June 23 marks the ten-year anniversary of India’s victory in the Champions Trophy in England, which remains their last triumph in an ICC event. While India has performed well in recent ICC tournaments, they have faltered in the latter stages of these competitions.
The upcoming fifty-over World Cup, scheduled for October, holds significant importance for India as they will be hosting the tournament for the first time in their history. The pressure to break the trophy drought is mounting, especially with concerns over the fitness of their star bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who is yet to return.
During an appearance on Nadir Ali’s podcast, Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad made a bold statement, asserting that India lacks a genuinely dangerous bowler.
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“Without disrespecting India, they don’t have a bowler who instills fear in the opposition. Bumrah, Jadeja, and Ashwin are good, but they don’t possess a genuinely intimidating fast bowler.”
Shehzad then mentioned Shoaib Akhtar, highlighting the former Pakistani cricketer’s threatening aura due to his blistering pace and menacing bouncers.
“I can’t recall any other bowler apart from Shoaib Akhtar who used to terrorize top-class batsmen. Akhtar possessed two remarkable qualities. Firstly, he never bowled no-balls in the nets, and secondly, he refrained from bowling bouncers in the nets because he knew it could harm the players.”