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[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Is Shaheen Shah Afridi the best fast-bowler in the world right now?

By the way, after today Shaheen is tied for the 3rd highest wicket taker of the tournament and is bagging them @ 21 average. Would be funny if he ended up the leading wicket taker after all the writing off of his entire career
 
topspin said:
Anyone who says Shaheen is overrated doesn't know what they're talking about.

Everyone is toothless barring Shaheen. He's the shining light in this team and is Pakistan's best player by a country mile. What makes his performance today is the fact that he's still not even 100% fit.

Was superb during the PP when he kept it tight by bowling back of a good length. He identified the right length to bowl very early in the innings. Deserved to get Warner's wicket but Usama Mir dropped an absolute dolly.

Richly deserved his 5fer. 5-54 is commendable at the Bengaluru especially when your opposition has been batting at approx. 7.5 rpo.

@shariqnoor - time to give him some credit for how he bowled today and I hope you'll acknowledge that he was the only player who had a good day for Pakistan. Everyone else in the team failed.
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I don't know if you read the match thread or not but I already gave Shaheen credit for his display today. It was much better. Should've picked up Warner as well and things may have been different for Pakistan. And credit to him for bowling well at the death which is his Achilles heel.
 
shariqnoor said:
I don't know if you read the match thread or not but I already gave Shaheen credit for his display today. It was much better. Should've picked up Warner as well and things may have been different for Pakistan. And credit to him for bowling well at the death which is his Achilles heel.
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Funny enough, if you look at his numbers, he has almost the exact same average before and after injury. The only difference is that almost all of the wickets he’s taking post injury have been in the middle and death overs but he’s lost that killer beginning spell he used to have. Wickets up front are obviously way more useful than wickets later on when the damage is already done.
 
topspin said:
Anyone who says Shaheen is overrated doesn't know what they're talking about.

Everyone is toothless barring Shaheen. He's the shining light in this team and is Pakistan's best player by a country mile. What makes his performance today is the fact that he's still not even 100% fit.

Was superb during the PP when he kept it tight by bowling back of a good length. He identified the right length to bowl very early in the innings. Deserved to get Warner's wicket but Usama Mir dropped an absolute dolly.

Richly deserved his 5fer. 5-54 is commendable at the Bengaluru especially when your opposition has been batting at approx. 7.5 rpo.

@shariqnoor - time to give him some credit for how he bowled today and I hope you'll acknowledge that he was the only player who had a good day for Pakistan. Everyone else in the team failed.
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Him, Hasan Ali, Fakhar one of the only remnants from the Sarfraz team.
 
160KPH said:
Seeing Shaheen bowl well gives me some hope that he can get back to past form he had before injury. That drop of Warner early on was brutal.
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Shaheen's injury has been overstated a lot. His knee got injured in July of 2022 and then Oct 2022 in the WC final. If he still hasn't recovered from it for a year, then he needs better doctors and sideline himself from the game for 2 months.

Starc has had shoulder injuries, knee injuries, side injuries, groin injuries, finger injuries yet he still comes back to bowl at 145+. Coming back from an injury can be an excuse for the first month or so. Not for 1 year.
 
ArabKnight said:
Him, Hasan Ali, Fakhar one of the only remnants from the Sarfraz team.
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Pakistan are very fortunate that Shaheen (in particular) didn't play during the dark Misbah era.

Misbah's reading of the game and cricketing intelligence has always been so substandard. He openly said that he didn't rate Shaheen as a bowler in the middle of the 2019 WC until he was made to eat his words.

We should thank the Almighty that Misbah never had the chance of ruining Shaheen's career. I hope his father-in-law, Shahid Afridi, is telling him this so he realises how lucky and grateful he should be that he was backed by Sarfraz because things could've turned out so different under Misbah.
 
The_KING said:
After the World Cup, he needs to take some time off to recover. But knowing him, he will be playing endless T20 leagues.
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Alot of time off please .

We really really need to developed other pacers. Sameen gul for tests I'd he is still good. Haven't kept up with quetta.

Zaman khan and ihannsullah need to drafted in.
 
Regardless of his form it is a fact he is still Pakistan's best. Not based on today's figures. He doesn't have to have great speeds in this world cup to succeed. Hasan Ali even though past by sell date, merely used his experience to prize out some wickets. So Shaheen just has to be disciplined instead of going after glory balls to get wickets.
 
Fluke 5fer

He only deserved 1 wicket and that was when Warner was on 10 (dropped)

The wickets after…the marsh one was against the run of play and should have been dispatched for 4.

Maxwell none serious. Others were all just trying to hit out and getting caught/lbw.

Shaheen hasn’t taken any wickets beating batsmen with proper pace/swing and skill
 
The best pace bowler today was Josh Hazlewood. Pure class line and length, plus excellent dot ball pressure
 
topspin said:
Pakistan are very fortunate that Shaheen (in particular) didn't play during the dark Misbah era.

Misbah's reading of the game and cricketing intelligence has always been so substandard. He openly said that he didn't rate Shaheen as a bowler in the middle of the 2019 WC until he was made to eat his words.

We should thank the Almighty that Misbah never had the chance of ruining Shaheen's career. I hope his father-in-law, Shahid Afridi, is telling him this so he realises how lucky and grateful he should be that he was backed by Sarfraz because things could've turned out so different under Misbah.
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So here’s a dose of alternative history:

If Shaheen Afridi debuted in the Dark Days of Misbah, he would be a nothing bowler.

Misbah would be reluctant to call Shaheen to the national side because he doesn’t rate any LOI cricket whatsoever—he would ignore all PSL performances including Shaheen’s. His metric for debuting is FC cricket & years experience. Shaheen dominates FC & is on top of the wickets column each QeAT season. He would share the list with the likes of Mir Hamza, etc.

Shaheen would be finally called to the national side at the ripe age of 26. This is after darlings Wahab Riaz, Mohammed Irfan, etc. are all out of form. The match is a useless dead rubber of a bilateral series. Pakistan are 0-2 and it’s the third/final game.

Misbah angrily puts the ODI cap on Shaheen. He asks Shaheen to bowl the 24th over. The ball is rough. He knows Shaheen is at his best with the new ball. But the new ball is only for his yaars.

Misbah has no respect for Shaheen. He would immediately set the most defensive field for him with no chance of a wicket. He would ask him to bowl an outside leg stump line to the batsman. Shaheen would comply under pressure from the captain.

Shaheen finally gets a breakthrough after 4 overs of defensive bowling. An edge to the keeper. Oh wait! Kamran Akmal has dropped it! Next over, another edge, this time to Imran Farhat. Oh wait, he’s dropped it too! He fumbles so hard on the return and gives 5 overthrows.

Shaheen finishes his spell on 0/38 after 7 overs. The other team managed to chase the 206 run target very easily.

In the dressing room, Misbah gets angry & blames all the bowlers for the whitewash. Shaheen gets dropped next series because another one of Misbah’s yaar is eager for his son to be added to the national side.
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Can someone plz pass on the message to Shaheen to stop being a softie friendly clown

Can you imagine Mcgrath, Akhtar, Ambrose doing this kind of nonsense

1698103253442.png 1698103360391.png
 
gazza619 said:
Can someone plz pass on the message to Shaheen to stop being a softie friendly clown

Can you imagine Mcgrath, Akhtar, Ambrose doing this kind of nonsense

View attachment 138178 View attachment 138182
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being a softie is not an issue, being a looser certainly is.

Shaheen is not giving his 100% as we can see he is hardly hitting 140 Kmph now which means he is not putting efforts or might be hi is not fit to play right now.
 
gazza619 said:
Can someone plz pass on the message to Shaheen to stop being a softie friendly clown

Can you imagine Mcgrath, Akhtar, Ambrose doing this kind of nonsense

View attachment 138178 View attachment 138182
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Yea I was not happy with the very friendly vibe I got between him and bumrah.

That's why wasim and mcgrath are goats for a reason. This kind of nonsense would never fly with wasim

Wasim maybe diabetic but he put in so many hours to hone his bowling skills.
 
He’s a shadow of the bower he was prior to injury. To me he looks finished if he doesn’t rediscover his pace again and start bowling those vicious inswinging Yorkers he’s known for.
 
Will be brutally honest - there is no way he is even in the top 5 currently. Still doesn't look completely fit. If pak win toss they should just chase as their bowling attack can't defend anything.
No spin bowlers and no one to to back up Shaheen. Yes lot of teams would bat 1st but for pak they just should chase with the bowling attack they have. Not a great place to be in though
 
I hope his pace being down to what we’re used to seeing has nothing to do with age fudging.

He’s my favourite player but sadly cricketers from his region are the biggest age fudgers. Case in point being Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan who were both 3-4 years older than their official age.
 
topspin said:
I hope his pace being down to what we’re used to seeing has nothing to do with age fudging.

He’s my favourite player but sadly cricketers from his region are the biggest age fudgers. Case in point being Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan who were both 3-4 years older than their official age.
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Ihsanullah’s age is quite comedic.

He was allegedly 14 on the right. He was approximately 20 on the left.

i0fDulezSENPJ7BPNMZR.png


PCB should audit and correct the ages of all players from that region to ensure fairness.
 
ArabKnight said:
Ihsanullah’s age is quite comedic.

He was allegedly 14 on the right. He was approximately 20 on the left.

i0fDulezSENPJ7BPNMZR.png


PCB should audit and correct the ages of all players from that region to ensure fairness.
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Lol need to add 10 years to those ages. That would be a more accurate reflection of how old he really is. He’s a massive age fudger.

The problem is PCB facilitates the practice. A case in point is Naseem Shah. They used to this promote him as the “new 16 year old pace sensation” so they could market him in order to attract more interest towards Pakistan cricket. They know what his real age was from the beginning. I believe he’s 3-4 years older than his official age.

There’s a reason why no Pakistani bowler, who’s debuted from the 90s onwards has managed to pick up 200 test wickets is scandalous in my view.

If Shaheen can’t reach 200 wickets in his test career then we may as well say RIP to Pakistani fast bowling and test cricket for Pakistan.
 
topspin said:
Lol need to add 10 years to those ages. That would be a more accurate reflection of how old he really is. He’s a massive age fudger.

The problem is PCB facilitates the practice. A case in point is Naseem Shah. They used to this promote him as the “new 16 year old pace sensation” so they could market him in order to attract more interest towards Pakistan cricket. They know what his real age was from the beginning. I believe he’s 3-4 years older than his official age.

There’s a reason why no Pakistani bowler, who’s debuted from the 90s onwards has managed to pick up 200 test wickets is scandalous in my view.

If Shaheen can’t reach 200 wickets in his test career then we may as well say RIP to Pakistani fast bowling and test cricket for Pakistan.
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Yea, 200 wickets probably will never happen if Shaheen doesn’t get them. There is simply too much age-mucking in Pakistan. Plus, we aren’t gonna play enough Tests. The UAE Test era killed Test cricket. And Ramiz Raja put the nail on the coffin with all his pitch manipulating shenanigans.
 
ArabKnight said:
Yea, 200 wickets probably will never happen if Shaheen doesn’t get them. There is simply too much age-mucking in Pakistan. Plus, we aren’t gonna play enough Tests. The UAE Test era killed Test cricket. And Ramiz Raja put the nail on the coffin with all his pitch manipulating shenanigans.
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Test cricket in general is pretty much dying or dead anyways except in aus eng ind. All other countries should just stop playing tests as it's not financially viable. Will also protect the longevity of fast bowlers.. no way Shaheen is getting 200 wickets
 
He is overhyped after that fluke performance in the T20 against India. He has done nothing since then apart from getting 1 wicket in the first few overs against B-grade batsmen. Shastri is right about him he is no Wasim or even prime Amir.
 
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The entire world knows that this guy has no other weapon if you deal with his full pitched deliveries.
 
He got QDK wicket.

Shaheen needs to focus on consistently bowling off-stump good length balls, creating an angle, rather than aggressively targeting the stumps right from the first ball.
 
Cover Drive Six said:
He got QDK wicket.

Shaheen needs to focus on consistently bowling off-stump good length balls, creating an angle, rather than aggressively targeting the stumps right from the first ball.
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He didn't target the stumps when it was necessary, especially when bowling to the tailenders.
 
He’s lost his zip and spark. He doesn’t have the pace hence why he can’t bowl the Yorkers anymore. He cost us the match by not bowling a single Yorkers at the Alan mullalys who were playing
 
he bowled well today. This effort was much better than 5 wickets against Australia. There most of the wickets were gifted. Here except de-kock, other two were prized out.. good job.
 
He delivered for us over and over right when we needed today. Would not mind letting him rest up now since we are basically out of the tournament.
 
Excellent numbers for Shaheen Shah in ODI cricket. WHat a bowler he is turning out to be. Fastest to 100 ODI wickets and leaving behind the likes of Starc is no joke.

