Great debut Yasir Arafat (merged)

[Bongo]

Well done Yasir, has given Pakistan a great chance of drawing this series. Has kept things simple & has bowled at a good pace. Who needs Razzaq back when you've got this lad? Has become a better player from the experience of domestic cricket & Insa Allah a bright future in Test Cricket lies ahead.

[Boys_played_well]

Originally Posted by Bongo Well done Yasir, has given Pakistan a great chance of drawing this series. Has kept things simple & has bowled at a good pace. Who needs Razzaq back when you've got this lad? Has become a better player from the experience of domestic cricket & Insa Allah a bright future in Test Cricket lies ahead.

Excellent stuff. The morning has belonged to him. Well bowled brother.

[Asim2Good]

and PPers have found next Waqar

[Amjid Javed]

Good stuff thus far but lets not get carried away! Its 1st session of 1st day!

Hes bowled aggresively but also with intelligence! which is gr8 to see!

[ammarz]

I was saying all along that this kid needs at least a chance to prove his worth. The Job isnt half done but he is off to a good start.

[Saj]

Yasir's strength in the mornig session was his ability to move the ball both ways. The way he got Jaffer with outswingers and then an inswinger was tremendous bowling.

[the true passionist]

He is definitely a good addition to Pakistan's back up bowlers.

on a related question..do we have any other young Pakistani fast bowlers playing county cricket?

I think Tanvir needs to find a county to develop his cricket.

[ammir]

It is a good start lets hope it continues.

[inzidabest]

well it will be a memorable debut if Pakistan win this test....

[MIG]

So impressed with his work - well done and long may his career continue for Pakistan

[the Great Khan]

well done yasir but unfortunatley it seems the PCB will continue to persevre with losers like sami so i doubt we'll see more of old yasir!!

[tradecars]

he's always been a good bowler and can be quick depending on pitch but as you will all agree he is a bit on the podgy side and looked quite unfit later in the day as he is only used to playing odi's in county.
needs to work on stamina and fittnes otherwise he will struggle with the older ball in longer spells

[DM]

The edge is being taken off it now

Good start though

Ooh paceless Sami has just taken another wicket!

[the Great Khan]

oh God we have to endure another series of sami now!!..dr lotta will definatley keep him for the oz series!!

[Amjid Javed]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Good stuff thus far but lets not get carried away! Its 1st session of 1st day! Hes bowled aggresively but also with intelligence! which is gr8 to see!

Like i said this morning! Lets not get carried away!

[PlanetPakistan]

Had a great start but for some inexplicable reason after lunch his speed dropped from an average of 87 mph to 81 mph.

[Amjid Javed]

Originally Posted by PlanetPakistan Had a great start but for some inexplicable reason after lunch his speed dropped from an average of 87 mph to 81 mph.

Been over-bowled due to akthar going off! was bound to happen!

[sehsan]

i saw him bowling and it was good to see him consistently bowling 85mph with effort delivery of 87MPH before lunch but as soon as he started bowling after lunch, his speed drastically reduced.

I saw him bowling around 80MPH after lunch, which surprised me a lot. Surprised me, because he must have a HUGE confidence after taking 3 wickets and supposedly he should have been pumped up and should have been bowling faster then before.

What do you thin can be reason? Is this the fitness problem?

[Amjid Javed]

The temperatue out in middle was pretty hot and to expect a pace bowler to sustain same speeds all day is ludicrous. Yes you can have postive energy after taking 3 wickets but facts are he had to bowl so many overs today as akthar went off injured, he didnt get much of a breather in between spells!

[sehsan]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed The temperatue out in middle was pretty hot and to expect a pace bowler to sustain same speeds all day is ludicrous. Yes you can have postive energy after taking 3 wickets but facts are he had to bowl so many overs today as akthar went off injured, he didnt get much of a breather in between spells!

this can be true but fact is that you want to bowl with more energy so you can get team out, you dont want to bowl over and over just because u know shoaib will not be there.

[sehsan]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Been over-bowled due to akthar going off! was bound to happen!

not ture, lunch was taken and he was rested for 40 mins, as soon as he came back he was bowling 80MPH. Its more of a fitness issue as far as i am concerned

[Amjid Javed]

Originally Posted by sehsan this can be true but fact is that you want to bowl with more energy so you can get team out, you dont want to bowl over and over just because u know shoaib will not be there.

Trust me you can still try and push yourself to bowl a side out but to maintain top speeds over a length of time is hard, All bowlers drop below a top threshold to a more common average speed in matches.

[sehsan]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Trust me you can still try and push yourself to bowl a side out but to maintain top speeds over a length of time is hard, All bowlers drop below a top threshold to a more common average speed in matches.

i do understand, if he would have been bowling above 90MPH or if he would have been playing whole series. This is his first match, if he can't keep bowling 85MPH consistently then it means, there is something wrong. Either he doesn't have much stamina or he intentionally did to bowl more overs just because shoaib got injured.

[Savak]

Yasir Arafat looked short of fitness. He needs to work hard on his fitness no doubt about it. He clearly looked short of stamina. Its easy to register top speeds early on in your first spell but the challenge comes when you bowl your second and third spell. That is where your fitness comes in. He can be excused because he wasnt in the touring party early on and was only brought to India cause he was the only Pakistani player who had a visa at that time. But he definately needs to work on his fitness and stamina. He has the ability.

