Mohammad Hafeez: “Who was the best bowler? For me, it would be Naseem Shah and then Shaheen Shah Afridi. Amir was away from Pakistan cricket for four years. Don’t try to compare international T20 leagues to international cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan team director and interim head coach Mohammad Hafeez doesn’t think left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir is the country’s best bowler.
Hafeez noted that Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi would be the top two fast bowlers the men in green have.
His comments came after he questioned why limited overs captain Babar Azam let Amir bowl the Super Over in the team’s shock loss to the United States of America in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Hafeez pointed out that Azam’s choice to go with Amir may indicate that he doesn’t have complete faith in Naseem and Afridi.
“Who was the best bowler? For me, it would be Naseem Shah and then Shaheen Shah Afridi. Amir was away from Pakistan cricket for four years. Don’t try to compare international T20 leagues to international cricket. You didn’t trust your main player and trusted someone who is making a comeback after four years,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Amir ended the T20 World Cup with seven wickets in four games at an average of 10.28 and an economy rate of 4.50.
Pakistan lost their first two matches against the United States of America and India before bouncing back to defeat Canada and Ireland.
Even though they picked up wins in their last two group stage games, it was not enough to earn them a spot in the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed