RAWALPINDI - Former Pakistani fast bowler M Zahid has urged Pakistan Cricket Board to revive the art of fast bowling in country as the team is relying too much on spin. Zahid is the first Pakistani cricketer to take 10 wickets on his debut against New Zealand. He suffered a back injury and subsequently having to go through back surgery halfway through his career, he continued to play until January 2003.
Zahid said: "It pains me to admit this but over the course of time, our fast bowling resources have gone from being our strength, to now being our weakness.
I watched the World T20 with interest and watched our fast bowlers struggle match after match, resulting in the captain only entrusting the fast bowlers with a couple of over per match." "In all formats of cricket our fast bowling resources have almost completely dried up and it concerns me to see the same mediocre bowlers being given chance after chance for Pakistan, instead of fresh and young blood being introduced. I don't mean to be disrespectful to the likes of Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Raza Hasan, as all three in my mind are excellent bowlers and have wonderful variety, but Pakistan's over reliance on spin is becoming a huge concern," he said.
He said fast bowling in Pakistan needs a revival, it needs a kick start, there needs to be a rethink and a reassessment of coaching methods and also the issue of the scouting network needs to be re-examined. "I am certain that fast bowlers are not coming through the ranks in the numbers that they should be coming through and how they used to come through in the past.
The Pakistani think tank needs to address this issue of the dearth of quick bowlers and look at why we are reliant upon bowlers who are barely medium fast," Zahid said.