He made it clear that he wasn’t saying they are bad players.
Speaking at the Beard Before Wicket podcast on YouTube, Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali questioned why there’s so much hype around Pakistan fast bowlers Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf.
“This is the thing people have. Especially people with Pakistani backgrounds. They’ll say Pakistani seamers are the best. I’m like no, they’re not. They’re good, but they’re not the best,” Moeen said.
Moeen Ali acknowledged that Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf are talented fast bowlers. He made it clear that he wasn’t saying they are bad players.
“Naseem Shah, Shaheen, and Haris Rauf are very good. We’re not saying they are bad, but they’re not the best,” he added.
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Moeen Ali mentioned that Pakistan has a good history of yielding quality fast bowlers. In his opinion, this is greatly due to their strong coaching system, which teaches and nurtures Pakistani players well. As per him, how they train young cricketers in Pakistan contributes significantly to producing quality pace bowlers year after year.
“Pakistan have this thing where they do produce very good fast bowlers. Again, it’s something in their coaching system where they coach Pakistanis unbelievably well,” he further added.
Pakistan’s fast bowlers had some good performances during the 2022 T20 World Cup, where they helped the team reach the final but lost to England. However, since then, the trio hasn’t performed at the same level. They have played in three consecutive ICC white-ball tournaments where Pakistan failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Most recently, they had a tough time in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 held at home. Between them, the three fast bowlers took only six wickets in that tournament. Now, they will be hoping to bounce back during the upcoming limited-overs series against New Zealand. Afridi and Rauf are set to play in the T20 matches starting Sunday, while Shah will join the team for the three ODIs.
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