3 Areas Shaheen Afridi Needs To Improve To Outshine Jasprit Bumrah

Shaheen Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah -(X.com)Shaheen Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah -(X.com)

Pakistan's star seamer Shaheen Afridi is having one of his worst calendar years since his international debut in 2018. In 2024, Afridi's numbers have dipped from 36 wickets in 2022 and 35 wickets in 2023 to 25 wickets in 14 matches across formats.

When Afridi made his international debut, he took the world by storm and was touted as the world's best bowler. He was often compared to Jasprit Bumrah, who is India's premier seam bowler. 

However, both star players suffered injuries in 2022 that kept them out of the game for a long time. Notably, Bumrah and Afridi missed the Asia Cup 2022. Afridi has struggled to find his earlier form since his recovery, but Bumrah shone brighter than ever and proved why is he called the world's best bowler after he bagged the Player of the Tournament award in T20 World Cup 2024. 

This article will focus on three reasons how Afridi can bounce back and outshine Bumrah to become a better bowler. 

1. Work On His Swing

Afridi is not a hit-the-deck bowler. The left-arm seamer relies on swing. He is a lethal bowler with the new ball and rose to fame for his ability to pick wickets early on in the innings before injury striked him. 

However, if he works more on his ability to swing the ball both ways, he will again be at his best version and outshine everybody when it comes to bowling with the new ball. 

2. Master The Art Of Death Bowling

One area where Bumrah is head and shoulders above the rest is his death bowling. Bumrah's ability to bowl yorkers and not leak runs in the crucial overs is why he is better than Shaheen Afridi. 

Meanwhile, Afridi tends to leak runs towards the end of his spell and looks like an ordinary bowler. But, if he works on his ability to bowl yorkers more frequently, then he will be a force to be reckoned with the new ball as well as the old ball. 

3. Add More Variations

Another key area where Shaheen is lacking a lot behind Bumrah is the variations. Bumrah is known for his yorkers, bouncers, cutters and slower deliveries that has made him the bowler he is today. However, Shaheen lacks such abilities and usually relies on a similar bowling pattern as to one he does with the new ball. 

Thus, Shaheen needs to work on these three areas to emerge as a better bowler, which eventually will help Pakistan, who are at their lowest at this point in time.