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‘Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t even come close to Shaheen Afridi’s level’: Abdul Razzaq stuns with another atrocious statement
Shaheen Afridi has been troubled with knee issues, while a back injury has kept Jasprit Bumrah at bay as both India and Pakistan hope their respective candidates regain complete fitness at the earliest.
Two of the world's greatest fast bowlers at the moment - Shaheen Shah Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah - will hopefully make a comeback soon to competitive cricket after being sidelined for several months. Afridi has been troubled with knee issues, while a back injury has kept Bumrah at bay as both India and Pakistan hope their respective candidates regain complete fitness at the earliest.
Afridi's knee problems forced him out of the Asia Cup 2022, where Pakistan finished as the runners-up. However, he made a comeback during the T20 World Cup in Australia, where Pakistan once again finished as the runners-up. It was during the event, where Afridi once again hurt his already injured knee while fielding in the finals, thus aggravating the injury and forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Bumrah's back forced him out of the Asia Cup, where India certainly missed his services. With the T20 World Cup approaching the Indian pacer was then rushed in by the management, but the move backfired. Bumrah was declared unfit for the T20 World Cup and he instead spent the time rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Comparing the two pacers, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who is also a part of Pakistan selection panel, made an atrocious statement, slamming the Indian. "Shaheen Afridi is way better than Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah is nowhere close to Shaheen's level," the ex-cricketer told a local news channel on the sidelines of an event.
This is not the first time when the former Pakistan all-rounder has made such claim about Bumrah. Earlier in 2019, Razzaq had called Bumrah a “baby bowler” and claimed that he would have dominated the Indian pacer had he been still playing. "I have played against great bowlers like Glenn Mcgrath and Wasim Akram, so Bumrah is a baby bowler in front of me and I could have easily dominated and attacked him," Razzaq had then said to Cricket Pakistan.
Coming back to Afridi and Bumrah, the Pakistan pacer has been seen bowling in the nets and is expected to make a comeback during the upcoming edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), which starts from February 13.
Bumrah, on the other hand, has not been risked by the BCCI, and has not been considered for the first two Tests of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts from February 9 in Nagpur.
