Shoaib Malik: “It is concerning to see that he isn’t able to bowl at 140 kph bearing in mind the fact that even the first ball of his spell used to be around 145 kph. The pace he generated before injury has reduced considerably”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik expressed his concern at the fact that pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has become considerably slower as “he isn’t able to bowl at 140 kph.”
To further prove his point, the 41-year-old pointed out that in the past, the first ball of Afridi’s spell used to be around 145 kph.
Even though the 23-year-old has still been taking wickets, Malik wants Afridi to take some action and crank his bowling speed back up to where it used to be.
“It is concerning to see that he isn’t able to bowl at 140 kph bearing in mind the fact that even the first ball of his spell used to be around 145 kph. The pace he generated before injury has reduced considerably,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi is currently involved in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has claimed 16 wickets in eight matches, which includes a five-wicket haul against Australia, at an average of 25.56.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
However, they still managed to keep themselves in the hunt for a semi-final spot after beating Bangladesh and New Zealand.
The men in green will be back in action on November 11 when they take on England in Kolkata.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali