Aaqib Javed weighs in on Jasprit Bumrah vs Shaheen Afridi debate, makes bold claim about Indian pacer

Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi have been the star bowlers for India and Pakistan respectively, over the years. Their record across formats has been impressive, although their career spans are different. Bumrah made his international debut in 2016, while Afridi made his debut in 2018.

The right-arm Indian pacer has played 157 games across formats for India and has picked 303 wickets. On the other hand, the left-arm pacer has played 94 games and has 201 scalps to his name across formats for Pakistan. Meanwhile, former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed recently said that Afridi’s graph is on the rise, while Bumrah’s is stable.

The 1992 World Cup winner added that the India pacer isn’t aggressive enough either. The Lahore Qalandars bowling coach also spoke about Haris Rauf, another pacer from Pakistan. The former hailed Rauf as one of the fastest bowlers in the world.

“The way Haris has bowled in the last few years, his average bowling speed is the fastest in the world. And the aggression he has, the way he runs, the batsman knows that the bowler is running towards him, but Bumrah’s isn’t that aggressive. And people enjoy this kind of bowler who has such body language. Shaheen’s graph is on the rise, while Bumrah is stable,” Javed told Paktv.com.

The 49-year-old went on to say that Bumrah’s performances are less impressive than Shaheen across formats. The 163 ODI veteran also believes that Pakistan cricket’s rise is also because of the performances of players such as wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan, skipper Babar Azam, leggie Shadab Khan, Afridi, and Rauf.