T20 World Cup 2022: Shaheen Shah Afridi’s comeback not as good as Mohammed Shami’s – Sanjay Bangar

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes Pakistan gun fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi’s much-awaited return was not as impressive as India’s pacer Mohammed Shami. Afridi scalped two wickets and conceded 29 runs in the four overs he bowled in the warm-up match against Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Shami had scalped three wickets against Australia in the warm-up match against hosts Australia and conceded only four runs in the solitary over he bowled.

Meanwhile, both Afridi and Shami were recently seen interacting in practice sessions. India’s experienced pacer was sharing a few tips with the lanky Pakistan paceman.

Bangar believes Afridi didn’t get the ball to swing back into the right-handers, which is his biggest strength.

“I don’t think Afridi’s return was as good as Shami’s. The special thing was that he didn’t bowl a single incoming delivery. All his deliveries were going away from the batters, which means it is clear that he is not yet fully confident of his position on the crease, the strong position he has,” Bangar mentioned during a discussion on Star Sports.

Bangar feels Afridi has made a few changes in his technique, which is not good for Pakistan. The former Indian all-rounder added that India’s top order would breathe a sigh of relief if Afridi doesn’t get the ball to swing back into right-handers.

“I also feel he has made a slight change in his technique. If he has made a change at this stage, especially the way he is releasing the ball, they are not good signs for Pakistan. The fact that the balls are not swinging into the right-handed batters will be a slight breath of relief for the Indian top-order batting,” he added.

Afridi’s biggest strength is to get the ball to move back into the right-handers. In fact, the lanky paceman had obliterated India’s top order in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup as he had accounted for Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the very first over he had bowled.

India and Pakistan will take on each other at the MCG on Sunday.