'Shush! Who brought this up?': Shoaib Akhtar shuts down Jasprit Bumrah comparisons to Wasim Akram & Waqar Younis originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Shoaib Akhtar dismissed comparisons between India's Jasprit Bumrah and Pakistan legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
- The former pacer praised Bumrah's honesty and work ethic while insisting he can't match the "Two Ws" legacy.
- Statistical records show Bumrah holds superior average and strike rate figures, though the Pakistani duo boast far greater volume.
'No way!'- Shoaib Akhtar dismisses Jasprit Bumrah comparisons with Wasim Akram & Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar wasn't having any of it the moment someone tried floating Jasprit Bumrah's name alongside Pakistan's legendary pace duo of Wasim Akram & Waqar Younis.
The former fast bowler practically cut off the question mid-sentence during a live TV appearance, making his stance on the matter unmistakably clear before the host could even finish framing it.
Appearing on the Geo News show Hasna Mana Hai, hosted by Tabish Hashmi, Akhtar was asked point-blank to weigh in on the growing chatter comparing Bumrah to Wasim Akram. His reaction was instant and blunt.
"No way! Shush! No, it's not even a question, man. Who even brought this up?" he said, visibly irritated by the premise itself.
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When Hashmi clarified the debate had originated in India, Akhtar doubled down, invoking both halves of Pakistan's famous pace pairing.
"Oh brother, Waqar Younis! Wasim Akram! Brother...," and went on to stress that his rejection wasn't based on hearsay but firsthand experience, having watched both bowlers operate at their peak.
"I have seen them up close, bro. You have no idea what I've seen right in front of me. I've seen Asif, I've seen Sami... I've seen Amir, man. There's no comparison," he insisted.
Pressed again on whether Bumrah simply couldn't measure up, Akhtar didn't soften his answer one bit. "No, but Bumrah is one of the rarest talents, one of the most fantastic talents. But with Wasim and Waqar? No... No, no way."
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Akhtar's praise for Bumrah's work ethic
Despite dismissing the direct comparison, Akhtar wasn't shy about complimenting Bumrah earlier in the same conversation, describing him as an honest bowler who gives everything for his team.
"It just can't last. He needs to take care of his health now, because he is a very honest fast bowler," Akhtar said.
"An honest fast bowler breaks his own back, breaks his own body. Take care of himself. Very well. But, you know, he's always out there to help."
It's clear Akhtar rates Bumrah highly as a cricketer, even while refusing to place him in the same historical bracket as Akram and Waqar.
Jasprit Bumrah vs Wasim Akram vs Waqar Younis: How do the numbers actually compare?
Statistically, the debate is more nuanced than Akhtar's dismissal suggests. In Test cricket, Bumrah's average sits around 19.8, lower than both Wasim's 23.62 and Waqar's 23.56, and his strike rate of roughly 42.8 closely mirrors Waqar's 43.4, which is long considered among the best in the format's history.
His economy rate of 2.77 also holds up well against Wasim's 2.59. That said, the volume tells a different story: Wasim finished with 414 Test wickets from 104 matches, while Waqar claimed 373 from 87. These are numbers built over far longer careers than Bumrah has played so far.
| Metric | Jasprit Bumrah | Wasim Akram | Waqar Younis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches / Innings | 52 / 99 | 104 / 181 | 87 / 154 |
| Wickets | 234 | 414 | 373 |
| Bowling Average | ~19.8 | 23.62 | 23.56 |
| Strike Rate (Balls/Wkt) | ~42.8 | 54.6 | 43.4 |
| Economy Rate | 2.77 | 2.59 | 3.25 |
| 5-Wicket / 10-Wicket Hauls | 16 / 0 | 25 / 5 | 22 / 5 |
| Best Bowling in an Innings (BBI) | 6/27 | 7/119 | 7/76 |
The one-day picture follows a similar pattern. Bumrah's economy of around 4.55 looks less flattering next to Wasim's 3.89. Still, that comparison ignores the wildly different conditions each era produced.
Wasim and Waqar bowled with a single ball, bigger boundaries and more conservative totals. At the same time, Bumrah operates in a period of two new balls, flatter pitches and regular 300-plus scores.
Wasim remains the first bowler to reach 500 ODI wickets, and Waqar's 416 wickets included a record 13 five-wicket hauls. This underlines just how much bulk separates the two Pakistani greats from Bumrah's current tally.
| Metric | Jasprit Bumrah | Wasim Akram | Waqar Younis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches / Innings | 91 / 90 | 356 / 351 | 262 / 258 |
| Wickets | 151 | 502 | 416 |
| Bowling Average | 23.55 | 23.52 | 23.84 |
| Strike Rate (Balls/Wkt) | 31.1 | 36.2 | 30.5 |
| Economy Rate | 4.55 | 3.89 | 4.68 |
| 4-Wkt / 5-Wkt Hauls | 6 / 2 | 17 / 6 | 14 / 13 |
| Best Bowling in an Innings (BBI) | 6/19 | 5/15 | 7/36 |
Why this debate deserves more nuance than Akhtar gave it
Akhtar's blunt dismissal makes for great television, but it sidesteps a more interesting conversation the numbers are actually raising. Nobody serious is arguing Bumrah has matched the sheer volume of wickets Wasim and Waqar accumulated across over 300 combined international appearances.
That much is simply true, and no amount of efficiency numbers changes it. But dismissing the comparison outright as "not even a question" ignores how rare Bumrah's numbers are relative to the eras each bowler operated in.
Cricket has changed enormously since Wasim and Waqar's peak years. Batters today train specifically to counter reverse swing and yorkers, boundaries have shrunk, bats have gotten heavier, and white-ball rules actively favour batting sides far more than they did in the 1990s.
Against that backdrop, Bumrah has maintained a sub-20 Test average and an ODI economy under 4.6. This isn't a minor footnote. It's a genuinely historic level of control, arguably tougher to sustain now than it would have been three decades ago.
None of this means Bumrah has already surpassed the Two Ws as a legacy proposition; longevity and sheer wicket-taking volume still matter enormously in these debates, and Bumrah simply hasn't played long enough yet to settle that argument either way.
But reducing the conversation to outright mockery, the way Akhtar did on air, feels like it's protecting nostalgia rather than engaging honestly with what the statistics are actually showing. Bumrah deserves a more serious hearing than a "shush" and a change of subject, even if the final verdict, once his career wraps up, ends up agreeing with Akhtar anyway.
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