Interim Head Coach Aaqib Javed Reveals Reason For Shaheen Afridi's Absence From Pakistan Test Team
Shaheen Shah Afridi has been out of Pakistan's Test team for quite some time now. His last red-ball match for Pakistan was against England in Rawalpindi from October 7-11, 2024.
Pakistan’s interim head coach, Aaqib Javed, has revealed the reason for star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi’s absence from Pakistan’s Test team. The 24-year-old left-arm pacer last played a red-ball match for Pakistan in October 2024 against England. After a disappointing show in the series opener, he was dropped from the squad for the last two matches of the home series. There were high chances of Shaheen getting a call-up for the two-match Test series in South Africa, but he was not considered for a place in the side. His absence raised a lot of question marks over his Test future.
It was reported in December 2024 that Shaheen was rested for the South Africa series due to workload management, but the fast bowler was seen playing in the Bangladesh Premier League.
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Ahead of the start of the 2nd Pakistan-West Indies Test in Multan, Javed was asked by reporters about Shaheen’s absence from the Test side, to which he said that Pakistan selectors did not pick him in the team because he does not play four-day cricket anymore.
So Aqib Javed dropped Shaheen Afridi from TESTs because he don’t play four day cricket.👍 pic.twitter.com/By6tr2V2tK— Salman 🇵🇰 (@SalmanAsif2007) January 24, 2025
According to Javed, not getting enough match practice for a Test match affects the bowlers’ rhythm, and it is the main reason behind Afridi’s absence from the Test side.
“There is one-day cricket and Test cricket. With so much cricket being played nowadays, if you play all three formats, you might bowl in Tests during a series, but then for the next three months, you don’t play any four-day cricket. So, when you return to Test matches, you have to rebuild yourself for bowling in that format," Javed said in the pre-match press conference.
“That’s one reason why fast bowlers, when they bowl 20–25 overs in a day, struggle to maintain the energy needed to get tail-enders out towards the end."
“If Shaheen Afridi had played (in South Africa), Mohammad Abbas wouldn’t have played. It was because of Abbas that the match got as close as it did. So, all these bowlers need to focus on preparing themselves for Test matches by playing four-day cricket before the series. Only then will they build the stamina required for Test-level cricket," he added.
Mohammad Abbas earned a call-up to the Pakistan Test team after more than three years for the South Africa tour, and in the Boxing Day Test played at SuperSport Park in Centurion, the 34-year-old fast bowler picked up six wickets in the 2nd innings.
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