Usman Qadir on Shaheen Shah Afridi: “I was happy that I might make a comeback. But I didn’t receive any call, and the team was announced without my name”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan spinner Usman Qadir admitted to being disappointed that left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi broke the promise he made him.
Qadir explained that when Afridi was T20I captain, he had told him to perform in domestic cricket in order to earn a recall to the national team for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in January 2024.
In the National T20 Cup, the 30-year-old took 13 wickets in eight matches for the Lahore Region Blues at an average of 15 and an economy rate of 6.72.
However, despite doing exactly what Afridi had said, Qadir saw his hard work go unrewarded as he continued to be overlooked by the selectors.
“Shaheen told me that if I deliver [a] few performances in T20s, they would pick me for the New Zealand series, why they lost in January. So, shortly after that, I managed to perform well with Allah’s help. In one match, I took 5 wickets, and overall in 8 matches, I took 13 wickets. So I was happy that I might make a comeback. But I didn’t receive any call, and the team was announced without my name,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The Pakistan team were involved in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand in April 2024, which ended as a 2-2 draw.
After that, they beat Ireland 2-1 in a three-match T20I series.
Currently, the men in green are playing four T20Is against England, with the series tied at 0-0 after the first game was washed out.
Following this, Pakistan will participate in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan
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