1698741709947.png
 
3rd qucikest bowler to achieve the 100 wicket feat and fastest for any pacer. His pace may have dropper, but he's still the fastest in his regard!

zKuQezH.png
 
Sadly rather than look to prolong his career like say Anderson, Southee etc........ Afridi is breaking his back and playing as much cricket as humanely possible. I do not think there's a bowler in the world who's bowled more overs annually.
 
Fastest pacer to 100 wickets. Just 51 games.

I keep saying, even at his worst he's the best thing about Pakistan cricket.
 
Not the best bowler in the world right now, but still a great one. Last couple matches he was ramping if up to 140 KPH with a few even hitting 144-145. Today he slowed it down a lot which was exactly what was needed on this pitch. Some of those cutters were looking deadly.
 
Fantastic bowler. All he needs to do is take care of his fitness in the long run. Would make it to probably every side currently.
 
He doesn't look 100% fit to me.

But having said that, his skill levels are very high, despite bowling within himself.

Was mainly in the 130s today but he bowled smartly.
 
He’s lost it become a 80 mph trundler India smashed him like the trundler he is in asia cup and the world cup
 
The_KING said:
Lol at impactless. He is our leading wicket taker in this tournament. If he is impactless, I don’t know what other bowlers are then.
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If his wickets had made any impact, we wouldn't have been so miserable throughout this World Cup. His wickets in this tournament are just pointless numbers to show for. It's equivalent to a 180 ball century by an opener that results in nothing for the team chasing 400.
 
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Adam Zampa are joint leading wicket takers of ICC ODI World Cup 2023

Screenshot_20231031_221809_X.jpg
 
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Those numbers are fantastic, even though he's lost some pace and swing
 
Interesting analysis about Shaheen's action in commentary during the Pak vs Ban match

According to Waqar, Shaheen's alignment in 2019 was better. His right hip was stacked directly below his bowling arm.

In 2023, you can see that his alignment is a bit off. This could be a result of his injury; he may have had to tweak his action as a consquence. But regardless, it has impacted his swing and pace.

mL2Lk4W.png
 
RyanRyan10 said:
He will bounce back and win at least two to three matches for Pakistan in this tournament.
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He has won 1. Will win at least 1 more match. If Pakistan qualifies for the semifinals then he will win another. Impact bowler he is!
 
Asad T said:
Interesting analysis about Shaheen's action in commentary during the Pak vs Ban match

According to Waqar, Shaheen's alignment in 2019 was better. His right hip was stacked directly below his bowling arm.

In 2023, you can see that his alignment is a bit off. This could be a result of his injury; he may have had to tweak his action as a consquence. But regardless, it has impacted his swing and pace.

mL2Lk4W.png
Click to expand...
Yes that was an interesting analysis, I believe its also been said before in another match, hopefully the Pakistan Bowling Coach/ Coaching staff picks up on this
 
Best bowler for us since shoaib retired.
Still top 3 in the world.
 
Everybody was complaining about Shaheen's form but he came back with an excellent run of form in this World Cup considering not much support is offered to the pace bowlers in India. He is your Number 1 bowler in the latest ICC ODI rankings. Excellent stuff from the eagle.
 
Shaheen, even at way way less than 100% is possibly the top 2 or 3 fats bowlers on the planet right now and is performing at a level in world cups which is phenomenol. Just 23 and already has 32 world cup wickets and one of the most pace bowler unfriendly eras ever (small grounds, free hits, bigger than ever bats, power plays, 2 new balls etc).

He has also taken more than 1 wicket against almost every team he has faced. I also think his 5-for against Australia is one the all time great performances on one of the flattest pitches known to man.
 
He needs a break after the World cup and PCB needs to put a plan in place to prolong Afridi's career and protect their no.1 asset. Take a leaf out of how ECB handles Anderson.

He's a prize athlete not a donkey. Ensure he gets paid enough so that he can sit out of playing random T20 leagues all over the world. Even if Afridi claims otherwise, the board needs to be strict. For starters the PCB at the very least must ensure the players get their monthly pay on time.
 
Incredible once in a generation bowler. Still very young and will be unplayable as he gets older. He needs to improve his fitness and skills with the old ball.
 
Shaheen Shah Afridi has claimed the top spot on the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings, following his impressive performances in the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup.

