Gavaskar Blunt Statement on this Star Bowler of Pakistan after India WC hammering
The first bowler of Pakistan cricket team Shaheen Afridi versus the top-order batsman of Indian cricket team was the contest to look out for in the blockbuster World Cup 2023 match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad and the face-off that the hosts were warned of. Team India got the target of 192 runs set by Pakistan on Saturday, and the responsibility was on Shaheen, who has in the past been a nightmare for the top order of Team India. A tall left-arm seamer with the ability to get late movement into the right hander, Shaheen possesses the perfect ingredients to rattle Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli, but the fast bowler's poor run of form continued as the Men in Blue raced away to an enormous seven-wicket win.
Shaheen's left-arm exploits have often earned him comparisons with the legendary Wasim Akram, but Shastri wasn't having any of it. In a brutal assessment, Shastri called a spade a spade, asserting that Pakistan has to accept that Shaheen is nothing extraordinary.
He said, "When Naseem Shah is not playing and this is the quality of spin, Shaheen Shah Afridi is no Wasim Akram. He is a good bowler with the new ball and can pick wickets, but there is nothing special about him. He is only a decent bowler. He's no big deal. You have to accept the truth.”
Joining Shastri in his criticism of Shaheen was Sunil Gavaskar, who wasn't happy with the left-arm quick for not taking a leaf out of Jasprit Bumrah's dismissals in the first inning. Gavaskar said, “Rizwan is the kind of player who can take the game away from the opposition. He is a very cheeky player. He knows how to play and adjusts his game according to the needs of the team. So his wicket was very crucial, or else Pakistan would have ended with 250-260. So that was a huge blow. Next over, Bumrah gets another wicket with another cutter. Clearly, Pakistan did not learn anything because it was only towards the end when Shaheen bowled that cutter that got Rohit out. We would have thought that they would bowl the cutter, even with the new ball. It is not written anywhere that the new ball has to be bowled at a certain pace. You can change it, but nothing of those sorts was seen from the Pakistan bowlers.”