Junaid Khan: “His pace has come back up to 140-142 [kph], but the zip he had will not come now. When he works on the technical aspects, it will come back”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan left-arm seamer Junaid Khan acknowledged that Shaheen Shah Afridi has brought his bowling speed back up to 140 to 142 kph, but pointed out that the zip he once had is gone.
He attributed this to Afridi’s front foot going outwards and his lower back twisting when he releases the ball.
Considering how good the 25-year-old was bowling prior to his back-to-back knee injuries in 2022, Junaid urged him to fix the problem as soon as possible.
“If you even ask a child, he will tell you that when Shaheen comes to bowl, before the release, his front foot goes outwards. Your lower back already gets twisted. How will the momentum come then? His pace has come back up to 140-142 [kph], but the zip he had will not come now. When he works on the technical aspects, it will come back,” he told PakPassion.
Afridi recently featured in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand and took two wickets in four games at an average of 66.50 and an economy rate of 10.23.
He then captaining the Lahore Qalandars in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and played an instrumental role in leading them to the title as he was the highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 16.42 and an economy rate of 7.76.
The Pakistan team will now go up against Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series in Lahore from May 28 to June 1.
Even though he took plenty of wickets in PSL 10, Afridi was not selected for the Bangladesh series.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub