Basit Ali: “Shaheen was removed from the squad after being made to bowl on dead pitches, but the controversy began when Shan placed his hand on Shaheen’s shoulder, and Shaheen removed it. That’s why he hasn’t been included in the Test team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has alleged that left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi was dropped for the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa due to an apparent rift with captain Shan Masood.
Basit pointed to a specific incident during the 1st Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh in August 2024, where Afridi removed Masood’s hand from his shoulder after the latter placed it there during a team huddle.
He noted that this may have sparked some bad blood between the two players and eventually led to Afridi’s removal from the Test side.
In addition to making the claim about Afridi and Masood, Basit also attributed the 24-year-old’s exclusion for the South Africa Tests to his failure to take wickets on “dead pitches”.
“Shaheen was removed from the squad after being made to bowl on dead pitches, but the controversy began when Shan placed his hand on Shaheen’s shoulder, and Shaheen removed it. That’s why he hasn’t been included in the Test team,” the 54-year-old said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
Afridi was recently in action in Pakistan’s white-ball series against Australia and took eight wickets in three ODIs at an average of 12.62.
He followed that up with one wicket in three T20Is at an average of 107.
After their tour of Australia, Pakistan travelled to Zimbabwe, but Afridi was rested for both the ODI and T20I series.
He returned for the ongoing series against South Africa and began by picking up three wickets in two T20Is at an average of 19.66.
As for the three-match ODI series, he finished with seven wickets at an average of 23.28.
The two-Test series between Pakistan and South Africa will begin on December 26 in Centurion.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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