Pakistan fast bowler Ihsanullah on Saturday (October 19) hogged the headlines with a sensational comment on India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Ihsanullah, who has represented Pakistan in one ODI and four T20Is, made a bold claim that his teammate Naseem Shah is a better bowler than Bumrah.
Notably, Bumrah is widely regarded as the best fast bowler in the world across formats. He has been bowling brilliantly ever since his comeback to international cricket following the back surgery.
The right-arm quick played an instrumental role in India’s Asia Cup 2023 triumph and then made the batters dance to his tunes in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup last year.
Bumrah carried on his brilliance to Test cricket on the tour of South Africa and in the home series against England. To top it all, he was declared Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 victory after finishing the competition with 15 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50.
However, in a recent interaction, Ihsanullah opined that Naseem is a far better bowler in comparison.
“Agar dekha jaaye toh Jasprit Bumrah se acha bowler Naseem Shah hai (If you look at it, Naseem Shah is a better bowler than Jasprit Bumrah),” he said.
Despite the show host highlighting that Bumrah's performances have been far better when compared to Naseem, Ihsanullah remained steadfast on his stance while also adding that even his compatriot had a great T20 World Cup 2022 campaign.
“Naseem Shah bhi aise he perform kar raha tha 2022 T20 World Cup mein. Koi baat nahi, ek saal aisa aata hai koi perform karta hai ya nahi, fir bhi Naseem Shah usse acha hai (Naseem Shah also performed well in the 2022 World Cup. Sometimes players can go through a rough patch for a year, but Naseem is still better).”
Here’s the video:
Naseem Shah, who was left out of Pakistan’s Test squad last week for the last two matches of the ongoing three-match series against England, has played in a total of 19 Tests, 14 ODIs, and 28 T20Is so far. He has 56, 32, and 24 wickets to his name in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, respectively.
