't just drop him until we find the right replacement.
All the youngsters are unproven and those who were given a chance in the A team didn't exactly cover themselves with glory with the exception of Rao.
I think people are being very hard on Shoaib in that he only performs once a year, which is wrong. He has been taking his share of the wickets its just that he hasn't taken any big 5 wickets hauls in the last year or so.
But even so he has been regularly taking 3 or more wickets when pakistan have been winning (Seven out of 15 matches)
He has only conceeded more than 5 runs an over in ONLY 4 of those winning games, so he has played a role in contributing to the team winning them 15 games.
As you can see he Strike rate is a lot better 24.4 compared 29.4 and his avergae per wicket is a lot better 17.54 compared to 22.45.
So in my mind, there is no question that when Pakistan has won recently, Shoiab has played an important role.
Shoaib Ahktar when we have won last 15 games
Mat W Best Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
Career 110 177 6/16 22.45 4.57 29.4 3 3
last 15 Won 15 31 4/46 17.54 4.31 24.4 2 0
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O M R W Econ I R Match
8 1 46 4 5.75 2 W World Cup v Nam
7 0 26 3 3.71 2 W World Cup v NL
8 2 19 2 2.38 2 W B-A Cup v SL
9.1 0 36 3 3.93 2 W B-A Cup v NZ
10 0 49 4 4.90 2 W 1st ODI v SA
8 0 43 0 5.38 2 W 2nd ODI v SA
7 2 30 1 4.29 2 W 3rd ODI v NZ
10 1 23 3 2.30 1 W 4th ODI v NZ
8 1 36 1 4.50 2 W 5th ODI v NZ
9 1 49 3 5.44 2 W 2nd ODI v Ind
10 0 50 1 5.00 1 W 3rd ODI v Ind
10 1 30 3 3.00 2 W Asia Cup v BD
10 0 51 1 5.10 2 W Asia Cup v Ind
9 1 33 2 3.67 1 W Asia Cup v BD
3 0 23 0 7.67 2 W V'con Cup v Ind
OK, Lets take a look at Shoaib when he have Lost recently in the last 15 matches.
When we have lost he has only conceeded more than 5 runs an over on ONLY 4 occaisons. Can't we let the guy have the odd off day. Even Inzy and Yohanna Pakistan's best batsmen have failed more often than that.
True he hasn't taken as many wickets as he should only 20 in 15 games, but even so his economy rate is still reasonable at 4.83.
Shoaib Ahktar when we have lost last 15 matches.
Mat W Best Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
Career 110 177 6/16 22.45 4.57 29.4 3 3
Last 15 Lost 15 20 3/31 32.40 4.83 40.2 0 0
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O M R W Econ I R Match
10 1 32 2 3.20 1 L B-A Cup v SL
9 0 69 2 7.67 2 L NW Chall. v Eng
10 1 40 0 4.00 2 L NW Chall. v Eng
8 0 31 3 3.88 2 L 3rd ODI v SA
7 2 23 1 3.29 2 L 4th ODI v SA
8 0 33 0 4.12 2 L 5th ODI v SA
10 0 43 1 4.30 2 L 3rd ODI v NZ
7 1 27 0 3.86 2 L 4th ODI v NZ
10 1 46 2 4.60 1 L 5th ODI v NZ
10 0 55 2 5.50 1 L 1st ODI v Ind
9 1 63 2 7.00 2 L 4th ODI v Ind
10 1 47 1 4.70 1 L 5th ODI v Ind
8 1 29 0 3.62 2 L Asia Cup v SL
10 0 40 3 4.00 1 L V'con Cup v Aus
8 0 70 1 8.75 1 L NW Int v Aus
I'm going to compare him to Sami for comparison purposes...
Sami as Shoiab has done well when Pakistan win, His overall strike rate drops down 26.1 from 31.2 and his average per wicket drop down from 25.2 to 19.6. So he has played an important role when Pakistan have won.
Sami won last 15
Mat W Best Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
Career 58 93 5/10 25.20 4.83 31.2 3 1
Last 15 Won 15 30 5/10 19.60 4.49 26.1 0 1
But the the bigger difference is when Pakistan lose, his economy rate shoots up to 5.43 from 4.83 and strike rate goes up to 37.7 from 31.2
The number of games he has conceeded more than 5 runs an over is 10 out 15, remember Shoaib ONLY conceeded more than 5 runs an over 4 out 15 games.
Need I say more...
Sami lost last 15
Mat W BB1 Ave Econ SR 4w 5w
Career 58 93 5/10 25.20 4.83 31.2 3 1
Last 15 Lost 15 21 3/42 34.19 5.43 37.7 0 0
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O M R W Econ I R Match
10 0 42 3 4.20 2 L B-A Cup v NZ in SL
3 0 25 0 8.33 2 L NW Chall. v Eng in Eng
9 0 50 1 5.56 2 L NW Chall. v Eng in Eng
6 0 38 1 6.33 2 L 4th ODI v SA in Pak
10 0 47 2 4.70 2 L 5th ODI v SA in Pak
9.1 1 37 0 4.04 2 L 1st ODI v NZ in NZ
10 0 68 1 6.80 2 L 3rd ODI v NZ in NZ
6 0 35 0 5.83 2 L 4th ODI v NZ in NZ
10 0 73 2 7.30 1 L 5th ODI v NZ in NZ
10 0 74 2 7.40 1 L 1st ODI v Ind in Pak
10 0 50 2 5.00 2 L 4th ODI v Ind in Pak
10 1 63 3 6.30 1 L 5th ODI v Ind in Pak
9 0 34 1 3.78 2 L Asia Cup v SL in SL
10 1 26 1 2.60 1 L V'con Cup v Aus in NL
10 1 56 2 5.60 1 L NW Int v Aus in Eng
Just a quick point about Inzy and Yohanna
Inzy when won last 15: Has been consistant with average of 40.77 but only 2 match winning innings .
Mat I NO Runs HS1 Ave 100 50 0
career 320 298 42 9977 137* 38.97 10 70 18
last 15 Won 15 11 2 367 59* 40.77 0 2 0
Inzy when lost last 15
Mat I NO Runs HS1 Ave 100 50 0
career 320 298 42 9977 137* 38.97 10 70 18
last 15 lost 15 15 0 549 123 36.60 2 3 3
Note that includes 7 scores of less than 10 including 2 ducks. The only reason he has such a high average is that he score two hundreds against india in a losing situation.
Yohanna won last 15: Has been very consistent with average of 48.9 with 4 match winning innings.
Mat I NO Runs HS1 Ave 100 50 0
career 172 163 24 5826 141* 41.91 9 37 14
last 15 won 15 12 2 489 88* 48.90 0 4 0
Yohanna when we have lost last 15
Mat I NO Runs HS1 HS2 HS3 Ave 100 50 0
unfiltered 172 163 24 5826 141* 129 125 41.91 9 37 14
filtered 15 15 1 417 88 75* 73 29.78 0 4 3
Note that includes 8 scores of less than 10 including 3 ducks.
It's easy to critice the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Afridi and Co, They are easy targets.
At the end of the day it is a team game and everybody needs to be more consistent and contribute more when somebody fails. Every body fails now and again...
Bear that in mind and lets get behind Pakistan.