Wahab Riaz: “We expect Shaheen to perform every day but [a] bad patch does happen. He is determined to do well. We should give him some time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz is not overly concerned about T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s subpar bowling performances as of late, noting that every player goes through bad patches.
Afridi was not at his usual best during the three-match Test series against Australia as he took eight wickets in two games at an average of 41.62.
As for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, where he made his debut as captain, the 23-year-old took nine wickets at an average of 19.22 and an economy rate of 8.94.
Despite his turbulent performances over the last couple of months, Wahab wants people to give Afridi some time to bounce back.
“We expect Shaheen to perform every day but [a] bad patch does happen. He is determined to do well. We should give him some time,” he was quoted as saying by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) website.
Afridi is now leading the Lahore Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has claimed four wickets in four matches at an average of 32 and an economy rate of eight.
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