Ahead of India's T20 World Cup opening game vs Pakistan, former world cup winning Indian captain and legend, Kapil Dev said that in his current form, Shaheen Afridi, Pakistan's premier fast bowler is far ahead of India's veteran pacer Mohammed Shami. Afridi is making a comeback after a knee injury while Shami, who last played white-ball cricket in July, is making a comeback in place of an injured Jasprit Bumrah.
Kapil Dev agreed with former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi's statement about Shaheen's performances being better over the last two years. As Shami hasn't played a lot of cricket of late, the 63-year-old said that there cannot be any comparisons made between the two pacers. Kapil Dev believes that comparisons between Bumrah and Shaheen would make more sense.
Shami was brilliant in IPL 2022 for the Gujarat Titans and showed his ability to bowl with the new ball. Apart from that he hasn't played since the England tour earlier this year. There were doubts whether he was match ready or not but Shami impressed with just 1 over vs Australia in India's warm-up match.
However, Kapil Dev believes that you can't judge anything by just one over. Shami hasn't played a T20I for India since 2021 T20 world cup.