As far as I am concerned, ‘reverse swing’ was discovered by the charismatic Pakistani fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz in the late 70s. Later on, Sarfraz’s such a lethal discovery was used with maximum effect by Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar.
To
the non-Pakistanis, this art was mysterious and despite various doubts, at
present, reverse swing is widely accepted as cricket’s most effective
discoveries. Now a day, reverse swing is not limited in Pakistan
only but countries like England ,
Australia and India
are using this lethal discovery quite efficiently.
It’s
widely known that the Sarfraz Nawaz is the father of reverse swing, but I am
pretty surprised to read about Andy Roberts’ recent statement about reverse
swing. He said, “We began the reverse swing. When Pakistanis came here in 1977
they were surprised to see us do it. It’s no rocket science, you keep the ball
polished on one side and it would reverse swing. For it to happen, the other
side must have a bit of moisture on it”.
This
is a very interesting statement. If Roberts and con really knew about this then
why didn’t they use it? Or even if they didn’t need to use it then why were
they quite about such a fantastic innovation?
Or,
during the 90s when the reverse swing created enough controversies or when, the
cricketing world was thinking day and night about knowing the skill of this
art, then, why was Roberts quiet during that time? Many ex-fast bowlers were asked about reverse swing but during that time I don't remember Mr. Andy Roberts to speak anything about this matter.
Regarding
the 1976-77 tour of West Indies, Imran Khan in his autobiography has highly
praised about the West Indian fast bowlers but I could not find anywhere that
the West Indian fast bowlers had shown the Pakistani pacers such an innovative
idea. Even if Roberts had shown the Pakistanis this art then which player did
he show? Roberts must mention this.
Reverse swing is a discovery of Pakistan and this is a fact.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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