An old video clip of Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir resurfaced, recently, where he is seen predicting Shaheen’s current concerns. Shaheen’s issues of lack of pace and weak patch of form were what he had talked of, back then.
The video shows Mohammad Amir speaking of quick bowlers like Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood as to how they manage their workload before a hectic red-ball schedule.
Amir stated that players like Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood take rest for a set of ODIs or other format games before vital Test match appearances, which helps them gear up and get their rhythm for the longest format.
He then compared them to Shaheen Afridi from his own team, who was young back then, aged 21. Sharing his concerns, Amir said that if Shaheen continued to do keep playing every match across formats, his fitness will be impacted after a few years.
What Amir said backed then has come true, as Shaheen, who is now 24-year-old, is facing some serious lack of competence, since his return from injury.
Shaheen Shah Afridi dropped from the second Test against Bangladesh
Pakistan’s ace bowler, Shaheen Afridi, was dropped from the playing XI when Pakistan announced squad for the 2nd Test at Rawalpindi.
Earlier, the pacer returned to the field ahead of the first Test, despite having a moment of rejoice in his family as his wife and Shahid Afridi’s daughter gave birth to his first baby boy.
New head coach, Jason Gillespie, has shared that Shaheen is not dropped; rather, he is working on a few things to get the best out of himself. However, keeping in mind his current form, Gillespie’s remarks seemed far from true.
Since making his comeback after injury, Shaheen Afridi has averaged over 41 in red-ball cricket and has often been concerned about injuries. His performance was far from great in the T20 World Cup, of which even Mohammad Amir was a part of.
Afridi has also seen a major drop in pace, as now most of his deliveries are in the early 130 range, and hence batters do not find any trouble handling him. Probably, Shaheen would eye a return in the England series for the red-ball cricket and perform better on the national front, as Pakistan would want their lead bowler to do well.
