Pakistan have announced its squad for the home Test series against West Indies. It is clearly a spin-heavy squad as all the frontline spinners are back after missing out on the tour of South Africa.
However, a big surprise was the omission of the star fast bowler Shaheen Afridi. Afridi didn’t find a place in a squad that had only two fast bowlers in the form of Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali.
Shaheen wasn’t even picked in Pakistan’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa where conditions were more helpful for the seamers. He continues to be ignored which has raised questions about his future in Test cricket.
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Has Shaheen Afridi’s Test career ended?
A source claimed that Pakistan’s premier fast bowlers in the white-ball format Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah are being preserved for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants both bowlers in their best shape in the tournament.
“The selectors want Shaheen (Afridi) and even Naseem (Shah) at their best in the Champions Trophy as it is a 50-overs competition and we are defending champions,” the source was quoted as saying by PTI.
It is to be noted that Naseem Shah, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, and Aamer Jamal were all dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the home Test series against West Indies. All these bowlers were a part of the tour of South Africa which Pakistan lost 0-2 to the hosts.
The source further claimed that Shaheen has been rested because of the hectic schedule. Since Pakistan is already out of contention for the WTC Final, the selection panel didn’t want Afridi to be considered for Tests and wanted him to focus on white-ball formats.
“But for the West Indies series there was no purpose taxing him out since both teams are out of this cycle of the World Test Championship final contention and the selectors are planning to have spin pitches in Multan,” the source added.
Shaheen Afridi’s role in Pakistan’s ODI series win in South Africa
Shaheen Afridi is Pakistan’s premier fast bowler in white-ball cricket alongside Naseem Shah. Although the left-arm quick has been sidelined from the Test format, he continues to play an influential role in both ODIs and T20Is.
Afridi was a part of Pakistan’s squad for the ODI and T20I series in South Africa and performed reasonably well. He picked up 3 wickets in two T20Is and 7 wickets in three ODIs. He also helped Pakistan clinch a historic clean sweep over South Africa in the ODI series.
Shaheen Afridi’s numbers in Test cricket
Shaheen Afridi has played 31 Tests and picked up 116 wickets at an average of 27.88. He was Pakistan’s premier bowler across formats till last year. However, his performance dropped suddenly, especially in the Test format.
He was eventually dropped from Pakistan’s Test squad from the second Test against England last year as the team moved towards preparing more spin-friendly surfaces. Since then, he has been out of the Test team. However, the 24-year-old has confirmed that he is ready to play the Test format as well.