Junaid Khan: “We know that Shaheen like Naseem (Shah) hasn’t spent a lot of time in international cricket and needs more time to prove himself”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan left-arm seamer Junaid Khan believes that fellow fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is an “outstanding talent”, but “needs more time to prove himself” despite everything he has achieved thus far.

Afridi has been in incredible form for Pakistan since last year as he starred in the 2019 World Cup, where he took 16 wickets in five matches at an average of 14.62.

In Pakistan’s World Cup game against Bangladesh, Afridi finished with figures of 6-35 off 9.1 overs.

As a result, Afridi, who was 19 at the time, not only became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup match, but also registered the best figures by a Pakistan player in a World Cup game.

In the two-Test series against Australia, he was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker with five wickets an average of 36.80.

He also took the most wickets for Pakistan in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka as he claimed eight wickets at an average of 23.25.

In the Twenty20 series against Bangladesh, Afridi picked up two wickets in two matches at an average of 22.50 and an economy rate of 5.62.

As for the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, which Pakistan won by an innings and 44 runs, Afridi took five wickets, four of which came in the first innings.

Most recently, Afridi was the second-highest wicket-taker in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with 13 wickets in nine matches for the Lahore Qalandars at an average of 18.92 and an economy rate of 7.02.

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“The same applies to Shaheen Shah Afridi who has outstanding talent. But we know that Shaheen like Naseem (Shah) hasn’t spent a lot of time in international cricket and needs more time to prove himself,” Junaid told PakPassion.

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