Srinagar: Former Pakistan cricketer and PCB Chief Ramiz Raja has said that star pacer duo Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf’s decreasing speeds are cause of concern.
Raja sad this on his Youtube Channel while highlighting that Rauf depends on good yorkers or a change of pace to be effective in T20s, but believes he needs to increase his pace to be more effective in ODIs.
“There is a question mark hovering over Haris Rauf, and I think it’s because he isn’t as effective as a length bowler. He either bowls good yorkers or has a good change of pace, and in T20s, when batsmen take chances, he takes wickets easily. In ODIs, bowling is different, and I think he needs to increase his pace to be more effective,” Raja said.
“Overall, his pace has decreased, I don’t know if he himself is bowling with less pace. Let’s say there is a 10-over spell, then I can understand not exerting too much pace in 2-3 overs, but overall, I think his pace needs to be increased a bit more,” he added.
Ramiz Raja also highlighted the need for Shaheen Afridi to increase his average speed of 136.
“Shaheen Afridi also needs to increase his average speed of 136 and go up by a notch or two when he bowls forward. This is because on such pitches, you need to have a good understanding of your bowling, as you know that you will not get much sideways movement. Therefore, you need to develop a process through variations, change of pace, or sheer pace to be effective,” he concluded.
