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The Pakistan Cricket Board says that the team management has dropped fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi from the squad for the Test series against Bangladesh so that he can spend time with his family.
It should be noted that Shaheen was left out of the 12-man squad for the second Test.
The first day of the second Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Friday was canceled due to continuous rain and water in the ground. Since the morning, the sky was covered with clouds and due to the rain, the two teams could not even come from the hotel to the stadium.
Apart from the rain, the change in the Pakistani team has also become the focus of users on social media. Shaheen was dropped from the team while spinner Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Mir Hamza were included in the possible 12 players in the squad.
Shaheen, one of Pakistan’s most successful bowlers in the recent past, is getting mixed reactions on his absence from the possible 12 players.
When Shaheen returned to the team after an injury last year, especially in Test matches, his bowling speed was seen to decrease and his performance was also somewhat dull compared to the past.
In the first innings of the first Test against Bangladesh, he scored 96 runs and got only two tail-enders’ wickets.
Pakistan cricket team head coach Jason Gillespie says regarding the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi in the squad, “We had a good conversation with Shaheen Shah Afridi and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind this (decision).”
During the press conference, Gillespie further said that ‘Feedback has been given to Shaheen. He is working on a few things with his bowling to make it more impressive.’
The head coach of Pakistan team further said that he wants to see Shaheen Shah Afridi in his best bowling form as the team still has a lot of cricket to play and Shaheen Shah Afridi has to play a big role in that.
Gillespie gave another reason for not including Shaheen Shah Afridi in the squad, saying, “He’s a new father, so we saw an opportunity where we could allow him to spend some time with his family.”
In the first Test of the series, Bangladesh defeated Pakistan for the first time in history, after which the Pakistani cricket team was heavily criticized and said that it had made a mistake by not including a reliable spinner in the squad. is
After the defeat, Test team captain Shan Masood gave a clear indication that the spinner Abrar Ahmed can be included in the last match of the series.
Users are also seen talking on Pakistani social media about the decision not to include Shaheen Shah Afridi in the team and the fast bowler’s performance.
A user named Arafa Feroze writes in this regard that ‘Pakistan cricket team management has sent a clear message to other players by dropping Shaheen Shah Afridi that nothing is more important than your performance. It doesn’t matter how big a star you are in the Pakistan cricket team.’
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On the other hand, there are some users who are upset over Shaheen Shah Afridi not joining the team.
A user named Qadir Khawaja raised a question about the performance of the rest of the bowlers in the first Test match against Bangladesh and said, “The question to the head coach is whether the rest of the bowlers dismissed Bangladesh four times, ten times?” Did Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali Sahib and Naseem Shah Sahib dance the triple dance to the Bangladeshi batsmen?’
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There are also users on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) who believe that cricketers who perform well should not be given the captaincy.
“If you want to waste a good cricketer, make him captain and remove him after a few matches, like we have wasted Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi,” wrote one user.
Shaheen Shah Afridi has so far represented Pakistan in 30 matches in his six-year Test career in which he has taken 115 wickets. While his number of wickets in 53 ODI matches is 104.
The fast bowler has played 70 international T20 matches for Pakistan in which he has taken 96 wickets.
It should be noted that in this series consisting of two Test matches, Bangladesh has a one-zero advantage over Pakistan and if this match ends without result due to rain, Bangladesh will win the Test series against Pakistan for the first time in history.
