Shaheen Afridi Faces Criticism from Moeen Ali
The criticism from Moeen Ali highlights the challenges faced by Pakistan's pace attack, particularly in the context of the Champions Trophy 2025. With the ODI format undergoing changes, teams and players must adapt to the new rules and conditions to succeed. The debate surrounding Pakistan's pace attack serves as a reminder that the cricket world is constantly evolving, and teams must be prepared to face new challenges and criticisms.
Moeen Ali, a former England cricket team all-rounder, has expressed his opinion that Pakistan's fast bowlers, including Shaheen Afridi, are not the best in the world, despite their talent and potential. Ali believes that the perception of Pakistan having the best pace attack is exaggerated and not entirely accurate.
Ali specifically mentioned the trio of Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf, stating that they are good but not the best in the business. He emphasized that people with Pakistani backgrounds often claim that the Pakistani pace bowlers are the best, but that's not the case. Instead, Ali thinks that they are talented but lack the consistency and quality to be considered the best in the world.
Moeen's comments come after Pakistan's disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy 2025, where they were eliminated in the group stage. The Pakistani pace trio struggled to make an impact in the tournament, which Ali cited as evidence that they are not the best. Additionally, Ali expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of the ODI format, calling it the "worst format to play" due to rule changes that have made it batting-friendly.
The comments from Moeen Ali have sparked a debate about the quality of Pakistan's pace attack, with some agreeing that they are not the best, while others defending the talent and potential of Shaheen Afridi and his fellow bowlers. As the cricket world continues to discuss and analyze the performances of different teams and players, it remains to be seen how Pakistan's pace attack will respond to the criticism and prove their worth in future tournaments.