Shaheen Afridi's exile from Pakistan's test team surprised many. When he was released by the Pakistan's team after the first three -matches test against England last year, it was expected to be recalled to the South African series.
With a favorable South Africa conditions for the fast bowler, it was very likely that peace will find a place in Pakistan's team. However, the teammates and the management of the team decided otherwise, because they did not remember their peace from the left arm.
At that time, the reports stated that the reason behind Shaheen Afridi's absence in the test team was the management of the work volume. In his absence, Pakistan lost both tests against the African outfit. Before the test series, Afridi played in T20i, as well as in the ODI series against Proteas.
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AAQIB Javed about the absence of Shaheen Afridi:
Pakistan's main interim coach Aaqib Javed revealed the reason behind Shaheen Afridi's absence in the test team. He interacted with the press before the second test against the West Indies when one of the journalists asked why Afridi did not play the Cape Town test against South Africa.
In response, Javed clearly said that Pakistani selectors did not choose him in the team because he has not played four-day cricket. He said that sufficient lack of training for a test match affects the rhythm of the bowler and is the main reason behind Afridi's absence. Javed also urged the Pakistani bowlers to prepare for testing by playing the red ball in the internal circuit.
There is one -day cricket and test cricket. With so much cricket played today, if you play all three formats, you may play in tests during a series, but then in the next three months, you will not play any four-day cricket. So, when you return to test matches, you need to rebuild for bowling in that format, “Javed said.
“This is one of the reasons why rapid bowliers, when they make 20-25 tournaments in a day, struggles to maintain the energy needed to remove Tail-Enders.
“If Shaheen Afridi had played, Mohammad Abbas would not have played. Because of Abbas the match was just as close.
Therefore, all these bowlers need to focus on preparation for test matches playing cricket four days before the series. Only then will they build the necessary resistance for the cricket at the test level, ”he added.
So Aqib Javed gave up Shaheen Afridi from the test for not playing four -day cricket.👍 pic.twitter.com/by6tr2v2tk
– Salman 🇵🇰 (@Salmanasif2007) January 24, 2025
Meanwhile, Pakistan has made an advance to be untouched, 1-0, in the series of two-party tests against the Western Indies. Won the first test with 127 rounds. The second test will take place on Saturday (January 25).