Pakistani bowling legends Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were not happy with lead pacer Shaheen Afridi being rested from the ongoing third and final Test between Australia and Pakistan being played in Sydney.
Despite not having a good outing in the first Test in Perth, Shaheen Afridi bounced back in the second Test in Melbourne, taking 7 wickets in all including 4/76 in the second innings at MCG.
The Pakistan team management's decision to rest Shaheen from the Sydney Test is believed to be because of the T20I series against New Zealand. Shaheen Afridi will lead Pakistan for the first time in New Zealand in a series of five T20Is, from January 12.
Wasim Akram launched a scathing attack on Shaheen and said it was the left-arm fast bowlers who "solely" took the call to rest and not the team management.
"It had nothing to do with the management. It was "solely [Shaheen's] decision,” Akram told Fox Sports.
Akram said players will have to decide "if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire. Straight after this, there are five T20s in New Zealand, and Shaheen's the captain. But in T20 cricket, who cares? I understand it's there for entertainment and it's there for financial gain for cricket boards, for players, but cricketers should know that Test cricket is the ultimate.
"If we talk about what happened 20 years ago in this Test in Sydney, nobody knows what happened last night in T20. That's the difference. These guys have to understand and learn if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire. You can become both but with a little more sense,” Akram added.
Shaheen’s workload has been a talking point, given that he bowled the most overs in the first two Tests, and considering the history of injury he has had, it only makes sense to rotate him.
On the other hand, Waqar Younis said that he was shocked to see Shaheen being rested and found the whole incident "laughable".
"We play for Test match cricket. We don't play for T20s or one-day cricket. And if you're missing Test match cricket purely because you are being rested, I do not understand. That's a real shocker for me because I was expecting him to be a part of this Test match because he looked good in the previous match. He started feeling like the old Shaheen Afridi and started to swing the ball and the pace was getting better,” Waqar said to Channel 7 on the morning of the first day.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, after choosing to bat first in Sydney, was bowled out for 313 on day one. Mohammad Rizwan with 88 and Aamer Jamal with 82 were the star batters for the visitors, while Pat Cummins picked his third consecutive five-wicket haul in the series.
