Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has said Shoaib Akhtar was “miles faster” than India’s Jasprit Bumrah, calling the Pakistan pace great the toughest of the three fast bowlers when it came to raw speed.
De Villiers made the remarks on The Prakhar Gupta Xperience podcast, when host Prakhar Gupta asked him who was the hardest to face among Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, and Shoaib Akhtar.
Pace Gives Akhtar the Edge
“It’s all different times of my career. Shoaib Akhtar came first. He was incredibly tough, miles faster than Bumrah, not even close. So from a pure pace point of view, it’s definitely Akhtar,” de Villiers said.
He added that he faced Malinga when he was a more mature batter who understood his technique better, so the Sri Lankan, who had a completely different skill set, “never really troubled” him too much.
Bumrah the Most Consistent
De Villiers said he faced Bumrah towards the end of his career, when he was perhaps not as agile anymore, but the two still had “great battles” against each other.
While Akhtar won on pace, the batting great named Bumrah as the most consistent of the three. “If I had to say most consistent, definitely Jasprit. I think he’s just someone who didn’t make a lot of mistakes,” he said.
He added that Malinga was “not far behind” Bumrah, but praised the Indian pacer for “consistently asking good questions” and having “such a great temperament for a fast bowler.”
This is not the first time de Villiers has spoken highly of Pakistani cricketers. He earlier picked a Pakistani player in his all-time XI. Akhtar, meanwhile, was recently in the news after the PCB reportedly offered him the chief selector role.
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