Srinagar: There is never a dull moment in Pakistan cricket with tempers running high recently after humiliating defeat vs Bangladesh in first Test. Now in a latest turn of events, pacer Shaheen Afridi has been left out of the squad for second test.
While team managment , claim it as rest, there are reports that Shaheen may have been dropped owing to his fight with captain Shaheen Afridi.
Pakistan on Thursday announced 12-man squad for PAK vs BAN 2nd Test which will begin on August 30 in Rawalpindi.
Head coach Jason Gillespie made the announcement at a press conference ahead of the 2nd Test.
The pacer did not have a good outing in the 1st Test, managing to take only 2 wickets as Bangladesh handed Pakistan a historic defeat. Shaheen has only bagged 16 wickets in 10 innings since his comeback from knee injury in July 2023.
“Shaheen’s missed out this game,” Pakistan’s red-ball coach Jason Gillespie said.
“We’ve had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. Shaheen’s been given some feedback. He’s working on some things with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He’s working really well with Azhar Mahmood. We want to see Shaheen at his best because we’ve got a lot of cricket in all formats and Shaheen’s going to play a really big role in that.”
“He is playing three formats for Pakistan. He also recently became father and we want him to spend some time with his family,” he added.
Pakistan’s 12 for second Test:
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad