Manjrekar: 'Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi have seen better days'

Pakistan have won only 14 of the 28 matches - across ODIs and T20Is - they have played with all three of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf in the XI. That could be because, as Sanjay Manjrekar put it, some of the quicks "have seen better days", even though Aaqib Javed, Pakistan's coach, says the three remind him of "the '90s troika".

Out of Pakistan's four losses in ODIs featuring all three of Afridi, Naseem and Rauf, two have come in multi-team events - against India at the Asia Cup 2023 and against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 opener. In both those matches, Pakistan conceded 300-plus scores bowling first.

That begs the obvious question: Has Pakistan's fast bowling, their biggest strength for years, lost its bite and the ability to intimidate oppositions?

"It was a kind of revelation for us in Sri Lanka when we had an encounter with Pakistan in the Asia Cup before the 2023 World Cup. We saw Shaheen Shah Afridi live up to expectations in the first game, which was rain affected, but as the tournament went on, we also got to see that Shaheen Shah Afridi wasn't the same bowler that he was before. The speed in the air had completely disappeared," Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. "

"So, all the trickery that he had was not the same without the speed in the air. Haris Rauf had the pace but was not quite able to lead [the attack] like [Jasprit] Bumrah does with his fast bowling. Naseem Shah has emerged as the best bowler on form. Yes, fast bowling is their main strength. There is almost nothing in the spin department. But even in the fast bowling, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi have seen better days."

Aaqib, though, expressed confidence in the trio and said they reminded him of the Pakistan attack from the 1990s.

"Teams play their game on their own strength," he said ahead of the match against India in Dubai. "We have three one of the best pace-bowling options in today's game with Shaheen, Naseem and Haris. It reminds me of the '90s troika [Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and himself]. They have time to reach that level but have all the ability to repeat those performances."

Pakistan's loss to New Zealand by 60 runs in the opening Group A fixture has left them precariously placed with a net run-rate of -1.200. A defeat to India could push them out of a tournament they are hosting. Fast bowling aside, lack of leadership has pushed Pakistan cricket back, felt Urooj Mumtaz, former captain of Pakistan's women's team.

"Even now when you tell them to talk up an India-Pakistan game, it's a very mellow approach," Mumtaz said on ESPNcricinfo Runorder. "It is more fan-centric and I don't feel there's enough push there. We've lacked massive leadership in the past six-seven years. You put Imran Khan in this group of players, and I can vouch for the fact that the attitude on the field would be far different."

Anil Kumble agreed with Mumtaz, saying, "I don't think this Pakistan line-up has that quality. When it comes to having that, not intimidation, [but] you had that respect of playing Pakistan, knowing that you had the quality. Now it's the other way round. I don't see how Pakistan can look India in the eye in terms of their ability to put a batting line-up that can intimidate the Indian bowlers."