Former India Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri left no holes barred when he went to criticize Shaheen Afridi. The former Indian cricketer during his commentary stint in the ICC World Cup claimed that Shaheen is not Wasim Akram and shouldn’t be hyped so much after India vs Pakistan clash
“He is a good bowler, he can claim a wicket with the new ball. But you have to admit it, if Naseem Shah is not playing and the quality of Pakistan’s spin bowling is like this, then Shaheen Shah Afridi koi Wasim Akram nai hai! Acche bowler hai. Lekin itna bhi jyaada chadane ka koi zaroorat nahi hai. Jab hai theek thak, toh bolna chahiye woh theek thaak hai. Chadha ke nahin bithana chahiye ki bohot zabardast hai. Yeh nahi hai! Yeh maan na padega. (Shaheen is not Wasim Akram. He’s a good bowler, but there is no need for us to hype him so highly as well. If a player is simply a good player, we should restrict our praise to saying he is a good player. He’s not a great player, we need to admit that),” Shastri said.
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Prior to the start of the World Cup, Shaheen Afridi was hyped to become the tournament’s best bowler. But dismal performances from the left-handed speedster have caused Ravi Shastri the rant.
Ahead of the India vs Pakistan game, it was touted that the Indian batters couldn’t handle left-arm pacers well and there is a high chance that Shaheen can be the doom for India’s downfall.
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But Rohit Sharma and the other Indian batters hammered Shaheen Afridi as India registered a thumping win by 7 wickets. Shaheen tried his best, despite claiming two wickets, but the Pakistani speedster was not at his best. The two wickets that he scalped were nothing special. Gill gave his wicket trying to play an over-ambitious shot while Rohit too gave away a simple catch.
The Indian batters hammered Shaheen who conceded 36 runs from his 6 overs spell.