World Cup: He is good but nothing special about him: Ravi Shastri slams Shaheen Afridi following India bashing

Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi failed to bring his A-game against India in the marquee World Cup clash in Ahmedabad the other night. The left-arm seamer has troubled top-order batters, including Rohit, with his steamy in-swingers before but couldn’t deliver on the big day. Former India legend Ravi Shastri tore into his performance, bashing him up-side-and-down.

Afridi was wayward with his line and length, let alone troubling the batters with his stock deliveries. From Shubman Gill to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, everyone hammered him.

With Pakistan already defending a below-par total of 192 on a batting paradise at the Narendra Modi Stadium, their bowlers needed to deliver from ball one, which was not the case. Instead, the Indian batters had put their backs against the wall with superb knocks.

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In the absence of Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali got an extended run in the XI, proving a tad expensive despite picking Kohli’s wicket.

While speaking with the host broadcaster Star Sports after India’s seven-wicket win, Shastri bashed Shaheen for a failed show when his team needed him the most, saying he is no Wasim Akram and there’s nothing too special about him.

"When Naseem Shah is not playing, and this is the quality of spin... Shaheen Shah Afridi is no Wasim Akram. He is a good bowler with the new ball and can pick wickets, but there is nothing special about him. He is only a decent bowler. He's no big deal. You have to accept the truth," Shastri told Star Sports.

‘Shaheen should’ve taken a leaf out of Bumrah’s book’

Jasprit Bumrah was the protagonist of India’s bowling in Ahmedabad, picking two for 19 in seven overs, including a maiden, earning himself a Player of the Match award. Though others also chipped in with timely wickets, Bumrah’s slower delivery to dismiss Rizwan on 49 was the talking point of the game.

Noting that Afridi bowled his usual lengths and didn’t think of taking a leaf out of Bumrah’s book on how to dismiss well-settled batters on this pitch, Shastri’s old mate and legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed him, saying,

“Clearly Pakistan did not learn anything because it was only towards the end when Shaheen bowled that cutter that got Rohit out. We would have thought that they would bowl the cutter even with the new ball. It is not written anywhere that the new ball has to be bowled at a certain pace. You can change it, but nothing of those sorts was seen from the Pakistan bowlers," mentioned Gavaskar.

Meanwhile, with three wins in as many games, India is sitting at the top of the points table with a better NRR ahead of New Zealand.

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