The left-arm quick is currently plying his trade in the Champions One-Day Cup.
Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten has pointed out a major concern for their star pacer Shaheen Afridi, citing his workload.
The left-arm quick is currently plying his trade in the Champions One-Day Cup, where he has bowled 19.5 overs for Lions so far and returned with five wickets at an average of 24.
During the recently held Test series against Bangladesh at home, Shaheen was not included in the playing XI of the second match to manage his workload.
Pakistan are going to host England in three Test matches next month and they will need Shaheen to be at his 100% in the upcoming series.
Commenting on Shaheen Afridi’s workload, Kirsten highlighted that him and Naseem Shah have carried Pakistan’s bowling across formats in recent years and they should be rested accordingly.
“Fast bowlers are always under immense pressure to deliver and win games. When we look at our key resources, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have carried the bulk of the workload for Pakistan across all formats,” said Kirsten on commentary during the Champions Cup match.
“I saw a stat the other day that Shaheen has bowled three times more overs than any other fast bowler in the world over the last 18 months. That's alarming — you’re bound to wear him down eventually,” he added.
However, Kirsten’s claim that Shaheen has bowled most overs among fast bowlers in the last 18 months isn’t true as Australia’s Mitchell Starc is heading that list. Starc has bowled 531.3 overs since 1st March 2023 in international cricket as opposed to Shaheen’s 455.1 overs, which is the fourth most in the same time period.
Shaheen Afridi has claimed most wickets in this period with 96 scalps to his name from 54 innings at an average of 24.19.