Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt: “I don’t know from where this obsession for bowlers bowling at 140 [kph] has come. People talk about this like we never had such bowlers in the past”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has questioned where this obsession with bowlers who can bowl at 140 kph has come from.

Salman noted that there were many seamers who bowled between 140 and 145 kph in the past, but they “were not considered genuine pacers”.

Instead of focusing solely on speed, Salman said it is also important to look at a bowler’s action, their ability to take wickets and whether they can maintain a consistent line and length when bowling.

“Most of our bowlers [in the past] could bowl at 140 [kph]. Rana Naveed and Rao Iftikhar were 140 [kph], meanwhile Yasir Arafat and Abdul Razzaq were 145 [kph] plus. Azhar Mahmood also bowled at 140 [kph]. But these bowlers were not considered genuine pacers,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

“I don’t know from where this obsession for bowlers bowling at 140 [kph] has come. People talk about this like we never had such bowlers in the past. Nobody talks about a bowler’s arm position, action, ability to pick up wickets or whether he can bowl at a consistent line and length.”

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