Shaheen is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, alongside Australia spinner Adam Zampa. The left-arm pacer has taken 16 wickets in seven matches, including an outstanding five wicket-haul that came against Australia in Bangaluru. He had a splendid outing with the ball against Bangladesh accounted for three valuable wickets at the expense of just 23 runs in nine overs.

The 23-year-old also completed 100 ODI wickets in the same game, becoming the fastest pace bowler to do so by getting to the milestone in 51 games, overtaking Mitchell Starc’s tally of 52 appearances for the three-figure mark. Overall, Shaheen is the third-fastest to 100 wickets in the format, behind Sandeep Lamichhane (42 matches) and Rashid Khan (44 matches).

This is the first time Shaheen has topped the bowler’s rankings in any of the formats. He has jumped up nine spots to attain the highest ranking. Concurrently, Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam continues to reign on top of the ODI Batting Rankings. He has been sitting on the top spot since achieving the feat back in April 2021.

This the first time since the introduction of the ICC ODI Player Rankings that a Pakistan batter and bowler dominate the rankings at the same time.

Meanwhile, right-arm pacer Haris Rauf has moved up five spots to become the 26th ranked ODI bowler. Imam-ul-Haq occupies the 11th spot among batters, while Fakhar Zaman has risen two spots to claim the 14th position after his stellar knock against Bangladesh, which yielded 81 from 74 deliveries and included three boundaries and seven maximums.

Pakistan’s leading run-getter in the World Cup, Mohammad Rizwan has advanced one position to 36th in the rankings for batters whereas Mohammad Wasim Jnr has vaulted 18 places to 56th in the bowling chart. Shadab Khan is tied on the 19th spot on the all-rounders rankings alongside Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga.

Pakistan are the third-ranked ODI team after the recent update. They are bested by India and Australia who claim the first and second spots respectively.

Source: PCB
 
Asad T said:
Interesting analysis about Shaheen's action in commentary during the Pak vs Ban match

According to Waqar, Shaheen's alignment in 2019 was better. His right hip was stacked directly below his bowling arm.

In 2023, you can see that his alignment is a bit off. This could be a result of his injury; he may have had to tweak his action as a consquence. But regardless, it has impacted his swing and pace.

mL2Lk4W.png
Click to expand...
Sorry to rain on waqar's parade but 2019 wc was before Shaheen became the deadly weapon that we all wish comes back. 2019 comparison for swing doesn't make sense because Shaheen did not bring the ball back in then. Back then he relied on lengths. That combined with his height and good pace made him a threat even then.

He started swinging it back in 2020 and it was then that his pace too increased considerably. For the next 2-3 years Shaheen was a ridiculous force with the new ball. Best I've ever seen. Searing pace, huge inswing and pinpoint accuracy.

Now he is far from that level but his quality still shines through, he just seems a notch above most bowlers even now.

If we have any right to criticize Shaheen for this WC, it's just because of his own lofty standards. It would be considered a great wc for any other bowler.
 
Look at the Average of this Young Lad Shaheen. Phenomenal stats

1699074921183.png
 
While still brilliant, he was better pre injury. Injuries are the biggest curse for a fast bowler.
 
He’s a fraud. Bowling 80mph pies when the games on the line shows he’s finished goods. Just get cheap wickets trundling in. When the pressures on he wilts needs to go
 
JAV12341 said:
He’s a fraud. Bowling 80mph pies when the games on the line shows he’s finished goods. Just get cheap wickets trundling in. When the pressures on he wilts needs to go
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Too much T20 Cricket has ruined him. He no longer has the stamina and fitness for ODI games on the trott
 
Savak said:
Too much T20 Cricket has ruined him. He no longer has the stamina and fitness for ODI games on the trott
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Spot on it is a sad state of affairs. Upsetting to see Indian bowling attack is 10 times better than ours and the best attack in the world.

Then you have afridi bowling absolute trundling pace pies. I seen this coming a mile away. He was rushed back from injury made to play every league in the world and quite frankly his body has broken down and he’s finished no wonder Amir retired we did the Sam thing with him too burnt him to the ground so frustrating to see this happen
 
Shaheen is one trick pony.

Relies on first few overs swing.

If there’s no swing on offer you can absolutely smash him all around the park.

His no.1 ranking is as fake as Pakistan being ranked no1 team.

True king of fast bowling today is Bumrah.
 
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