Majid's views on tennis ball & fast bowling (8 Apr 1997)

08 April 1997

Majid's views on tennis ball & fast bowling

Sports Reporter

KARACHI, April 7: Only an expert like Majid Khan can give a valuable tip to the budding fast bowlers how to become a genuinely quick bowler. Majid Khan, in a television interview, said Pakistan was producing fast bowlers because the youngsters play with tennis balls on the streets. "The ball is taped which gives more swing to the fast bowlers," stated Majid while replying to Ian Chappell's query how Pakistan were so rich in fast bowling department.

Majid, a great batsman of yore, forgot to remember that the weight of the hard ball is five-and-a-half ounce while the weight of a tennis ball is about two ounce. The tennis ball, after being taped, gets only little heavier but can never be as heavy as the hard ball.

Majid is probably also unaware of the fact that there are several pace bowlers in this city who had to quit bowling fast because their shoulders got weak while trying to generate pace from a less heavier object.

Master batsman of this era, Javed Miandad, on the contrary, advises up-and-coming batsmen to play more with taped tennis balls because it helps in adjusting to the swing besides mastering the art of how to play short and lifting deliveries.

Javed Miandad, or for that matter Imran Khan, never suggested the young pacers to bowl with tennis ball because they thought it was only a wastage of time and energy.

Majid Khan also said Pakistan was not producing good batsmen because they were playing more on `concrete and little on turf wickets'. Majid also said in the interview that his board was working well and wanted to continue the good job.