#360view: Shah has become Pakistan’s greatest asset

Barnaby Read 23:47 25/10/2016
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  • Shah was instrumental in Pakistan's second Test win over West Indies.

    In every outstanding Test side there are similarities, unbeaten streaks and the dispatching of opponents built on an indomitable captain’s ethos and core group of players capable of match winning brilliance.

    Clive Lloyd’s West Indies side of the ‘80s had an abundance of pace bowlers and bludgeoning batsmen that blasted away their opponents.

    Australia’s success under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, in particular, that ran into the 2000s relied on aggressive batting, revolutionised fielding and the presence of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

    When England went to world number one with Andrew Strauss in charge Graeme Swann was the world’s best spinner and Kevin Pietersen couldn’t stop scoring.

    Now, India boast Virat Kohli as skipper, have Anjinkya Rahane plundering runs and it is Ravichandran Ashwin that bowls teams out with alarming regularity.

    And the nation they replaced at the top of the ICC table play along with that formula for success, Pakistan under Misbah-ul-Haq a ruthless entity more than deserving of their place in second on that list.

    For all the runs of Misbah, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, though, there is one man who truly steals the show as their greatest asset and that is Yasir Shah.

    Once again in the second Test against West Indies, it was Yasir who took the headlines and bowled his team to victory. His six wickets in the second innings were part of a magical spell of bowling that was as majestic as it was important in instigating a series win.

    It is not an unfamiliar sight, Yasir having done the exact same so often since making his Test debut two years ago.

    His returns are remarkable and the impact he has had was unimaginable when he was called up from playing domestic cricket in Pakistan and the UAE to replace the seemingly irreplaceable Saeed Ajmal.

    At the time, it was Ajmal who turned games on their head and led Pakistan’s wicket hunts with mystery, aggression and a hunger that only the top players in the world seem to be able to maintain time and time again no matter the sky highs and plummeting depths.

    Fortunately for Yasir, there have been few such examples of hitting rock bottom. In his 18 Tests to date he has only tasted defeat four times and only once in the UAE, playing his part in 12 wins during that time as Pakistan in the image of Misbah has become a force.

    His 112 wickets in that time are a remarkable achievement that only scratch the surface when it comes to the difference Yasir has made.

    A constantly willing team player, their ace in the pack, mentor and happiest man on the pitch are all roles he plays to perfection.

    It makes him almost the complete player. He is at least the most complete leg-spinner in the world and only Ashwin can compete when it comes to canvassing Test cricket’s current regular match winning bowlers.

    Yasir also has the edge in that he bowls leg-spin so beautifully with the pep and invention that has always made the art one of cricket’s most endearing disciplines.

    Both player and man are infectious, Yasir’s every movement followed with a warm smile and a light, assured touch. He is pure, unadulterated joy as a human being and cricketer and has you on the edge of your seat every time he approaches the crease, thrusting his right leg through his action, pivoting on his left and momentum moving through every sinew.

    There are few better sights in cricket right now and Yasir is, without doubt, absolutely box office, a bowling thoroughbred born to bowl his country to victory.

    Ajmal will go down in history as one of Pakistan’s greatest and Yasir certainly should do too alongside Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mushtaq Ahmed. At 30-years-old, he still has time left in the tank to lead Pakistan to many more victories yet, a prospect you can be sure both he and his countrymen will relish.

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