He has picked over 100 wickets in the shortest format for Pakistan.
A left-arm speedster is often a batter’s worst nightmare. The delivery leaving the pacer’s arm at an angle and coming in to the batter with a perfect seam is one of the most elegant scenes to watch in the game. Though many have achieved the credits for executing it, a few bowlers have done it consistently over a period of years. One such speedster from Pakistan has been on the sidelines for quite a while, and is raring to have a go yet again.
Shaheen Shah Afridi has had a fair bit of struggles in the recent past. After bursting onto the scene in his initial days, his career trajectory hit some turbulence, as his very essence of being a fast bowler was found wanting. Due to injuries, the pace of one of Pakistan’s best left-arm pacer reduced drastically. As a result, he was unable to rattle the batters up – something he used to do very often in international cricket.
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The speedster lost his spark in the year 2022. He injured his right knee while attempting to take a catch against Sri Lanka in a Test match. This injury propelled him not to be a part of the Asia Cup in 2022. He returned for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup the same year, but was soon found wanting again in the Final against England. Sustaining an injury to the same body part again was never going to help his case.
But it looks like the worst days are past the pacer. And it could not have happened at a better time. The teams are standing on the foothill of the Asia Cup 2025, which is set to commence on September 9. After being temporarily dropped from the side, Shaheen Shah Afridi is expected to make a strong turnaround.
One cannot really keep a good player down for too long. Not even injuries. For a player of the calibre of Shaheen Shah Afridi, he was meant to rise back up. According to Pakistan’s bowling coach Ashley Noffke, the speedster is on his way towards full recovery. He stated that Shaheen is already showing very good improvements and is on the road towards bowling like he used to before injuries pulled him back. Most importantly, Shaheen realises that his pace has dropped and has accepted the need for an improvement.
Noffke mentioned that the 25-year-old is slowly regaining his lost pace and is close to hitting the 140kmph mark. These speeds were observed during their recent tour to the West Indies, for which he was included in the squad. Moreover, the bowling coach also added that his confidence is also on its way back up again. A confident Shaheen Shah Afridi running in towards the batter is one of the first things Salman Agha would want from his pacer.
“In terms of pace, he is aware it has dropped and he has experienced a dip in form. Recovering pace takes time, but we’re building nicely now. We’ve started seeing more balls in the 140km/h range during the West Indies series. He’s definitely on his way back and his confidence is growing”, said Noffke.
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Whatever said and done, the Men in Green are in the midst of transformation. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, two of their most important players have found rock bottom in terms of their form. Since quite a while, both Babar and Rizwan have not been able to contribute anything towards the team’s chances and hence they had to be sidelined. Salman Agha has been leading the side since, and will also be at the helm for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025.
After their humiliating series defeat to Bangladesh away, the Shaheens found some respite in the series against the West Indies. For the upcoming tournament, a lot will depend on the services of Shaheen. In 81 T20Is, the left-arm pacer has bagged 104 wickets at an average of a just over 22. To add to that, he also holds two four-wicket hauls to his name. Out of the 104, 92 wickets have come in the situation of him opening the bowling. And this is where he will be vital to Pakistan’s chances.
Apart from the seam movement, left-arm pacers provide teams with another advantage. Bowling over the wicket, the left-handed quicks often end up creating foot marks outside the off-stump at the bowling end. As a result, these foot marks can be used to off-spinners to turn the ball into the right-hander. It will be important to watch how Salman Agha uses his quicks at venues where there is not much purchase.
