While the cricket experts have heaped praise on the two young Pakistan fast bowlers, Naseem Shah and Shahnawaz Dahani, for the way they have performed in the first two games of Asia Cup 2022, the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan doesn’t think that either of the two can fill the void created by the absence of Shaheen Afridi.
Shaheen Afridi is currently injured and is not playing for Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup, but Naseem Shah and Shahnawaz Dahani, who are taking the new ball in the absence of Shaheen, have been cranking up good speeds and earning a lot of accolades from the former players.
Mohammad Rizwan was addressing the press conference yesterday after Pakistan qualified for the super 4 round of the Asia Cup by beating Hong Kong. When he was asked if Naseem and Dahani had filled the void left by Shaheen, Rizwan came up with a straightforward answer and his answer was “no”.
They can become another Shaheen, but they are not at Shaheen’s level right now: Mohammad Rizwan
According to Rizwan, both Naseem and Dahani are talented, young bowlers and they have it in them to emerge as another special talent for Pakistan and become another Shaheen, but they can’t get to Shaheen’s level straightaway, considering the kind of performances Shaheen has given at the international level in the last couple of years.
Mohammad Rizwan says no one from the current lot can fill the boots of Shaheen Shah Afridi but…#Rizwan #MohammadRizwan #ShaheenShahAfridi #INDvsPAK #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/irKbpgqcMg
— OneCricket (@OneCricketApp) September 2, 2022
Naseem Shah has only recently made his debut in white ball cricket and has played only 5 white ball games for Pakistan so far. While his first ODI was against the Netherlands last month, the game against India in the group round of the Asia Cup was his first-ever T20 international game for Pakistan.
As far as Shahnawaz Dahani is concerned, he has also only played a handful of international games for Pakistan, but both these bowlers have been on the radar of Pakistan selectors in recent times because of their performances in Pakistan Super League (PSL).
