Ahmed Shehzad: “Like always, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to make Shaheen Shah Afridi the scapegoat this time. Briefings have taken place, and in the coming times, you will see Shaheen on and off the team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have made left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi their scapegoat.
He believes that Afridi will start playing fewer matches for the country and will be in and out of the team in the future.
Explaining why, Shehzad feels that the 24-year-old’s injuries will keep being brought up, along with the need to manage his workload carefully.
Ultimately, he thinks Afridi’s appearances for Pakistan will become less frequent, even though he is an extremely talented wicket-taker.
“Like always, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to make Shaheen Shah Afridi the scapegoat this time. Briefings have taken place, and in the coming times, you will see Shaheen on and off the team. The reason given will be that he has bowled the most, he has bowled a lot of overs, he is facing workload issues, he has injuries, and family reasons. All these justifications are presented when a player is removed from the team,” Shehzad said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Afridi recently represented Pakistan in their two-Test series against Bangladesh, but only featured in one match and took two wickets at an average of 48.
He then captained the Lions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad, and picked up nine wickets in four games at an average of 29.33.
After this, he was involved in the first Test against England and claimed one wicket at an average of 120.
Afridi was rested for the second and third Tests, but Pakistan still went on to win 2-1, giving them their first Test series victory on home soil since 2021.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a limited overs tour of Australia, which will consist of three ODIs and three T20Is that will be held from November 4 to 18.
Afterwards, they will travel to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan