It’s still early days but Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali have created a formidable partnership with the ball.

In a recent interview with 23 News, when asked if he’d like to change any law in the game, Wasim Akram joked that he’d like the bats to be taken away from batters. What’s funny is that Wasim and his great partner Waqar, who was also a guest on the show, did got the better of world-class batters even when they had willow in hand. Throughout their careers, the duo managed to trouble batters with their extraordinary skills, which included the ability to reverse the ball at a high pace.

Pakistan have possessed a battery of formidable pacers since the Wasim-Waqar era, yet they haven’t been able to quite stamp their authority on the world game for a variety of different reasons. Some were ravaged by injuries, others didn’t live up to the promise. What’s true is that Pakistan haven’t seen a better pair working in tandem, although Mohammad Asif, who lacked express pace yet made the ball talk, and Mohammad Amir, the fast bowling phenom in his teenage years, did come together to threaten the greats.  But infamously, it wasn’t to be.

In recent years, Mohammad Abbas has been among the finest of Pakistan seamers. He was exceptional in his early days, oft being the lone man leading the Pakistan pace charge. His performances, however, have dipped, and he has subsequently lost his spot in the side. He made a comeback, but Babar Azam & co. have preferred the left-right combination of Shaheen and Hasan.

While Shaheen is the prodigy who lived up to his talent and leads the Pakistan attack; Hasan Ali, the comeback man, has been exceptional this year.vHe may not have the pace of Shaheen, but his movement and control have been exceptional.

His resurgence along with Shaheen’s form have given them the sharpness which they lacked in previous years, when they lost to England and New Zealand in Tests. In 2021, Hasan averages 15.94 with the ball this year to go with Shaheen’s 17.45.

They stood out in Rawalpindi where they picked all but one wicket in South Africa’s second innings, to ensure that Pakistan won a closely fought contest against a decent Proteas outfit. Hasan Ali finished the game with ten wickets.

The Zimbabwe series was an easy affair for the pair and they were equally as lethal in West Indies. The duo very nearly spearheaded them to a 2-0 finish but were deprived of the series victory by the outstanding efforts of a teacher and his student in the series opener. In the second Test, it was Shaheen who rocked the Men in Maroon, claiming 10 wickets in the match. As they showed with the new ball in Chattogram, they are at their best when operating together, preferably with the new ball.

This streak which has brought 83 Test wickets in the year so far is a memorable one and is reminiscent of Wasim-Waqar’s golden runs of yesteryears (97 wickets in ’90, 89 in ’94). But there have to be a couple of factors at play to reign in expectations..

Not only is the sample size fairly small but they have yet to face any of the top four ranked sides in the world on this run. Succeed against any of them – and they should have that chance in 2022 – and then the conversation changes. Therefore, one needs to wait and watch, but it can be said that in recent months the duo haven’t done much wrong. If they can repeat these performances against better opponents in the coming months, supporters of Pakistan cricket will be smiling.