'Shaheen Afridi's return not as good as Shami's': Ex-India coach's bold claim, says Pakistan will be worried in T20 WC
Shaheen Afridi, who is making a return following his injury, was once again clinical with the ball, conceding just seven runs in the two overs he bowled. However, former India cricketer and batting coach feels his return was not as impressive as Mohammed Shami.
India are yet to officially start their T20 World Cup campaign but they already made a statement with their performance in the warm-up fixture against Australia in Brisbane on Monday. KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav led India's charge with the bat and a one over display by Mohammed Shami showed that the Men In Blue means business heading into the competition.
India will launch their campaign against arch rivals Pakistan, who didn't have the best of outings in the first warm-up match against England. Babar Azam and his boys were completely outplayed by the Three Lions, who made a mockery of the 161-run chase and completed it with 26 balls to spare in the 19-overs a side contest.
Shaheen Afridi, who is making a return following his injury, was once again clinical with the ball, conceding just seven runs in the two overs he bowled. However, former India cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels he is not as impactful as he was before the injury.
“I don't think Afridi's return was as good as Shami's. The special thing was that he didn't bowl a single incoming delivery. All his deliveries were going away from the batters, which means it is clear that he is not yet fully confident of his position on the crease, the strong position he has,” Bangar mentioned during a discussion on Star Sports.
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Discussing Shaheen's return in length, Bangar also highlighted a slight change in the pacer's technique, which he believes are not good sign for Pakistan ahead of a big tournament such as the World Cup.
"I also feel he has made a slight change in his technique. If he has made a change at this stage, especially the way he is releasing the ball, they are not good signs for Pakistan. The fact that the balls are not swinging into the right-handed batters will be a slight breath of relief for the Indian top-order batting," he added.
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