Naseem Shah or Shaheen Afridi: Former Pakistan cricketer picks best out of two young pace duo

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali picked Shaheen Shah Afridi as a better pacer than youngster Naseem Shah. Shaheen and Naseem have struggled to find the groove that they once enjoyed before sustaining their respective injuries. When asked about which pacer is better than the other, Basit admitted that Naseem has better fitness at the moment, but Shaheen is better.

"Naseem has better fitness, and Shaheen is currently struggling with it. But Shaheen is better than Naseem," Basit said on his YouTube channel.

Naseem sustained an injury during last year's Asia Cup during Pakistan's Super 4 clash against Bangladesh. In the 7th over, Naseem tried to flick the ball back to stop a boundary in Shaheen's over. In the process, he ended up hurting his arm and stayed on the ground for several minutes while the physiotherapist tended to him.

Following the injury, he was out of action for a couple of months and even went on to miss the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. He returned to cricket after a long injury layoff, and since then, he has struggled to hit his peak.

In the T20 World Cup, he starred for Pakistan against India with a mouthwatering spell in the first inning. Naseem removed Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube and ended the game with figures of 3/21 in four overs.

Despite his impressive display with the ball against arch-rival India, the 21-year-old, overall, had a mediocre T20 World Cup campaign. As Pakistan's campaign concluded in the group stage, Naseem's run in the T20 World Cup ended with just five scalps in three matches. On the other hand, Shaheen's career became a topsy-turvy affair after he was appointed Pakistan's T20I captain last year.

Afridi, 24, was handed the T20I captaincy based on his performances in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he led the Lahore Qalandars to consecutive title wins in 2022 and 2023. After being appointed in November 2023, Afridi had only led Pakistan in a single T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year. In his debut captaincy series, Pakistan were outplayed throughout the series and ended up suffering a 4-1 defeat.

Following the conclusion of the series, Babar Azam was reinstated as Pakistan's white-ball skipper. Since then, he had an underwhelming T20 World Cup campaign and the Test series against Bangladesh. Shaheen dismissed five batters in four matches during Pakistan's disappointing campaign in the T20 World Cup. In Pakistan's recent historic Test series defeat against Bangladesh, Naseem (three) and Shaheen (two) combined to pick just five wickets. (ANI)