Jason Gillespie: “He goes at 100% all the time. You never see Shaheen Afridi bowl at 80%, he’s always full tilt 100% busting his gut for the team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has praised left-arm speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi, saying he never bowls at 80 percent.
Gillespie, a former fast bowler who represented Australia, added that even though the 25-year-old plays a lot of cricket, he constantly gives his full effort and tries to win games for the men in green.
“Please bear in mind he’s played a lot of cricket… He’s one of the most robust fast bowlers on the planet and what I mean by that is he plays a lot of cricket and he goes at 100% all the time. You never see Shaheen Afridi bowl at 80%, he’s always full tilt 100% busting his gut for the team,” he told PakPassion.
Afridi was recently in action in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Lahore Qalandars and finished as the highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 16.42 and an economy rate of 7.76.
Following PSL 10, Pakistan took on Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series in Lahore, but Afridi was not selected in the squad.
He also failed to make the cut for the tour of Bangladesh, where the men in green lost the T20I series 2-1.
Most recently, Pakistan travelled to the West Indies and Afridi ended up making his T20I comeback.
In the two games he played, he took two wickets at an average of 29 and an economy rate of 7.25.
As for the three-match ODI series that followed, Afridi picked up four wickets in two matches at an average of 21.50.
Pakistan are now playing a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will end on September 7.
In the match against Afghanistan on August 29, Afridi finished with figures of 2-21 off his four overs.
After the T20I tri-series, the men in green will feature in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will take place in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
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