Cricketers first impressions

[mindless slogging]

There have been many players over the years that some would have thought would never make it on the international stage on first thought but have made it big and vice versa, but what are your first impressions on cricketers?

I'll start of:
AB De Villiers- 'successor to Jacques Kallis'
M. Asif-(debut vs Aus http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/match/64115.html) 'World class! Best Pakistan bowler in a long time'
Shoaib Akhtar- 'Funny action'
Umar Gul- 'nothing special'
Ishant Sharma- 'good bowler with great potential'
Irfan Pathan-'how are Pakistan struggling against this medium pacer'
Kevin Pietersen-'technique/temperament won't last in international cricket'
Ben Hilfenhaus- (debut vs SA) 'best Aussie bowler around'
T Dilshan- 'should be doing way better than his average suggests'
Fawad Alam- (domestic T20 vs Asif) 'should be in the test side'

p.s. remember these are first impressions of a few cricketers still playing. Feel free to add your list aswell.

[kingusama92]

Virender Sehwag - 'Shahid Afridi wannabe' (boy he proved me wrong)

Gautam Gambhir - 'potential to be one of the greats opening wise'

Mohammad Asif - 'he's a bit slow'

[LG]

I didn't know anybody thought Asif was special after his debut. Didn't he tell Bob Woolmer, "I'll be back," after that match?

[Xohaib]

everybody thought why asif even played he had nothing special,he was accurate but no swing or seam.
But he did work very hard.

[muhammad saad]

Hashim Amla (Funny stance I thought he cannt make it)

Albie Morkel (Just another medium pacer)

Kulasekara (How the heck he get selected even at the first class stage???)

Shahzeb Hasan (Rana and Akhtar are definitely better than him with the bat)

Nicky Boje (always rated him very highly but he never manages his potential)

Paul Adams (I thought he will be next Saqlain ,Warne ,Murli)

Paul Harris (Looked pretty decent against Pak but then later flop miserably against Indians)

Rohit Sharma (Decent lad I thought he will continue to play and score for A side but will never get chance in Indian team (Siraj Bahatule) )

Yuvraj Singh (So much talent with extreme brain fart )

[Juggernaut]

Hashim Amla (Funny stance I thought he cannt make it)

Albie Morkel (Just another medium pacer)

Kulasekara (How the heck he get selected even at the first class stage???)

Shahzeb Hasan (Rana and Akhtar are definitely better than him with the bat)

Nicky Boje (always rated him very highly but he never manages his potential)

Paul Adams (I thought he will be next Saqlain ,Warne ,Murli)

Paul Harris (Looked pretty decent against Pak but then later flop miserably against Indians)

Rohit Sharma (Decent lad I thought he will continue to play and score for A side but will never get chance in Indian team (Siraj Bahatule) )

Yuvraj Singh (So much talent with extreme brain fart )

Really?
:O

[muhammad saad]

Really?
:O

Yea becuz back then I was like 8 or 9 ;-)

[Juggernaut]

Yea becuz back then I was like 8 or 9 ;-)

You're not 8 or 9? :O ;-) :D

[mindless slogging]

I didn't know anybody thought Asif was special after his debut. Didn't he tell Bob Woolmer, "I'll be back," after that match?


Believe it or not but I thought he was class in that first match -kind of reminded me of McGrath. Yeah, unfortunately he got dropped for over a year but he still had a good debut with Pakistan's slip catching dropping 2/3 catches and genuinely troubling Aussie batsmen. Hope he still has it. :asif

[mindless slogging]

Paul Adams (I thought he will be next Saqlain ,Warne ,Murli)


I thought the same of Kaneria esp. after he got 200 wickets in quick time but got found out.

[ahmed16]

Mohammad Asif---- ( "debut" second Australia test)lump of ****, slower than a horse and no threat
Mohammad Asif----- ("second " debut.....England 5th odi) Has the makings of a good bowler

Umar Gul----average bowler with a hilarious jump before release.

Butt----small and average

AB De Villiers--right handed Sangakarra (then he stopped wicketkeeping)

Praveen Kumar :)) :)) :)) (he proved me slightly wrong)

Irfan Pathan----just plain crap (that still remains but not in t20)

Yuvraj Singh----- Lara Jr (Boy did i get excited for no reason)

[salman24]

Hashim Amla (Funny stance I thought he cannt make it)

Albie Morkel (Just another medium pacer)

Kulasekara (How the heck he get selected even at the first class stage???)

Shahzeb Hasan (Rana and Akhtar are definitely better than him with the bat)

Nicky Boje (always rated him very highly but he never manages his potential)

Paul Adams (I thought he will be next Saqlain ,Warne ,Murli)

Paul Harris (Looked pretty decent against Pak but then later flop miserably against Indians)

Rohit Sharma (Decent lad I thought he will continue to play and score for A side but will never get chance in Indian team (Siraj Bahatule) )

Yuvraj Singh (So much talent with extreme brain fart )

Paul Adams debuted before Saqlain or at worst around the same time

[shoib_superstar]

Hashim Amla (Funny stance I thought he cannt make it)

Albie Morkel (Just another medium pacer)

Kulasekara (How the heck he get selected even at the first class stage???)

Shahzeb Hasan (Rana and Akhtar are definitely better than him with the bat)

Nicky Boje (always rated him very highly but he never manages his potential)

Paul Adams (I thought he will be next Saqlain ,Warne ,Murli)

Paul Harris (Looked pretty decent against Pak but then later flop miserably against Indians)

Rohit Sharma (Decent lad I thought he will continue to play and score for A side but will never get chance in Indian team (Siraj Bahatule) )

Yuvraj Singh (So much talent with extreme brain fart )

i am a hundered percent with you with the shazeb hassan one but not so much with the yuvi one..

[BD-fan]

First impression in sports could be deceiving. You can find Shakib as childish as a player can be yet he is one of the very few shrewd operator on the field.

Tamim: first impression he is rough and tough guy. In reality is has a soft kind heart.

[abc_to_xyz]

1. Malik: Nothing but just a temporary replacement for any injured batsman... But not now..
2. Bollinger: Bowling Tight, Almost like McGrath. Really made Pakistani players go wild (although he never got any wicket in his 1st match - and next one gifted him 5).
3. Afridi and Kaneria: Good Leg Spinners with wrong line... Still true for Danish.
4. Chris Gayle: Why this hard hitting opener is not hitting 100s? He has got dam talent.
5. Younis Khan: ********... and its still true!
6. Chanderpaul: Successor to Lara.

[Wassixpakistani]

Zaheer khan - The Next Wasim Akram :wasim

[AZ]

Shahzaib - bekaar
Asif - bekaar
Sami - wow, the next Waqar
Clarke - looks classy
Sangakkara - looks classy
Praveen Kumar - super bekaar
Sreesanth - loads of potential
Devon Smith - next great Windies opener
Dale Steyn - he'll be the best they RSA ever produced
Pollock - bekaar


to name a few :)

[Wassixpakistani]

Shahzaib - bekaar
Asif - bekaar
Sami - wow, the next Waqar
Clarke - looks classy
Sangakkara - looks classy
Praveen Kumar - super bekaar
Sreesanth - loads of potential
Devon Smith - next great Windies opener
Dale Steyn - he'll be the best they RSA ever produced
Pollock - bekaar


to name a few :)

What about Salman butt ?!?!?!

[AZ]

obviously bekaar, the guy got out 1st/2nd ball on ODI debut...but then that innings at Eden Gardens...best knock I've ever seen from a Pakistani opener

[Ayyub]

Shahzaib - bekaar
Asif - bekaar
Sami - wow, the next Waqar
Clarke - looks classy
Sangakkara - looks classy
Praveen Kumar - super bekaar
Sreesanth - loads of potential
Devon Smith - next great Windies opener
Dale Steyn - he'll be the best they RSA ever produced
Pollock - bekaar


to name a few :)


tum ko sab bakaar lagta hai but u like :butt hehe

[jusarrived]

Salman Butt in 03: the next Saeed Anwar (probabaly wrong)

Fawad Alam : not a top order batsmen

Asif : Irfan Pathan in the making

Irfan Pathan : better bastmen than a bowler

Aamer : Very intelligent for his age

Gul : will always be a Avg test bowler , but by far the best for shorter versions

Umer Akmal : Better bat than Kamran Akmal

Mendis : :)) :)) wont play 50 tests for SL

Dilshan : biggest under achiver

Chamara Silva : Dilshan in the making

Bell : Dravid in the Making

Owasis Shah : cross batted slogger

ABD : will the best batsmen in the world

Amla : very avg ( has proved me wrong )

Rohit Sharma : the most talented around , has been very avg till now

PK : whats he doing in the indian team ?

Yousuf Pathan : not a top order bat

Marlon Sanules : Next Big thing :(

[LG]

i am a hundered percent with you with the shazeb hassan one but not so much with the yuvi one..
Dude, you have the same avatar as the legendary DM!! :afridi
Asif : Irfan Pathan in the making
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? :13: ;-)

[saeed-sohail]

Asif- useless
Pathan-best leftie since Akram
YK-best pakistan batsman in the making.
Imran farhat-best leftie since anwer.
Zahid-best fast bowler ever.
wasti-useless should never had replaced sohail in 99. WC.

[Big Harvey]

A random selection - some accurate, some wide of the mark:

Richard Ellison - Wow! What a bowler! I've never seen anyone swing the ball like that!
Alan Mullally - What an absolutely fantastic, aggressive, world-beating bowler!
Ryan Sidebottom - Donkey.
Matthew Hoggard - Honest, hardworking, but a donkey.
Alastair Cook - Such mental strength and maturity in someone so young.
Graham Gooch - A complete rabbit.
Derek Pringle - What a joke! If he hadn't been born with a silver spoon in his mouth would he even be playing cricket at all?
Murali - Chucker! How is he allowed to bowl? Still, it's not as if he's any good.
Monty Panesar - The future of England spin bowling for the next 20 years.
Steve Harmison - Great potential.
James Kirtley - Chucker.
Nasser Hussain - Couldn't hit a cow's **** with a frying pan.

[Juggernaut]

Zaheer khan - The Next Wasim Akram :wasim

Really? :O

[jusarrived]

Dude, you have the same avatar as the legendary DM!! :afridi

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? :13: ;-)

you can see my first impressions of I pathan ;-)

[offcutter]

Fawad Alam "Overated Shoaib Malik clone"
Mohammad Asif "Class bowler, future star"
Misbah ul Haq "like for like Inzamam replacement"
Umar Gul "Wannabe McGrath"
Rao Iftikhar "A replacement's replacement"

[arsenal]

Mohammad Aamir - no way that he is 17 yrs old (similar impressions of Hassan Raza, Afridi and Shahzaib Hassan)

Rao Iftikhar - Pakistan is really going through a lean patch in fast bowling

Sohail Khan - khocha taiz nahi bhaagta runup pur

Ijaz Butt (I first saw him when he became Chairman PCB) - another ******, foreign account holder and with troubled stomach

[eViLrAcEr]

Aamir --- The next Wasim Akram :D
Ijaz butt --- H1N1 :P

[Random Aussie]

Glenn McGrath - dud, no pace

Mitchell Johnson - dud with pace

Michael Clarke - gun will average 50. :)

Matthew Elliot - gun will average 50 far better than that hack Hayden :(

Peter Siddle - legend will take 300 wickets +

Brett Lee - wow this guy is awesome!

Murali - disgraceful chucker

Shoaib - dud with pace

Salman Butt - class batsman like Saeed Anwar

Afridi - the new :inzi :)))

[Saqs]

Good thread.

Younis Khan - player to watch out for. Will average above 50 in Tests.

Yousuf Youhanna - our next Miandad.

Mendis - the next Murali

Misbah - the Inzi replacement in our batting lineup (lol!)

Sohail Tanvir - the next Wasim (lol)

Ian Bell - the next Atherton (lol)

Rohit Sharma - India's upcoming batting mainstay (a la Sachin)

Dwayne Bravo- the best all-rounder going around

Ricky Ponting - I remember when he started with his high backlift, I thought he was trying to copy Brian Charles, but then these theories were quickly put to rest with his subsequent phenomenal performances.

[Poison]

I was at the Test in Sydney when Asif made his debut and remember thinking; "Why did we ever pick such a crap crap bowler? Is there nobody else in Pakistan?"

:asif

[shahzadddd]

I remember watching Gul's first game. It was an ODI v England in 2003 (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65029.html). His first delivery was spanked for 6 by Vaughan. I was cracking up at his action.

2009 - Oval v New Zealand T20 - I can't believe he is the same player!

[IMMYBUTT]

Abdul Razzaq - Pakistan's most complete allrounder after Imran Khan, a future captain.

[Momo]

Shahzeb Hasan - We badly NEED him to be a permanent feature of any cricket game Pakistan plays till 2029.

[Momo]

Shahzeb Hasan - We badly NEED him to be a permanent feature of any cricket game Pakistan plays till 2029.
To be honest the above is way off the mark. Now I want him to represent Pakistan till 2035.
:shahzaib

[the SHA]

My most embarrassing one to date....

Ishant Sharma - the next Donald !!!!!

oh boy...

[tauseefm]

There have been many players over the years that some would have thought would never make it on the international stage on first thought but have made it big and vice versa, but what are your first impressions on cricketers?

I'll start of:
AB De Villiers- 'successor to Jacques Kallis'
M. Asif-(debut vs Aus http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/match/64115.html) 'World class! Best Pakistan bowler in a long time'
Shoaib Akhtar- 'Funny action'
Umar Gul- 'nothing special'
Ishant Sharma- 'good bowler with great potential'
Irfan Pathan-'how are Pakistan struggling against this medium pacer'
Kevin Pietersen-'technique/temperament won't last in international cricket'
Ben Hilfenhaus- (debut vs SA) 'best Aussie bowler around'
T Dilshan- 'should be doing way better than his average suggests'
Fawad Alam- (domestic T20 vs Asif) 'should be in the test side'

p.s. remember these are first impressions of a few cricketers still playing. Feel free to add your list aswell.


do you really mean first impression over here? :13: becuase, if you look at M Asif's first match against AUS. He looked really ordinary with no variations.

[haroonrasheed320]

Salman Butt in 03: the next Saeed Anwar (probabaly wrong)

Fawad Alam : not a top order batsmen

Asif : Irfan Pathan in the making

Irfan Pathan : better bastmen than a bowler

Aamer : Very intelligent for his age

Gul : will always be a Avg test bowler , but by far the best for shorter versions

Umer Akmal : Better bat than Kamran Akmal

Mendis : :)) :)) wont play 50 tests for SL

Dilshan : biggest under achiver

Chamara Silva : Dilshan in the making

Bell : Dravid in the Making

Owasis Shah : cross batted slogger

ABD : will the best batsmen in the world

Amla : very avg ( has proved me wrong )

Rohit Sharma : the most talented around , has been very avg till now

PK : whats he doing in the indian team ?

Yousuf Pathan : not a top order bat

Marlon Sanules : Next Big thing :(
talented cant play the short ball at all

[mindless slogging]

do you really mean first impression over here? :13: becuase, if you look at M Asif's first match against AUS. He looked really ordinary with no variations.

Yeah I do. As i posted earlier, I thought he looked a lot like McGrath in that match even though he didn't get much wickets.

Also another one;

Inzamam :inzi -'seems quite good running between the wickets for a big guy'

How wrong was I? The commentators had warned me aswell :137:

[The_Cricket_Devil]

Murli - Ridiculous turn but how are chuckers like these allowed to play?

Irfan Pathan - He will be the next world class allrounder from the subcontinent :)))

Yasir Hameed - The best opener for Pakistan since Anwar :)))

Yuvraj Singh - One of the cleanest strikers I have ever seen

Shoaib Akhtar - Will become the best Pakistani bowler of all time :)))

Umar Akmal - I did not know clones were allowed to play cricket (bats just like Kami)

Dravid - Wow this guy is boring (Boy am I glad I understand the nuances of cricket much better now and give this man the respect he deserves)

Mendis - Will be figured out in 10 tests

Bell - Best English batsman I have ever seen.

Salman Butt - The next Saeed Anwar :)))

Abdul Razzaq - The best allrounder after Jacques Kallis of this generation (I guess it could be true considering there is nobody else really but it is not what I meant back at that time)