Jasprit Bumrah is nowhere close to Shaheen Afridi: Abdul Razzaq

Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi are two of the most dangerous bowlers in world cricket currently. Even though the former is currently injured, the ace pacer has shown his class in the past, and his meteoric rise as India’s bowling spearhead is one for the books. Shaheen, on the other hand, is much new to international cricket but is as sharp as any other pacer in the world. He definitely is the future of Pakistan’s bowling attack and has the capability to change the complexion of the match in just one spell.

Now, given their quality and the historic rivalry between India and Pakistan, comparisons between the two are bound to happen and former Pakistan international Abdul Razzaq has already declared a winner in the contest. The 43-year-old believes that Bumrah is good, but he is nowhere close to Shaheen Afridi’s level.

“Shaheen bahut accha hai, Bumrah toh uske paas bhi nahi aata (Shaheen is very good. Bumrah doesn't come near him),” Abdul Razzaq told Paktv.tv recently.

When asked, who was better among Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Shaheen, Razzaq replied: “All three are good.”

About Bumrah, I am not too sure at the moment: Rohit Sharma

Due to a back injury, Jasprit Bumrah missed the Asia Cup and also the T20 World Cup in 2022. He was expected to make his return in the T20I series against Sri Lanka but that too couldn’t happen as he failed to recover on time.

The 29-year-old will also miss the first two Tests in the upcoming series against Australia but there’s a sense of hope that the cricketer can make his return for the final two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma stated that the team doesn’t want to take any risk with him, as there’s a lot of cricket left in the year. He also mentioned that the team management is in constant touch with the physios and the doctors at NCA, as they are continuously monitoring Bumrah’s progress.

“About Bumrah, I am not too sure at the moment. The first two Test matches, of course, he is not going to be available. I am expecting...I am hoping, not expecting, that he plays the next (last) two Test matches (against Australia). We don't want to take any risks with him as back injuries are always critical. We have a lot of cricket coming back after that as well.

"We are in constant touch with physios and doctors in NCA. We will monitor. The medical team will give him as much time as he wants,” Rohit had said earlier this month.

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