West Indies, who are the last non-Asian women’s cricket team to tour Pakistan, are scheduled to compete in the country again after almost 15 years. The cricket series, consisting of three T20 Internationals, will occur from 31 January to 3 February 2019 in Karachi, marking the resumption of international cricket for women in Pakistan since the country hosted Bangladesh for two ODI’s and two T20 Internationals in September 2015.

West Indies vs Pakistan Schedule

The West Indies cricket team last toured Pakistan back in March 2004 where they played an ODI series. The West Indies were only the second cricket team to play in Pakistan, after the Netherlands. The West Indies are scheduled to play a total of three T20 Internationals in Karachi at the Southern Club before they move to Dubai to play three ODI’s which forms part of the ICC Women’s Championship.

The 1st ODI will take place at the Dubai International Stadium, while the 2nd and 3rd ODI’s will take place at the ICC Academy ground. The West Indies women cricket squad will arrive in Dubai on 26 January 2019 before they travel to Karachi on 30 January 2019.

Reviving International Cricket in Pakistan

“The West Indies women’s cricket team visiting Karachi is fantastic news not only for the cricket scene in Pakistan but for women’s cricket as well,” Subhan Ahmad stated who is the PCB chief operating officer. “We greatly appreciate the West Indies cricket team for trusting us and accepting the opportunity to play 3 T20 Internationals in Karachi.

The decision made by the West Indies will endorse our position to showcase that Pakistan is as secure and safe as any other country around the world. We are confident that this cricket tour will go a long way to revive the international cricket scene in Pakistan.

“The CWI and the PCB have a long history of mutual respect and collaboration, and this recent decision just further illustrates how strong the relationship is between the two prestigious boards. With the women’s cricket team from West Indies agreeing to participate in 3 T20 Internationals, the CWI has repeated their support as a vital role to ensure international cricket makes its way back to Pakistan.

“By competing in Karachi, the West Indies will also contribute to the popularity and growth of the women’s cricket scene in this part of the world. We are confident that this cricket series will inspire young women to finally take up this incredible sport.”

Although the Pakistan women’s cricket team made their debut as early as 1997, a constant conservative outlook towards females in the cricketing world has meant that they could only play two T20 Internationals, 23 ODI’s and a single Test on home soil. Only two non-Asian women’s cricket teams – West Indies and the Netherlands – have managed to play international cricket in the country.

Thankfully, the women’s cricket scene is returning to Pakistan in 2019, and we can only see good things come from this new development.

The unorthodox bowling technique from Jasprit Bumrah gave him a tremendous head-start that is simply not available to cricket bowlers that utilize regular actions. One of the bowling basics is that once the non-blowing hand is up, the hand that bowls are very close to the waist, and once the non-blowing hand is coming down, the arm that bowls will move upwards to deliver the ball.

However, this is not the case when it comes to Bumrah as the non-blowing arm does not go up like most textbook bowlers. During his action, both his arms are usually stretched out which is a sight that most batsmen do not except as they prepare to face the fast bowler.

Bumrah As a Fast Bowler

Due to years of training, batsmen have been able to get used to Bumrah’s bowling technique rather quickly, and if that was the only danger that Bumrah was posing as a bowler, he would have been neutralised instantly. Once the novelty of Bumrah’s unorthodox bowling technique fades away, its important for such a fast bowler to create something special on a frequent basis to remain relevant and that’s exactly where Bumrah is so tremendously successful. Once batsmen were able to get used to his unique bowling technique, he simply added more arrows to his quiver.

He initially started out as a bowler that managed to bowl from the corner of the bowling box and bring the ball back on the right-hand side of the batsman. For outswingers, Bumrah’s bowling arm finished across the torso, while for his arm finished on his right hip. This is something that batsmen were unable to spot and take advantage of. To play such exaggerated angles was quite easy as you merely need to play inside the line without having to worry about the ball fading away. Bumrah then decided to straighten his wrist when he delivered, making him stronger as a bowler. This provided him with the opportunity to deliver the ball towards the third man and allowed him to get closer to the stumps.

Bumrah Doesn’t Have a Specific Pattern

Since Bumrah’s evolution into a world-class bowler from white-ball cricket, he managed to maintain his essential qualities for succeeding in shorter formats and added the necessary requirements for Test cricket. Most world-class bowlers seem to follow a specific pattern, such as Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Josh Hazlewood who all provide the same patterns, ball after ball. However, Bumrah does not follow a specific pattern at all. He continuously alters his bowling technique without overdoing or bowling loose balls and does not bowl a yard shorter or get carried away during matches.

