Newly appointed Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi voices concerns over team's pace attack
By Ovaise Shariff | First Published Jan 11, 2024, 5:36 PM ISTNewly appointed T20I captain Shaheen Afridi expresses dismay over the pace performance of Pakistan's bowlers, including himself, during the recent Test series against Australia.
The recently appointed T20I captain for Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi, has admitted to being disheartened by the underwhelming performance of the pacers, including himself, in the recent Test series against Australia. Following a 0-3 whitewash Down Under, Pakistan faced criticism for the subpar showing of their pacers, with Shaheen Afridi, rested for the final Test in Sydney due to workload management, acknowledging the disappointing outcomes. The pace-friendly tracks in Australia favored the home team's bowlers, namely Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, while Pakistan struggled to make an impact.
"We could not achieve the results our nation expected from us in ICC events" - Shaheen Afridi
Pakistan's new T20I captain Shaheen says Pakistan would look to eliminate their mistakes and deliver trophies for the country under his leadership 👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/13Rpol6s82
Expressing his surprise and concern, Shaheen revealed, "To be honest, we were ourselves looking at the speedometers and wondering, is this really us? Because we were unable to understand that despite putting in all the effort, the speeds were not going up. Seeing 130-132 KPH was disheartening, and we thought this was pre-decided that we won't go above 130KPH."
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As Shaheen prepares to lead Pakistan in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, he hinted at significant changes for the series-opener at Auckland's Eden Park. Emphasizing the infusion of young talent, he mentioned players like Azam Khan, Aamer Jamal, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah, and Abbas Afridi, expressing the intention to provide them opportunities in the upcoming T20Is.
Shaheen stressed the importance of experimenting with various combinations in the 17 matches leading up to the World Cup. While acknowledging the consistent pairing of Babar and Rizwan as the best opening pair, he highlighted the need to identify the optimal team composition for the T20 World Cup, particularly in the four matches against England preceding the tournament.
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