Former Pakistan captains claim Shaheen Afridi wasn’t fit during India-Pakistan game
Shaheen Afridi (Image Credit: Twitter)
Pakistan left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi has made his comeback in his national side after a long injury lay-off. He sustained a knee injury during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka in July this year. After this, the left-arm pacer missed the tour of the Netherlands and the Men’s Asia Cup 2022. At that time, it was rumored that the former Pakistan U19 player would miss the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022.
However, the lead pacer of the team made his comeback ahead of the tournament. He played the warm-up games against England and Afghanistan and did alright with the ball. The biggest Test was the game against India. Even though he bowled fine with the ball, former Pakistan skippers such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Misbah Ul Haq, and Shoaib Malik have opined on Shaheen’s fitness.
Shaheen Afridi should have played in the tri-series in New Zealand: Waqar Younis
Former Pakistan skipper Younis has opined that if Afridi was fit enough, he should have played in the Tri-Series against New Zealand and Bangladesh. For the unversed, the Green Brigade played against the Blackcaps and the Bangla Tigers in a build-up to the ongoing World Cup. Meanwhile, Waqar said that Afridi can bowl at more than 145 mph at full fitness. The former pointed out that Afridi bowled at 135 to 140 kmph in the game against India.
“We know what Shaheen Afridi delivers but he wasn’t really there. I was there in New Zealand [Pakistan played a series in New Zealand just before the world cup] also and spoke to the medical panel and Babar Azam and I asked that question: You are taking him to the world cup and why isn’t he here? He should have played in New Zealand,” Waqar said on A Sports. “He has just played 6 overs in the game-times in warm-ups. He didn’t play before that. You can fit in nets but in a crunch game, you need match practice. It looked like he wasn’t there yet.”
“When he is fit, he bowls 145 kmph. Dealing with a 145kmph inswinger is difficult for the batsmen. But today’s speeds were like 133, 134 kmph. It’s either as Wasim Akram said it’s due to lack of match practice or he isn’t fully fit,” Shoaib Malik said. “He wasn’t running the way he used to run before the injury. There was a slight limp. If the ball wasn’t landing where he wanted, it can be considered lack of match practice but for the speed to fall down, I think its fitness issue. You are then holding yourself back a bit. Knee injury is of course a bad injury.”
Knee injury is a serious issue: Shoaib Malik
On the other hand, former skipper Shoaib Malik has revealed the bowlers who suffered a knee injury during his captaincy. In the same conversation, Malik pointed out that bowlers such as Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir played with knee injuries on a few occasions. Malik said that the knee issue is one of the serious issues for the fast bowlers as they can’t push themselves enough during the game.
“I have captained bowlers who have come back from a knee injury, like Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul. The second spell becomes always a problem. You finish a spell, then stand field in the outfield. When you bowl first spell, you are fresher and come after warming up. But in second spell, it’s in the back of your mind. You don’t push yourself too much or stiffness sets in. His pace in the third and fourth over was less. Shaheen usually bowls 143-145 kmph even at the death. Shaheen is an asset for us, the knee injury is a serious issue.”
“I haven’t had a knee injury but as Misbah says a knee injury leaves a mental doubt for a while in the back of mind,” Wasim Akram added.