[JosheelaKaptan]

Originally Posted by sehsan not ture, lunch was taken and he was rested for 40 mins, as soon as he came back he was bowling 80MPH. Its more of a fitness issue as far as i am concerned

He ate a lot of delicious food served by Lawson during lunch. Celebrated his wickets it with lot of kebabs.

[sehsan]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Trust me you can still try and push yourself to bowl a side out but to maintain top speeds over a length of time is hard, All bowlers drop below a top threshold to a more common average speed in matches.

what do you say now? who night rest but still bowling 8oMPH? I believe its more of a fitness issue then anything

[161]

bigger concern ... seems like he can't bowl to lefties !!

[SUPERSAMI]

Pak's next speed demon according to some...sad he isn't taller, would be pretty good then.

[JosheelaKaptan]

I would rate a bowler higher any day if he can pitch it at the right spots and move it around if there is help in the wicket.. On those accounts, Arafat is surely a better option than Sami and Pakistan should shed their fatal attraction to useless 90MPH and misdirected pace.. what use is 3 bouncers an over when they ought to pitched at mid pitch to reach that height.. nothing more than oooh aahhhh..

Tanvir is too limited in his capabilities now. Can act as a filler because of the surprise element he has but thats pretty much it for now unless he can bring the delivery in, leave alone adding 5-10 mph to his pace..

I dont know about Araft'batting though. However I recon tanvir is one trick pony and can easily be cornered as a btasman.. He is a tailender who knows how to hold a bat as of today and can occasionally make 10-15 runs..

All in all Arafat fits in Pakistani team ahaed of tanvir and Sami in my opinion.. I also am sure that AAG even if it happens it will be rare. On the top of it with Kaneria, you cant have 4 no-11 batsmen as your tail. One out of them oughta know how to bat ala Irfan Pathan..

[Rajan]

Originally Posted by Savak Yasir Arafat looked short of fitness. He needs to work hard on his fitness no doubt about it. He clearly looked short of stamina. Its easy to register top speeds early on in your first spell but the challenge comes when you bowl your second and third spell. That is where your fitness comes in. He can be excused because he wasnt in the touring party early on and was only brought to India cause he was the only Pakistani player who had a visa at that time. But he definately needs to work on his fitness and stamina. He has the ability.

Yassir looked like he is a one day bowler, who can bowl decent ten overs per day. but in this match he has so far bowled 36 overs in 5 sessions. poor guy. he starts the day with 85mph but towards the second session drops down to 75-78 mph. that is more like the "indian trundlers" bowling, right!
even Tanvir sohail was bowling in high 70's and low 80's only in the 2 tests apart from a spell of left arm spin.

[Wazeeri]

He is a poor man's Razzaq(in good form)

[zaf1986]

Originally Posted by Wazeeri He is a poor man's Razzaq(in good form)

Haven't seen his batting yet...but hope he can be half as a good as Razzaq of the 1990s

[davidmj85]

He is seriously short on stamina...I can hardly remember him bowling over 135k after session 1 on the first day. Considering the fact that his body isn't exactly cut for fast bowling I'm afraid it won't be long before he adds to the list of injury prone fast bowlers.

[Bongo]

Still think its a good performance. Don't forget its his debut. It must have been soul-destroying to see Shoaib go off on the am of the 1st day, along with the chances of winning this test.
With a few more games under his belt I'm sure he will be able to maintain his pace throughout an innings. He probably has bowled so many overs in a competetive match in ages, hence a fitness issue.

[DHONI183]

I think he bowled brilliantly on his debut. When I saw him during the Twenty20 Championship I never thought he will ever play Test cricket for Pakistan. And it still was a surprise call to me but hats off to him for adjusting himself quickly to the game. Irrespect of the result of the match he will remember it for a long time.

Well bowled Yasir !

[dblock]

He done well I think, he was effectively leading the bowling line-up on his debut test.

[Imy]

Yasir had a fine debut, about his pcae his pace drop when Shoiab went off as he knew hw would be bowling a lot, one for the future gives pakistan a Fine wicket taking allrounder option who can bowl 20 overs in a day with good lines, has done well batting in county and in Pak so has batting talent.

Pakistan has good players in Domestic Circuit like Yasir and Misbah we should give these guys more try

Congrats yasir hope you get a long run from Pak selectors

[Shah]

Arafat is a wonderful addition. 5 wickets on debut in trying circumstances against the much vaulted Indian batsmen is nothing to be ashamed about. How many bowlers have taken the wicket of Dravid as their first test wicket?
He can bat very well. Has a county century. Much loved in Sussex where he was better than Naved ul-Hassan when replacing him. Also fitting in well at Kent. Great team player with much enthusiasm. Hard worker, plays within his means. Has more intelligence than more gifted bowlers like Sami (waste of a career of a bowler who could bowl 90+ mph and had one great test match, his first one!).

[Salman89]

good bowling by Arafat....used the conditions perfectly.....

[161]

Arafat is like a mini-Waqar.

He bowls straight and wicket to wicket.

If there is juice in the pitch he will get wickets .. but he will also go for runs.

In terms of our fast-bowling pecking order .. he ranks with Tanvir as our current best Test pace option after Shoaib, Asif and Gul.

[Incognito]

Arafat is nothing like Waqar.

I like Arafat, but his action is really akward, too stiff for my liking but he bowled well today.