'Reminded me of Wasim Akram': Aakash Chopra praises Shaheen Afridi
The left-handed pacer now has 16 wickets in the World Cup
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi after the 23-year-old took three wickets in the 31st match of the ICC World Cup 2023 against Bangladesh in Kolkata, India, on Tuesday (October 31).
Shaheen took three important wickets, one of them was of Bangladesh's standout performer Mahmudullah who scored 56 off 70 balls and took his World Cup wicket tally to 16, joint-highest with Australia's spinner Adam Zampa.
Shaheen also became the fastest pacer to take 100 ODI wickets in 51 innings, overtaking Mitchell Starc who reached this feat in 52 innings and also becoming the fastest Pakistani bowler to reach 100 wickets, going past the legendary spinner Saqlain Mushtaq who did it in 53 matches.
Chopra opened up after Shaheen's astonishing spell and said the ball with which he dismissed Mahmudullah was beautiful.
"The way Shaheen started here, his numbers are very good against Bangladesh, he is doing very well in this tournament and has reached the landmark (100 ODI wickets) very quickly. He picked up wickets with the new ball and the way he dismissed Mahmudullah with the old ball, I thought that was beautiful," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra then discussed that ball to the 37-year-old and said that it reminded him of the legendary Wasim Akram.
"He came around the stumps and took the ball away. It reminded me slightly of Wasim Akram. Wasim Jr — he gets the ball to reverse swing nicely because he has a slightly round-arm action. He hit the ball on the stumps that was quite impressive," he added.
Earlier today, he became the number one ranked ODI bowler in the world after the ICC announced the latest update.
“The tall left-armer took another three wickets during Pakistan's emphatic triumph over Bangladesh in Kolkata on Tuesday to keep his side's semi-final hopes alive, and it also helped catapult the 23-year-old past nine of his contemporaries to claim the mantle as the No.1 ranked ODI bowler,” the ICC said in a press release.
