Fast bowlers always play a vital role in the success of any cricket team. They are the front-line soldiers. Without good fast bowlers, a team’s success, especially in shorter formats, is very difficult.

Fast bowlers often determine the outcome of matches with their skill, stamina, and tactical prowess. Their ability to extract pace, bounce, and movement off the pitch makes them a constant threat to batsmen.

One of the primary reasons fast bowlers are so vital in Test cricket is their capacity to exploit the new ball. The combination of speed and swing with a shiny new ball can create early breakthroughs, putting the opposition under pressure from the outset.

Additionally, fast bowlers can reverse swing the older ball, making them dangerous even on flat pitches during the later stages of an innings.

Their endurance and ability to bowl long spells are key in wearing down batting lineups. Fast bowlers can extract uneven bounce and seam movement, especially on deteriorating pitches, which can create opportunities for wickets.

Moreover, fast bowlers add a psychological edge to the game. Their sheer pace can unsettle batsmen, forcing errors and creating collapses.

In Test cricket, where patience and strategy are paramount, fast bowlers remain indispensable, turning matches with their relentless aggression and skill.

Pakistan has an impressive history of producing great fast bowlers who helped Pakistan win many matches, not only at home but abroad too, even when they had a fragile batting line.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali are Pakistan’s premier pace bowlers. But they have seen a steep rise in their workloads in recent times.

Shaheen is currently the spearhead of Pakistan’s fast bowling attack. Known for his tall stature and ability to generate bounce, Sheheen can swing the ball both ways at high speeds.

His left-arm angle adds an extra dimension to his bowling, making him lethal, particularly with the new ball. Shaheen has consistently delivered match-winning performances in all formats, making him one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in the world.

In recent years, the 24-year-old Shaheen has established himself as Pakistan’s frontline bowler across all three formats. He has played most of Pakistan’s internationals.

Since Shaheen’s debut in international cricket, he has been playing cricket almost continuously in all formats of the game. Shaheen is a world-class pace bowler and a genuine match winner, especially in limited overs cricket. Reverse-swing, slow balls, yorkers, and bouncers are his potent weapons.

The PCB management should share the workload of Shaheen and other fast bowlers. It could be a good idea to look to prepare different sets of fast bowlers for Test cricket and limited-overs cricket in the coming years.

Naseem, one of Pakistan’s rising stars, has made a significant impact with his fast bowling. Known for his raw pace, Naseem consistently clocks speeds above 145 km/h (90 mph). He made headlines as one of the youngest fast bowlers to take a Test hat-trick. His ability to generate sharp movement off the pitch, coupled with reverse swing, has troubled top batsmen in Test cricket. Despite his young age, Naseem’s consistency and aggression have made him a key player for Pakistan. He has shown immense potential to lead the fast bowling attack for years to come.

Naseem burst onto the international scene as a teenager and quickly gained attention for his express pace and fearless attitude. Despite his young age, Naseem has shown immense potential, particularly in Test cricket. He has the ability to generate sharp movement off the pitch at high speeds, making him a future star of Pakistan’s pace attack.

Reverse-swing, slow balls, solid yorkers, and a skiddy bouncer are his potent weapons.

Haris Rauf rose to fame through Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournaments and quickly made a name for himself with his raw pace and aggression. Rauf regularly clocks speeds of over 90 mph and has a reputation for bowling effective yorkers in the death overs. He has become a key bowler for Pakistan in limited-overs cricket, especially in T20 Internationals, where his express pace and ability to take wickets under pressure have been crucial.

These fast bowlers, with their skill, athleticism, and passion, have etched their names in the annals of modern cricket, ensuring their legacy for future generations.

Former Pakistani fast bowling pair Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are examples for these pacers. They were the most lethal new-ball pair in world cricket in the 1990s. Their yorkers got them plenty of wickets.

In these days, yorker has gone out of fashion but still if a bowler is not bowling yorkers in the death overs, it is because he is facing some problem or is not confident that he can bowl it. It is one of the hardest deliveries to get right in cricket, something many bowlers spend an entire career trying to perfect.

Why have Pakistani fast bowlers forgotten to bowl Yorkers, especially in the death overs? There are so many coaches around the Pakistan team, so why are they not getting the bowlers to practice bowling yorkers?

A few years back, Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav in an interview said that he had a problem with bowling Yorkers. “My ball often strayed on the leg. But Wasim Akram bhai helped me with that,” he said.

Wasim and Waqar were deadly with their yorkers . Waqar especially remained the best exponent of the yorker until his retirement.

Pakistan’s current red ball coach Australia’s Jason Gillespie, who was one of the best fast bowlers of his time and used yorkers very effectively, should teach Pakistani pacers to utilise this effective tool in the ongoing home series against Bangladesh.

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