The variety of control and skills in his execution is brilliant, and he definitely understands when to use certain techniques when he faces a specific batsman. This has made Bumrah into an incredibly fast bowler in cricket and is the main reason why so many batsmen from around the world have a difficult time when they face him.

The world of cricket has managed to evolve over the years in a manner where it’s completely transformed into a batsman’s game, while bowling has managed to take a back-seat. Due to more limited overs, batsmen are being forced to hit the ball across the park, while bowlers are being trashed which means they end up with horrible economy rates.

This means that bowlers are required to step up to the demanding changes of the game and that’s exactly what a handful of bowlers have done. While cricket is turning into a more fast-paced sport, a need for fast-paced bowlers is a necessity as it makes it more difficult to judge the timing and length when the ball comes at you at a quicker pace. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the fastest bowlers in the world of cricket.

Wahab Riaz – 149.6 Kmph

Wahab Riaz is definitely at the top of our list due to his aggressive pace bowling, making him a key player when it comes to international cricket for Pakistan. He first appeared in the spotlight during a World Cup match against Australia in 2015 where he managed to decimate the betting setup for Australia, especially when he faced Shane Watson with his aggression and wrath. Although Pakistan lost the match, they managed to earn the fastest bowler in that game.

Pat Cummings – 149.2 Kmph

Pat Cummings comes in at second place on our list. However, there’s still a long way to go in his career as a right armed fast bowler as he is only 24 years of age. He managed to achieve a mind-blowing 143 Kmph bowling speed during a One Day International. He is not only considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world but is also recognised as one of the best in the cricketing world. He is considered the answer to the legendary bowler, Brett Lee.

Tymal Mills – 149 Kmph

Tymal Mills is a left-armed fast bowler and made his presence known during a destructive match against India in 2017. Although he is not the most popular name when it comes to English cricket, he certainly has the pace to be considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world. He has been playing for Sussex for several years and might even be considered for the England bowling setup for the next World Cup.

Mitchell Starc – 148.5 Kmph

Mitchell Starc, along with Pat Cummings, are the current weapons for the Australian bowling attack to replace the legendary duo of Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee. Starc is regarded as the most feared bowler in the world of cricket and managed to dominate his opponents in the Indian Premier League and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Shannon Gabriel – 148.2 Kmph

Pollard and Dwayne Bravo to take care of batting and bowling, Gabriel has managed to impress everyone with his consistent pace bowling which seemed to revive the bowling attack for the team in recent years.

The biggest drawback to being true to form on a constant basis is that no one truly knows what it looks like when you have a bad run. For Hashim Amla, who was in incredible form thanks to a 23.36 average spanning over 10 Tests in a year, this was a nagging problem as he experienced the gravest dip when it comes to form in more than a decade.

The natural elegance, the definite wrist work, and the luxuriant cover drives from the number three batsman in South Africa is cricket’s answer to the renowned Bolshoi Ballet. The movements is so perfect, the technique is so unfailingly graceful, that when they fail to produce the necessary results it seems naturally predisposed.

Hashim Amla’s Performance

There were several discussions of his dip as being more like a decline as Amla, after all, has been playing international cricket for more than 14 years. He is also considered the oldest player in the National cricket team, at age 35. The ungainly, scratchy time he spent during the first innings while playing against Pakistan didn’t give the impression that he was a cricket player with his best years behind him.

During his time in the South African cricket squad, one of the most successful and popular marketing campaigns when it comes to cricket teams was the #ProteaFire slogan that was developed to represent the aggressive combativeness of a cricket team that will never give up. It certainly caught the attention of the public, both abroad and at home, which is essentially a symbol of how the South African side plays the game, with passion on full display and their hearts on their sleeves.

However, Amla who is one of the modern faces in the South African cricket team, is very far from the ‘fire’ the squad seems to showcase at the moment. However, playing international cricket for such an extended period of time does take its toll on any cricket player and once the motivation is completely lost, the sports is essentially over, regardless of how good you are.

Comments from other cricket players in the South African team

“Amla’s does everything exactly the same as the moment he walked into the team. That’s his trademark when you look behind the scenes. Whether he scores runs or doesn’t, his attitude and mental application remains the same even away from the game. He is an extremely calm and level-headed guy. He doesn’t get frantic at all, even when he doesn’t manage to score any runs. He merely believes that things will turn around eventually.

Thankfully, the dip that cursed Amla recently seemed to disappear while playing against Pakistan. Once the ball lost its venom and shine, Pakistan were the ones that were blinking. Once he was back in form, Amla found himself improving constantly on the field and after South Africa lost several wickets during the Test, Amla was still standing as a solid rock for the South African team.