PAK vs NZ: Ramiz Raja calls out Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf for decrease in their bowling speed

Former Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja has expressed his concerns over the decrease in the bowling speed of ace pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Notably, in the first ODI against New Zealand at Rawalpindi, the duo picked up two wickets each but as per Raja, they need to work on generating more speed as that has been Pakistan’s USP over the years. Notably, both the bowlers conceded 65 and 63 runs in their 10-over quota.

The former cricketer also mentioned that courtesy of his toe-crushing yorkers and change in pace, Rauf is dangerous in T20I cricket but when it comes to One Day Internationals, Rauf immediately needs to work on his pace, otherwise he will not be that effective in the 50-over format.

Raja also seemed confused by the pacer by questioning that he was not sure if he is bowling slower than usually he does deliberately by himself or if his pace had really reduced. Additionally, he emphasized that in ODI cricket, batters are always going to take chances against a bowler to hand him easy wickets as it happens in T20Is. Hence, Raja wants him to bowl as per his strength by understanding the difference between the two formats.

Let’s say there is a 10-over spell, then I can understand not exerting too much pace in 2-3 overs: Raja

“There is a question mark hovering over Haris Rauf, and I think it’s because he isn’t as effective as a length bowler. He either bowls good Yorkers or has a good change of pace, and in T20s, when batsmen take chances, he takes wickets easily. In ODIs, bowling is different, and I think he needs to increase his pace to be more effective.

“Overall, his pace has decreased, I don’t know if he himself is bowling with less pace. Let’s say there is a 10-over spell, then I can understand not exerting too much pace in 2-3 overs, but overall, I think his pace needs to be increased a bit more,” Raja said on his YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, talking about Shaheen Shah Afridi, Raja once again mentioned that the star pacer needs to work on his speed. He believes that the 23-year-old needs to be more effective with his variations, change of pace and sheer pace.

“Shaheen Afridi also needs to increase his average speed of 136 and go up by a notch or two when he bowls forward. This is because on such pitches, you need to have a good understanding of your bowling, as you know that you will not get much sideways movement. Therefore, you need to develop a process through variations, change of pace, or sheer pace to be effective,” Raja concluded.

Notably, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by five wickets to win the first ODI of the series.