T20 World Cup 2022: Shahid Afridi and Kapil Dev compare Shaheen Afridi and Mohammed Shami ahead of mega IND-PAK clash

The return of Shaheen Afridi for the T20 World Cup has certainly bolstered Pakistan’s chances in the marquee event. India have been badly dented by the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, but will be heartened by his replacement, Mohammed Shami's efforts in the warm-up game against Australia.

During a YouTube show, former national captains Shahid Afridi and Kapil Dev were asked to make a comparison between Shaheen and Shami.

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Shahid Afridi in awe of Shaheen Afridi

While Shahid Afridi heaped praise on Shaheen Afridi for his consistency over the last couple of years, he also hailed Mohammed Shami for being a great new ball bowler.

Shaheen Afridi is returning from an injury lay-off which kept him out of action since July. Shami, on the other hand, has been named in the Indian T20I squad for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Shami was named as the replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the tournament earlier this month.

“See, if there is a comparison, I will go with Shaheen because of his consistent performances in the recent past. That bloke has been a cut above the rest. He has made brilliant use of the new ball. It’s a demand for any team now to get wickets in the powerplay.

"Shami is a very good new ball bowler as well and both these bowlers know how to get wickets with the new ball. It will be interesting to see how these two bowlers fare in the big clash.”

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Mohammed Shami or Shaheen Afridi?

Mohammed Shami was slated to play six white ball games against Australia and South Africa at home in the run up to the T20 World Cup. Unfortunately, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was ruled out of both series.

Shami has just played nine international matches since the T20 World Cup last year, with none in the shortest format.

The Indian pacer fell off the pecking order in T20Is after a below-par performance in 2021. Despite performing admirably for the Gujarat Titans in the IPL, especially with the new ball, he remained out of the selectors’ radar in this format.

However, with Bumrah getting injured, the BCCI were left with no other option but to select the experienced campaigner for the 16-team tournament. His experience and quality was seen as vital after a poor performance by Indian bowlers in home T20 series against the two visiting nations mentioned above.

Short of match practice, Mohammed Shami was asked to bowl the final over in the warm-up game against Australia.

With 11 runs required of the final over, Shami kept nailing the yorkers and bagged three wickets in the process. He ended up bowling India to a morale-boosting win over the defending champions. Despite being just a warm-up game, the Indian team management will be overjoyed with Shami’s progress.

Still, Kapil Dev feels that it wouldn't be right to compare Shaheen Afridi to Mohammed Shami, as the latter hasn’t played enough matches in the recent past. He also stated that it won’t be right to judge a bowler on the basis of just one over.

“See, you cannot really judge from one over (when asked about Mohammed Shami’s tremendous final over in the warm-up game against Australia). As Afridi said, it’s very important to see how that player is performing for the last couple of years.

"Whenever he has got an opportunity, Shaheen has been phenomenal. I would not make a comparison here as Afridi has performed admirably whenever he had the opportunity, while Shami hasn’t played too much cricket in the recent past.

"If Bumrah was there, we might have spoken about him but I feel that there is no comparison between Shaheen and Shami."

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An epic contest on our hands

Shaheen Afridi was at his lethal best during the warm-up game against Afghanistan as he rattled Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai’s stumps with trademark inswinging yorkers.

It will be a keenly contested battle between Shaheen and Mohammed Shami when the arch-rivals meet each other in their tournament opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23 (Sunday).