The pacer Shaheen Afridi has revealed the reason for his rest in the third test against Pakistan’s Australia tour.
Reason for Shaheen’s rest on 3rd AUS Test
Shaheen Afridi has confirmed that the team management decided to rest him for the third and final test against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground. Shaheen Shah Afridi’s answers hit back at those who criticized him for resting from the Cape Town test.
The key pacer was rested for the third test to feature in the five T20Is in Pakistan’s New Zealand tour in 2024.
He was set to lead Pakistan for the first time as the new T20I captain on the New Zealand tour which is set to start on January 12. However, the decision was heavily criticized by Pakistan legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
Wasim went on to state that it was solely Shaheen’s decision alone and not the team management’s call. During the third test, Shaheen revealed the reason for his rest in the broadcast.
“I played two games, and a lot of overs to be honest. They’re just managing my workload, the medical team and team management decided to take a rest for this (Test),” said Afridi in the air during lunch on Day 1.
Afridi bowled 45.1 overs in the first test and picked up two wickets. He was better during the second test as he dismissed two batters in the first innings and bagged four wickets in the second innings after bowling 54 overs.
He also featured in the practice match against the Australians. He said that he could have got more wickets on this tour if catches weren’t dropped off his bowling.
“I think that I can take more wickets, but unfortunately catches win matches, and unfortunately we missed those opportunities on the field most of the time.”
“It has been a good tour so far and the last game that we played was quite awesome. As a bowling unit, and as a team, we gave our best, the result was not in our hands, but we tried.”
“The wicket looks okay so far, and in the matches that have been played here before, it has favored the team batting first.”
“They bowled in good areas this morning, and Saim Ayub our superstar, he is new, so these sorts of things happen. But, we will come back soon.”
“It was a tough first session, but Shan and Rizwan are still at the crease and we are hopeful that they will put together a huge partnership,” Afridi added.
So far, Pakistan scored 313 runs on the third test in the first innings, while Australia scored 6 runs by the end of the first day. David Warner scored 6* runs in the match.
