Shoaib Malik Better Player Of Spin Than Steve Smith: Yuzvendra Chahal

India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has made a bold claim stating that Pakistan’s ace all-rounder Shoaib Malik is a better player of spin than modern Australian legend Steve Smith. Steve Smith is a modern-day legend of the game of cricket. The right-hander has an average above 60 in Test cricket at the moment.

Smith is a pioneer in making batting look easy in any condition. He has produced results in England, Australia, the sub-continent and almost at all the venues where cricket is played. He is widely regarded as one of the great players of spin in today’s cricket, a rare feat for many players who do not belong to the sub-continent.

However, Yuzvendra Chahal believes that former Pakistan legend Shoaib Malik was a more difficult nut to crack for him than Steve Smith.

Yuzvendra Chahal Heaps Praise On Shoaib Malik

“Virat and Rohit are obviously quality players of spin bowling so they will be at the top,” said Chahal. “Also Williamson makes life difficult for spin bowlers because he plays the ball really late, especially on a pitch that is slow,” Chahal said on Instagram.

“I was bowling to Shoaib Malik during the Asia Cup and was impressed with the way he was taking singles of good deliveries. I realised that this player has a lot of experience and I think he is better than Steve Smith when it comes to playing spin bowling,” he said.

Shoaib Malik Has Had A Legendary Stint So Far

Shoaib Malik has been one of the greatest all-rounders that Pakistan cricket has witnessed since its inception. Although Malik’s Test career couldn’t scale heights, he has been a phenomenal limited-overs star. Malik has played a total of 35 Test matches and scored 1898 runs at an average of 35.14. He also scalped 32 wickets in the longest format of the game.

Talking about his limited-overs stint, Shoaib Malik has played 218 ODIs and scored 7534 runs at an average of 34.55. He has picked 158 wickets in one-day internationals at an average of 39.18. Malik has also represented Pakistan in 113 T20Is smashing 2321 runs in the process with 8 half-centuries in the format. The veteran all-rounder has picked 28 wickets in the shortest format of the game.

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