The recent statement of the Pakistan pacer Ihsanullah during a podcast on their young pacer Naseem Shah being better than Jasprit Bumrah, the premier fast bowler for India, has sparked fire among the social media. The latter is regarded as the best all-format bowler of the current era, Ihsanullah, believes that the talent of Naseem can surpass the Gujarat pacer.
Since making his debut for the national side, Jasprit Bumrah has taken India to new highs across formats and in various ICC tournaments. The incredible accuracy, besides being calm and patient with his planning always keeps him ahead in the carve than others. His impact on the Indian team for the last couple of years has been unmatchable.
Naseem Shah, on the other hand, has done well for the Pakistan side without any doubt. But his recent performances have dropped, which has seen him getting kicked out of the national side for the last two Test matches against England at home. He looked in decent shape during the recent T20 World Cup 2024, though.
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Jasprit Bumrah has featured in 38 Test matches where he has picked up 170 wickets at an average of over 20 and a strike rate of around seven overs, with the help of ten five-wicket hauls and a best bowling figure of 6/27 in an innings.
Ihsanullah calls Naseem Shah better than Jasprit Bumrah for this reason
In the 50-over format, the Ahmedabad-born has cracked 149 wickets in 89 games at an average of under 24 and a strike rate of nearly five overs, shouldering on a couple of five-wicket hauls and a best figure of 6/19. While in the shortest format of the game, the pacer has 89 scalps in 70 games at an economy of just more than six.
In the recent T20 World Cup 2024, where India went on to win the title for the second time, Jasprit Bumrah was the ‘Player of the tournament’ with the help of 15 scalps in eight innings at an average of under nine and an economy rate of 4.17 with the best bowling figure of 3/7.
The 22-year-old Pakistan pacer, Ihsanullah, who has featured in one ODI game for the national side and four T20Is, picking up six wickets, felt that their Naseem Shah has better quality than Bumrah.
“If I compare Bumrah, then Naseem Shah is a better bowler than Bumrah. No, you are seeing that. Naseem Shah was also performing like this in the 2021 (2022) World Cup. It doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t perform too well in a year. Still, Naseem Shah is better than him.” The young fast bowler of the Green Brigade was highlighted in a recent podcast.
Naseem has been part of 19 Test matches to pick up 56 wickets at an average of 35.39 and a strike rate of nearly ten overs, with the help of one five-wicket haul. In the 50-over tournament, the 21-year-old has captured 32 scalps in 14 innings at an average of below 17 and a strike rate of 21.7.
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His performance in recent years has gone down. In the ongoing year, he has picked up just five wickets in two Tests at an average of over 51, while in 2023, he played three Tests to pick up 13 wickets at an average of under 25.
Being young, he could come at the level of Jasprit Bumrah in the future, but he is certainly far behind the class of the Indian pacer, who always brings India back in the game from any situation across formats.