Former Indian captain Ravi Shastri has said that Pakistan ace pacer Shaheen Afridi is not as great as legendary Wasim Akram and there is no need to overhype him.
Pakistan faced a seven-wicket defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against India on Saturday.
The Men in Green were bundled out for 191 and India chased the target in the 31st over. Shaheen had claimed two wickets of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma.
Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri remarked on Hindi commentary on Shaheen Afridi while Rohit was batting in the 80s.
“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 it's ordinary," Shastri said.
"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," he added.
It must be noted that India has jumped to the first position of the ICC World Cup 2023 points table. With three wins in three matches, the home side continued their excellent form and maintained a positive 1.821 net run rate (NRR).
Meanwhile, Pakistan are at fourth with an NRR of -0.137. They will now play Australia on October 20.
- Shaheen Afridi