Pakistan’s Head Coach Explains Why Shaheen Shah Afridi Will Miss 2nd Test Against Bangladesh

Star Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi will miss the second Test against Bangladesh, which starts on Friday (August 30) in Rawalpindi. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday to announce the 12-man squad for the series decider, which is set to take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, and surprisingly there was no place for Shaheen. The 24-year-old left-arm pacer is the leader of Pakistan’s pace attack in all three formats of the game and is one of the best bowlers of present times.

He led the side’s four-man pace attack in the first Test, which Pakistan lost by 10 wickets last week. Afridi picked up two wickets in the series opener, but his exclusion from the second Test came as a surprise for fans. Shortly after Pakistan’s 12-man squad was released by PCB, Pakistan’s Test head coach Jason Gillespie attended a press conference in Rawalpindi and explained the reason for Shaheen’s exclusion from the playing XI.

According to the former Australian pacer, who took charge of Pakistan’s red-ball side earlier this year, the decision to leave Shaheen was taken after recent developments in the star pacer’s life. Shaheen became father of a baby boy last week, and the break will allow him to spend some time with his family and also work on his bowling to be more effective.

“He’s had an interesting couple of weeks. He’s a new father, so we are seeing an opportunity where we may allow him to go and spend time with his family as well as also work on something with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He’s been working really well with Azhar Mahmood, which has been fantastic because we want to see Shaheen at his very best because there is a lot of cricket across all formats moving forward, and he’s going to play a big role in that. But right now, we’ve got all the bases covered,” Gillespie told reporters on Thursday.

In Shaheen’s place, Pakistan has added pacer Mir Hamza and spinner Abrar Ahmed in the 12-man squad. It will be interesting to see who manages to find a place in the playing XI for the must-win match as the replacement of Shaheen.