'Shaheen Shah Afridi Koi Wasim Akram Nai Hai': Ravi Shastri's Blunt Take On Shaheen After Pakistan Loss To India

The Indian team chased down the total within 31 overs, with their attack managing to take just three Indian wickets.

Shaheen Shah Afridi in action.

Source : Getty

The Pakistan cricket team under the leadership of Babar Azam suffered a massive seven-wicket loss to India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.  Pakistan's team were dominating at one point in time when they were batting at 154/2 but then Indian bowlers made a terrific comeback, restricting Men in Green to a paltry total of 191.

The Indian team chased down the total within 31 overs, with their attack managing to take just three Indian wickets. Pakistan’s lethal bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi ended up picking up two crucial wickets of Shubman Gill and skipper Rohit, giving away 36 runs off his six overs of a spell. Before taking the wicket of Rohit, the Indian skipper did a lot of damage as India was closer to the finishing line.

When the Indian captain was batting in the 80s, former India coach Ravi Shastri, Jatin Sapru, and Irfan Pathan were sitting in the commentary panel and that is when Shastri started talking about Shaheen.

“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 Shaheen Shah Afridi koi Wasim Akram nai hai! Acche bowler hai. Lekin itna bhi jyaada chadane ka koi zaroorat nahi hai. Jab hai theek thak, toh bolna chahiye woh theek thaak hai. Chadha ke nahin bithana chahiye ki bohot zabardast hai. Yeh nahi hai! Yeh maan na padega. (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),” Shastri said.

Apart from Rohit Sharma, India’s middle order batter Shreyas Iyer also batted well and ended up remaining unbeaten on 53 runs.