Abdur Rauf: “I am surprised by those former Indian players who compare Bumrah with Wasim Akram”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan fast bowler Abdur Rauf has slammed ex-India speedster Varun Aaron after he said Jasprit Bumrah was better than legendary left-arm seamer Wasim Akram.
Wasim represented Pakistan in 104 Tests and took 414 wickets at an average of 23.62.
He is also the second-highest wicket-taker in ODI history with 502 wickets in 356 matches at an average of 23.52.
Despite this, it didn’t stop Aaron from claiming Bumrah might already be superior than the Sultan of Swing, especially considering what he has achieved in his international career thus far.
“Calling him a genius would be an understatement. He has now gone past Wasim Akram in terms of wickets taken in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries. That says it all for me because Wasim was arguably the best fast bowler to walk the face of the earth – and Bumrah is pretty much the same, if not better,” Aaron had said.
However, Rauf took exception to this, stating Aaron “either has no knowledge of cricket or is a bigot of the highest order”
“I am surprised by those former Indian players who compare Bumrah with Wasim Akram. It wouldn’t be surprising if a common person with no understanding of cricket said such a stupid thing, but if a Test cricketer did this, it means that he either has no knowledge of cricket or is a bigot of the highest order,” the 46-year-old said on X, formerly known as Twitter, as quoted by Geo Super.
“Wasim Akram was without any doubt one of the greatest fast bowlers in cricket history. No one can ever match his naturally gifted skills.”
The Pakistan team recently took on Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series in Lahore, which they won 3-0.
They then toured Bangladesh for another T20I series and ended up losing 2-1.
Following this, the men in green went to the West Indies and came away with mixed results as they won the T20I series 2-1 but lost the ODIs 2-1.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will be held from August 29 to September 7.
Afterwards, they will take part in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem