Ian Bishop: “Shaheen broke his arm three times when he was young, so he wears strapping on his left arm to protect the elbow and alleviate the pain. When he gives 100%, you have to admire the courage it takes to play through that pain for his country”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop revealed Pakistan left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi “broke his arm three times when he was young” and deserves a lot of praise for the courage he shows “to play through that pain for his country”.
Afridi has rediscovered his form recently and has earned his spot back in the national team.
The 25-year-old made his T20I return during Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies and took two wickets in two matches at an average of 29 and an economy rate of 7.25.
He followed that up with four wickets in two ODIs at an average of 21.50.
Following this, Afridi featured in the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, where he snapped up four wickets in four games at an average of 19.50 and an economy rate of 5.57.
“Shaheen broke his arm three times when he was young, so he wears strapping on his left arm to protect the elbow and alleviate the pain. When he gives 100%, you have to admire the courage it takes to play through that pain for his country,” Bishop was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Afridi is now involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, which is taking place in the UAE.
In three matches, he has claimed three wickets at an average of 19.66 and an economy rate of 6.55.
He has also smashed 64 runs at a strike-rate of 206.45.
The men in green began their Asia Cup campaign with a 93-run win over Oman before losing to India by seven wickets.
They bounced back to beat the UAE by 41 runs, which also booked them a spot in the Super Four.
Pakistan will now face India again on September 21 in Dubai.
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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