Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali quashed any hype around the famous Pakistani pace trio of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, saying they are good but not the best, pounding their fans’ perception of them.

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Pakistan might have hosted the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2025 but failed to make it to the next round, with successive losses against New Zealand and India minimising their chances of reaching the final four. A washout against Bangladesh knocked them out of the home event later. Even though Pakistani batters did play better cricket across two contested matches, the bowling unit’s failure dented their hopes of retaining the Champions Trophy title.

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Even against India on a tough Dubai pitch, where the par score was as close as Pakistan’s first innings total (241), the three frontline seamers, often dubbed as the best of this generation, put up a mediocre performance, with the Indians walking away with a six-wicket victory. While all four specialists picked two wickets each, in as many games, spinner Abrar had the best economy (3.75), and seamer Afridi had the worst (7.88).  

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Breaking the silence on the hype around this pace trio, which once ruled T20Is around three years ago, Moeen said he agrees that they are good at what they do but not the best, which their fans think they are.

“This is the thing people have. Especially people with Pakistani backgrounds. They’ll say Pakistani seamers are the best. I’m like no, they’re not. They’re good, but they’re not the best,” Moeen Ali said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast on YouTube. “Naseem Shah, Shaheen and Haris Rauf are very good. We’re not saying they are bad, but they’re not the best.”

Credit where it's due

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He, however, acknowledged that Pakistan has been producing some of the best fast bowlers the game has seen. 

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“Pakistan have this thing where they do produce very good fast bowlers. Again, it’s something in their coaching system where they coach Pakistanis unbelievably well,” he added.

Meanwhile, all three will be back in action for Pakistan’s white-ball away series against New Zealand starting March 16. While Afridi and Rauf are part of the five T20Is, Naseem Shah will partake in the ODIs.

(With inputs from agencies)