‘Shaheen bahot accha hai, Bumrah toh uske paas bhi nahi aata’ (Shaheen is too good, Bumrah doesn’t even come close to him): Abdul Razzaq

Both Afridi and Bumrah have been out of action, nursing recurring injuries in knee and back respectively.

Former Pakistan all rounder feels there's no debate on who's better between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah. (PTI)

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Shaheen Shah Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah share 538 international wickets between them across formats. The duo have been seen as two of the best pacers contemporary cricket has had to offer. But when it comes to picking one above the other, former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq feels there’s no debate.

“Shaheen is too good. Bumrah doesn’t even come close to him,” Razzaq recently told paktv.tv.

Afridi, 22, has been nursing a recurring knee injury and is currently undergoing rehabilitation for the same. The left arm quick spent most of the latter half of 2022 out of action, missing out the 2022 Asia Cup and only returned ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

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It was during the final against England that Afridi injured his knee again and has remained out of action since. Injury has also concerned India’s right arm pace superstar Jasprit Bumrah, who missed out the Asia Cup as well as the T20 World Cup and is yet to return back to his fit best.

The 29-year-old has also been dealing with a recurring injury in his back that he picked during the 2022 India tour of England. Having made a comeback in the three-match home T20I series against Australia, the right arm quick would complain of back pain ahead of the South Africa series and was eventually ruled out of the pinnacle event down under.

Bumrah was added to the India squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month but was omitted ‘as a precautionary measure’ ahead of the first ODI in Guwahati.

“Very unfortunate. The poor guy has been working really hard at the NCA. He felt stiffness in his back a couple of day ago and if Jasprit Bumrah is saying he is not feeling well, you have to pull him out. We need to be extra careful with Bumrah,” India captain Rohit Sharma had said.

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