Jason Gillespie: “Over the past year, Shaheen has bowled three times more than Mitchell Starc. How can he manage such a workload? We need to take care of him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie said pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has to be taken care of, especially considering he has “bowled three times more than” Australia left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc.
Afridi’s workload has been a prominent issue for quite some times, but rose to a crescendo when he suffered back-to-back knee injuries in 2022.
Since the 24-year-old is an integral part of Pakistan’s bowling attack, Gillespie conceded that Afridi’s workload must decrease in order to ensure he can stay fit, healthy and in good form.
“Over the past year, Shaheen has bowled three times more than Mitchell Starc. How can he manage such a workload? We need to take care of him,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently represented Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and took five wickets in four matches at an average of 21 and an economy rate of 6.56.
The men in green lost to the United States of America and India before bouncing back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they triumphed in those two games, it was not enough to earn them a spot in the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed