Shaheen Shah Afridi: “For example, we gave Haseebullah [a] chance. Our aim was that he gets a chance and gets confidence from here, so that when Pakistan plays a home series, he can perform over there”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi said he allowed up-and-coming batsman Haseebullah Khan to make his international debut in the T20I series against New Zealand in order to build up his confidence.
Haseebullah played his first-ever international match in the fifth T20I, but failed to have a dream debut as he was dismissed for a duck.
Nonetheless, Afridi pointed out it was important to give the 20-year-old from Pishin some game time as it will enable him to perform well in the future, especially when the men in green play on home soil.
“For example, we gave Haseebullah [a] chance. Our aim was that he gets a chance and gets confidence from here, so that when Pakistan plays a home series, he can perform over there,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi will now captain the Lahore Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Haseebullah will represent the Peshawar Zalmi.
PSL 9 will take place from February 17 to March 18 in four cities – Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph
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