Player Comparisons: Graeme Swann vs. Saeed Ajmal

[StinkyBoHoon]

so

doosra = ajmal - swann

 

[Addy]

Lol you got it right mate

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Obviously Greame Swann!For me Swann is the best spinner playing the game now.Ajmal would give a tough fight for Ashwin maybe, certainly Swann belongs to a different league.

Lol Ash win can be compared with Hafiz, even jadeja has out bowled him in recent times.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

Lol you got it right mate

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Lol Ash win can be compared with Hafiz, even jadeja has out bowled him in recent times.

I did not say Ashwin is better than Ajmal mate,comparing them seems better for me.Swann belongs to a totally different league.Its like comparing someone like Cook with someone like Alex Hales!

Jadeja??Seriously??Right!And Hafeez is actually a good bowler man!

 

[sifter132]

I agree that Herath belongs in the discussion of the world's best spinner. There are a number of ways to compare the 3's statistics, and they all show their isn't that much of a difference. An interesting analysis would be how they fared in the toughest place for spinners in the last 5 years - South Africa.

Australia's pretty tough for spinners too Mr Smurf. Murali's average in Australia was 75!

Ajmal's only played 1 Test in Australia, MCG 2009/10. Didn't enjoy much success: 2/223 for the match
Swann has 15 wickets in 5 Tests @ 39.80
Herath has 12 wickets in 3 Tests @ 33.91

Ashwin found it tough sledding in Australia too:
Ashwin took 9 wickets in 3 Tests @ 62.77

Interesting trivia: the last 2 spin bowlers to take 10+ wickets in Australia in their career at less than 30 runs per wicket?
Upul Chandana 12 wickest in 2 Tests @ 22.50 in 2004
Peter Such 11 wickets in 2 Tests @ 29.36 in 98/99

 

[ferg512]

Hmmm this a really interesting one, I would probably pick Ajmal over Swann but I find it more impressive what Swann has achieved given he doesn't have a doosra.

 

[used2bcool]

In terms of potency both seem about the same. PapaSmurf pointed out the discrepancy in the number of tests played, so I thought we should scale the two to the same number of tests. It's not the best form of analysis, but it gives us a slightly clearer picture in terms of numbers:

We need to get to what these guys do in one test match:
Swann: 42 overs, 124 runs, 4.375 wickets
Ajmal: 53 overs, 141 runs, 5.115 wickets

Extrapolating (always dangerous, but bear with me), we can predict the curve of Ajmal's career if he played 56 tests, assuming he bowls the same number of overs per match as he does now and continues to take wickets at the average he does now:

Ajmal: 56 Tests, 2968 overs, 7755 runs given, 286 wickets
Compared to Swann: 56 Tests, 2376.1 overs, 6948 runs given, 245 wickets.
It's pretty close. Swann has the better strike rate, but Ajmal takes more wickets (and bowls more) per match. Ajmal is also cheaper per over, and Swann does have a bit of an advantage when it comes to bowling colleagues.

It's interesting to see what they do against each other - in the six tests where both have played, they have absolutely dominated the batting lineups:
Swann: 6 Tests, 35 wickets @ 16.66, 2 five-wicket hauls
Ajmal: 6 Tests, 36 wickets @ 19.61, 2 five-wicket hauls, 1 10-wicket match
So they seem to bring out the best in each other. I'd say that Ajmal's numbers are slightly more impressive considering the gap in batting talent between England and Pakistan. Also, Pakistan won 4 of those 6 Tests, but it's still very close between the two.

It's certainly admirable what Swann has achieved considering his relatively less versatile repertoire of deliveries, but I think batsmen over the world, if given a choice would still choose to face him over Ajmal, because at least they can pick him. Just ask Ian Bell

 

[vorgaphe]

Swann is best off spinner, Ajmal the best off chucker.

 

[cricket_icon]

Swann is best off spinner, Ajmal the best off chucker.

awww sour grapes?

 

[Aalay]

awww sour grapes?

I don't think it is about sour grapes. I am not a fan of either of them. Ajmal's bowling action while bowling doosra is extremely weird or I should say suspicious. Again that does not mean that I don't promote doosra. I think it's a great delivery and whenever I see some videos of Saqlain Mushtaq or Murli, it is just brilliant to watch. However, I feel that Ajmal relies heavily on his doosra. On the other hand, Swann has achieved this success in his career so far with just conventional off spin without having any variation. I don't think Ajmal would have achieved similar success as Swann has if he was just bowling conventional offie.

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Lol Ash win can be compared with Hafiz, even jadeja has out bowled him in recent times.

Ashwin has 92 wickets from 16 matches. If you are comparing that with Hafeez than I am not sure for how long you have been watching cricket. Jadeja has out bowled Ashwin in ODI's, not in Tests. Let's learn to respect players, can we?

 

[Ohm]

Ashwin has 92 wickets from 16 matches. If you are comparing that with Hafeez than I am not sure for how long you have been watching cricket. Jadeja has out bowled Ashwin in ODI's, not in Tests. Let's learn to respect players, can we?

From those 92 wickets atleast 75 are in India, I guess He is really a good bowler and the best for me.But he failed in Australia Tour 2011-12 When he will do better in SA,AUS then he will be the competitor of Murlitharan too

Comparison between Ajmal and Swann

Ajmal>Swann

 

[Aalay]

From those 92 wickets atleast 75 are in India, I guess He is really a good bowler and the best for me.But he failed in Australia Tour 2011-12 When he will do better in SA,AUS then he will be the competitor of Murlitharan too

I agree on the part that most of his wickets came in India and he is yet to prove himself overseas. However, we should not forget that in tests, he only had one overseas tour. Anyhow that does not mean, you start comparing him with a random part timer, is it?

 

[Satan666]

I agree on the part that most of his wickets came in India and he is yet to prove himself overseas. However, we should not forget that in tests, he only had one overseas tour. Anyhow that does not mean, you start comparing him with a random part timer, is it?

Lets not go off track with Ashwin here please this is not the thread for him! For the record I personally think Ashwin is overrated as is most Indians (they seem to turn up on every thread), but credit to him cuz even though his wickets are on Indian soil they were relative roads.

 

[Aalay]

Lets not go off track with Ashwin here please this is not the thread for him! For the record I personally think Ashwin is overrated as is most Indians (they seem to turn up on every thread), but credit to him cuz even though his wickets are on Indian soil they were relative roads.

It's not very hard to scroll up and look to whom I was replying and it certainly wasn't you. I have posted on the thread topic(again if you care to look earlier post on this page). And you should certainly learn how to keep your opinion to yourself, don't go out and throw it on everybody. If you believe Ashwin is overrated, good for ya, I don't think he is. Again, I am not going to say Ashwin is anywhere close to Ajmal, Swann or Herath because as I mentioned, he still has to prove himself overseas and acheive a lot before he can be compared to these 3 players. However, that does not mean we overlook his current record which is fantastic.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

It's not very hard to scroll up and look to whom I was replying and it certainly wasn't you. I have posted on the thread topic(again if you care to look earlier post on this page). And you should certainly learn how to keep your opinion to yourself, don't go out and throw it on everybody. If you believe Ashwin is overrated, good for ya, I don't think he is. Again, I am not going to say Ashwin is anywhere close to Ajmal, Swann or Herath because as I mentioned, he still has to prove himself overseas and acheive a lot before he can be compared to these 3 players. However, that does not mean we overlook his current record which is fantastic.

Mate, learn to ignore that fellow

 

[cricket_icon]

I don't think it is about sour grapes. I am not a fan of either of them. Ajmal's bowling action while bowling doosra is extremely weird or I should say suspicious. Again that does not mean that I don't promote doosra. I think it's a great delivery and whenever I see some videos of Saqlain Mushtaq or Murli, it is just brilliant to watch. However, I feel that Ajmal relies heavily on his doosra. On the other hand, Swann has achieved this success in his career so far with just conventional off spin without having any variation. I don't think Ajmal would have achieved similar success as Swann has if he was just bowling conventional offie.

You can't hold Ajmal's higher skill level as a negative, surely? So he has more variation than Swann, how is that an argument AGAINST Ajmal?

And the action is cleared, there is no more need of discussion on that issue.