Why Pakistanis bowl fast
Karachi tape-ball cricket has played a huge part, but there is still no definitive answer to this question, writes Osman Samiuddin in Starsports.com
29-Jun-2013
Many in Pakistan turned to fast bowling because of Imran Khan, but there can be several theories explaining why Pakistanis have always loved bowling fast. Karachi tape-ball cricket has played a huge part, but there is still no definitive answer to this question, writes Osman Samiuddin in Starsports.com.
But it can't be just Imran because that doesn't even touch on the impact of tape ball cricket, itself rising as forcibly as a phenomenon as Imran at around the same time. Because to bowl fast with a taped-up tennis ball is to have power and emancipation. At the lowest - and thus most critical - developmental stage a tape ball is an uncomplicated weapon. Its bounce is not reactive and apologetic like that of a simple tennis or rubber ball. It means something. It is a threat, zipping off the road.