5 great bowling pairs whose coordinated work don't fade away

Cricket is labelled as a batsmen’s game thanks to people’s preference of watching boundaries rain rather than stumps crashing all over the place. Even big names players like Virender Sehwag are of the opinion that cricket is a batsmen’s game.

However, there is not a single team in the history of World Cup that has won the most coveted trophy without a decent bowling attack. In fact, a great bowling unit itself can win you games even if the team’s batting line up is average.

We have seen some of the best bowlers to have graced this earth play for the same nation. Some countries can produce fast bowlers with utmost ease and here are 5 such deadly bowling pairs that rocked the world with their ferocity. These bowlers' co-ordinated work don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature line of body perfumes.

#1 Wasim Akram and Imran Khan

Pakistan, at least once upon a time, produced fast bowlers better than any other teams. And it was the 90s era that the fans will fondly remember as the glory years of pace in Pakistan. On top of having a strong batting line-up, they had the best bowling in the world for a very long time.

And Imran-Wasim spearheaded that attack to the World Cup win in 1992.

While Akram’s swing was inscrutable for the batsmen, Imran Khan’s raw pace and strict line-length created havoc within the opposition’s ranks. The two bowling from two ends always victimized batsmen and it was this pair that brought Pakistan the World Cup glory in 1992—taking 25 wickets, at an economy rate of under 4, as a duo in the process.

#2 Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath

Brett Lee (R) rushes to congratulate Glenn McGrath of Australia after McGrath took his last wicket.

Another team that have a knack of producing world class fast bowlers is Australia. From Jeff Thompson to Mitchel Starc right now, Australia have consistently produced pacers that have terrified batsmen for decades.

And they had one hell of a complementary new-ball attack in Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath as the former traumatized batsmen with his fiery pace and the latter became the nightmare of many due to his strict line and length.

The pair took 43 wickets in the 10 matches that they played together—the best numbers among any other combination in the tournament. It is of no wonder, then, that this Australian team won the 2003 World Cup without losing a single game.

#3 Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming

Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming during the 1999 World Cup.

Damien Fleming could be, in a way, termed as somewhat underrated. But there is little doubt about his abilities as a bowler as he has won Australia games numerous times. Bowling under the shadow of Glenn McGrath meant that he never really got the praise that he deserved.

Nonetheless, he formed a devastating partnership with McGrath that helped Australia win the World Cup in 1999—the first of the amazing hat-trick of World Cups.

In the 10 games that they played together, they got an impressive 32 wickets. They shared the new ball and gave Shane Warne the perfect platform to weave his magic.

Bernard Julien and Keith Boyce

Keith Boyce (source: espncricinfo.com)

And finally, we enter the shores of the Caribbean. During the 70s and most of the 80s, West Indies had the best bowling attack in the whole world. People still write odes glorifying the great West Indian bowling attack of the bygone days.

While we laud the Ambroses and Walshs, a comparatively lesser known bowling pair was responsible for West Indies winning the inaugural edition of the World Cup.

As a pair, they took 20 wickets in the 5 games they played together—which is an astonishing 40% of the possible wickets they could have taken. Not only that, their sheer pace was the source of immense intimidation for batsmen.

Michael Holding and Joel Garner

West Indian fast bowlers (left to right) Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner, February 1981.

West Indies had so many incredible fast bowlers back then that an entire XI of it could have been woven and yet many big names would drop out. Four years after their World Cup-winning 1975 campaign, they once again won it the next time around.

And this time, they had a completely different pace pair from the one that won them the 1975 World Cup.

Michael Holding’s and Joel Garner’s blazing pace dismantled entire batting line-ups in a way that reminded people of the previous tournament. And like Julien and Voice, they took 4 wickets in each game as a pair to drive the Windies to their second consecutive World Cup win.