Yasir Arafat: “Shaheen’s dip in form is because he was introduced very early to international cricket, and his workload was not managed properly”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat acknowledged that there is a noticeable dip in left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s form.
Afridi is Pakistan’s pace spearhead in all three formats, but has struggled to take wickets consistently as of late. In addition to this, his bowling speed has also declined.
Sharing the reason behind this, Arafat blamed it on the 24-year-old’s workload not being managed properly.
“Shaheen’s dip in form is because he was introduced very early to international cricket, and his workload was not managed properly,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, but only played in the first Test, where he took two wickets at an average of 48.
He is now captaining the Lions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition taking place in Faisalabad, and has claimed nine wickets in four games at an average of 29.33.
The Pakistan team will be back in action next month when they go up against England in a three-Test series from October 7 to 28 in Multan and Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 1st Test against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi.