Grant Bradburn: “The performance and workload of all the players, including the pacer (Shaheen Afridi), is being monitored, focusing on both the skill and fitness of the players”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Grant Bradburn, the Pakistan head coach, has urged people not to worry themselves about the workload of left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
He noted that the pace spearhead’s workload is constantly being monitored and doesn’t think he will get tired based on the protocols in place.
The concerns about Afridi’s fitness stem from his back-to-back knee injuries in 2022, which kept him out of action for months.
With the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup starting in less than a month, no one wants to see the 23-year-old hurt himself again.
But, Bradburn is confident this won’t happen as the team management are keeping a close eye on Afridi and the other players as well.
“The performance and workload of all the players, including the pacer (Shaheen Afridi), is being monitored, focusing on both the skill and fitness of the players,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently took six wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 37.33.
He then claimed six wickets in three ODIs at an average of 16.33.
Recently, he represented Pakistan in the Asia Cup, where he took 10 wickets in five games at an average of 23.50.
Pakistan won their match against Nepal by 238 runs, while their clash with India was rained off after the men in blue were bowled out for 266.
As for their Super Four stage game against Bangladesh, they triumphed by seven wickets.
However, things started to go awry for the men in green after this as they lost to India by 228 runs.
Pakistan still had a chance to book their spot in the Asia Cup final, but ended up losing to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve:Â Tayyab Tahir