Shan Masood: “Returning from a serious injury is never easy, especially for a fast bowler like Shaheen who faced challenges with his pace and the forces involved in bowling. His comeback shows immense discipline and willpower”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has hit back at fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi’s critics, saying it is not easy for anyone to get back to their best after suffering a serious injury.
Afridi injured his knee twice in 2022 and has struggled for the most part since returning as a lack of wickets and a drop in pace have both become noticeable.
However, Masood noted that the 23-year-old showed incredible “discipline and willpower” to get back to where he is right now and urged people to keep supporting the left-arm seamer.
“Returning from a serious injury is never easy, especially for a fast bowler like Shaheen who faced challenges with his pace and the forces involved in bowling. His comeback shows immense discipline and willpower. Having experienced a similar injury, I understand the difficulties,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In Pakistan’s recent three-match Test series against Australia, which they lost 3-0, Afridi took eight wickets in two matches at an average of 41.62.
He then captained Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and snapped up nine wickets at an average of 19.22 and an economy rate of 8.94.
Afridi is now in charge of the Lahore Qalandars in the ongoing 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has claimed three wickets in three matches.
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