Former India head coach Ravi Shastri didn't shy away from sharing his brutal assessment of the Pakistan bowling attack, which has looked like a shadow of itself in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 so far. Pakistan did well in bowling out the Netherlands in the first game but gave away 344 runs against Sri Lanka and now 192 runs against India in just 30.3 overs in the last two games and Shastri noted the fact that without Naseem Shah, this bowling attack has looked pedestrian and Shaheen Afridi shouldn't be overhyped like he is the greatest bowler.
Speaking during India's batting innings in the 21st over when the Men in Blue were coasting along through to the target, Shastri said that Shaheen is a good bowler and the praises should be limited to that only and shouldn't be overhyped while name-dropping one of the greatest left-arm seamers Wasim Akram.
“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 maanna 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 just a good player, we should call him a good player. No need to over hype him that he is a great bowler, which he isn't. And, we need to admit that),” Shastri said on Star Sports during Hindi commentary while not holding back.
Pakistan have won two games and lost one and there is still time for them to cover the lost ground. The Men in Green have six days time before they face Australia, who are already hurting with two losses in a row, on October 20. It was a monumental collapse with the bat from 155/2 to 191 all out that resulted in them getting blown away by the arch-rivals.
