Shastri feels Shaheen shouldn't be put into high pedestal by the fans and experts.
Pakistan’s innings folded for a below-par 191 in 42.5 overs after being asked to bat first. The Men in Green were 155/2 at one stage but suffered a collapse that saw them lose eight wickets for just 36 runs.
In reply, Rohit Sharma took the Pakistani bowling attack to the cleaners, slamming 86 off 63 balls to put his team on the brink of victory. After his dismissal, Shreyas Iyer (53*) and KL Rahul (19*) completed the formalities and took India over the line with 117 deliveries to spare.
During India’s innings, former India head coach Ravi Shastri came down heavily on Pakistan’s bowling attack, rated very highly by many cricket pundits.
However, Shastri doesn’t find anything special in Pakistan’s bowling attack. In particular, he was critical of Shaheen Afridi, saying that the left-arm quick is not 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 maan na 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 simply a good player, we should restrict our praise to saying he is a good player. He’s not a great player, we need to admit that),” Shastri said in Hindi commentary on Star Sports.
Shaheen Afridi returned with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma’s wickets but he conceded 36 runs in his 6 overs. By the time he dismissed Rohit, the Indian captain had taken the game away from Pakistan.