Shabbir Ahmed could possibly make a comeback

Shabbir Ahmed was banned last December for being reported twice within 12 months. How good was he? In my opinion he was better than Sami, Razzak, Arafat. But not quite in the same league as Mohammad Asif and Shoaib. I would rank his skills close to Umar Gul, who I respect highly. Using my reasoning, I suppose, it would be fair to say we need him desperately to lead our attack!

His return next month from his year-long ban could not have come at a better time. With Pakistan's 2 front line bowlers banned, he could really plug that gap that exists in Pakistan's toothless fast bowling reserves.

His statistics are impressive. In the past few years, Pakistani fast bowlers have relied more on line and length and lateral movement (Gul, Asif, Shabbir) and less on raw pace (Sami, Shoaib). He is a tall guy. Taller than 6 feet, and has a dangly action. He can extract plenty of bounce from pitches. I would estimate that he is a mix between Harmy and McGrath, though excelling in neither bounce nor line and length. He's done well, however, getting 51 wickets from his 10 test matches. I was definitely a fan and I am hopeful he can play for the country, perhaps even as soon as the South Africa tour which precedes the World Cup.

From SABCNews.com

"Obviously when you lose two key bowlers like Shoaib and Asif it does affect the team," Saleem Altaf, the director cricket operations, said via telephone from India. "Which is why we will be sending Shabbir to Australia on November 20 for biomechanics tests on his bowling action?"

Shabbir has been reported three times for his action, which can be reviewed again once the ban ends next month, Altaf added.

"We have done a lot of work on Shabbir's action this year and there is definite improvement. Hopefully, he will also clear the biomechanical tests under the supervision of experts in Australia," Altaf said. "If he is available with a modified action for the tour of South Africa and the World Cup it would be a big boost for the team," he added.

I sincerely hope they actually did work on his action over the past year. If they did, that is pretty good management by the PCB to insure that Shabbir is healthy and legal when he returns. He was worth the investment, and I hope he doesn't get called for throwing again. He could be a handful on South African and West Indian pitches.