Mudassar Nazar on Shaheen Shah Afridi: “He was just coming through and not had that much experience and was physically weak. He was sharp but was spent after 2 overs and also had hamstring problems”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Former Pakistan cricketer Mudassar Nazar has revealed that left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi used to be “physically weak” when he “was just coming through”.

Mudassar, who was recently the Director of Academies at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, also noted that Afridi was “spent after 2 overs and also had hamstring problems”.

However, having worked with the 20-year-old, Mudassar is thrilled to see how good Afridi has become.

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“I am unbelievably proud of our young pace bowlers, especially Shaheen Shah Afridi whom I have worked with from the Under-16 days in 2016,” Mudassar told PakPassion. “He was just coming through and not had that much experience and was physically weak. He was sharp but was spent after 2 overs and also had hamstring problems.

“Later, he was called up for the Pakistan T20I team but I wanted him to play the longer format of the game and I told Inzamam-ul-Haq who was the Chief Selector at that time. I was convinced that he was the type of bowler Pakistan needed for Tests, as they were short of bowlers in that format, and eventually, he did play in Tests. He is a lot stronger now and has started to bowl much quicker too.”

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