Srinagar: India legend Ravi Shastri has said that carrying on burden of inexperienced Paksitan pace attack is taking toll on Shaheen Shah Afridi.
While debutant pacer Aamer Jamal took six wicket haul on Friday on the Day 2 of first Test vs Australia in Perth, senior pro Shaheen Afridi had to contend with a solitary wicket.
Former India cricketer and coach, Ravi Shastri, during commentary, pinpointed the significant pressure on Shaheen Afridi as the spearhead of Pakistan’s bowling attack.
“I think the real problem for Shaheen is the pressure of being the spearhead of this Pakistan attack and without much support at the other end when it comes to pace. You don’t have one bowler here who is even close to 140, so that puts immense pressure on someone like Shaheen,” Shastri said.
Meanwhile Pakistan pace bowling coach Umar Gul said that he expects his bowlers to be in full rythem during second inning.
“We were expecting from Aamer Jamal that he can bowl for us a long spell and good pace,” Pakistan bowling coach Umar Gul said in post-day presser. “I think he did his job and we are quite happy with him.”
Gul also opened up about Shaheen Afridi, who could only sceure one wicket and seemed down on pace.
“Shaheen used to bowl at 140 kph in [white-bal cricket]. However, when you switch from white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket, you search for your rythym first. Since they are playing red ball cricket after a long time, their body gets tired fast and they are not used to bowling long spells. It will take time for our bowlers to get in rhythm and bowl at good pace. Hopefully, in second innings you will see them bowl with more pace,” Gul said.