Jasprit Bumrah is not as aggressive as Shaheen Afridi: Aaqib Javed

Former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed on April 24 (Sunday) made a bold statement saying that Shaheen Afridi is a better bowler than Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Aaqib Javed represented Pakistan in 163 ODI matches and was also part of the World Cup-winning squad. The right-arm seamer scalped a total of 182 wickets.

Coming back to Shaheen versus Bumrah debate, the Indian pacer has 303 wickets in 156 matches across all three formats, while left-arm pacer Afridi has grabbed 201 wickets in 94 matches for his country. Javed opined that Indian pacer Bumrah‘s graph has been stable and he is less aggressive as compared to Afridi.

Bumrah has less threatening performances than Shaheen: Aaqib Javed

“The way Haris has bowled in the last few years, his average bowling speed is the fastest in the world. And the aggression he has, the way he runs, the batsman knows that the bowler is running towards him, but Bumrah’s isn’t that aggressive. And people enjoy this kind of bowler who has such body language. Shaheen’s graph is on the rise, while Bumrah is stable,” Javed told Paktv.com.

“He has less threatening performances than Shaheen, whether it’s in T20s, ODIs, or Tests. And the rise of Pakistan cricket largely has depended on performances from Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan,” he added.

It may be noted that Shaheen was recently conferred with the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2021. In 2021, the left-arm seamer grabbed 78 wickets in 36 internationals at an average of 22.20. He also played a vital role for Pakistan against the arch-rivals India during a group stage match of the T20 World Cup. He was also adjudged player of the match for his brilliant bowling spell. Meanwhile, Bumrah is presently part of the Mumbai Indians (MI), who became the first team to get knocked out of the play-offs race in IPL 2022.