One of the reporters asked him about Shaheen Afridi and how he’s feeling after the national team snub.
Following Lahore Qalandars’ last game in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025, David Wiese attended the post-match press conference. One of the reporters asked him about Shaheen Afridi and how he’s feeling after the national team snub.
Wiese discussed how things haven’t been smooth between the fast bowler and Pakistan cricket. However, he disclosed that Shaheen is still practising hard and praised him for his exceptional leadership skills.
“Obviously, there’s been a couple of things going with him and Pakistan, not playing the last couple of series. But he is the exact same Shaheen that I know and the group. He is practising hard; as a captain, he is the leader that we expect him to be there. And he is a natural leader. So, again, just because you haven’t been putting in good performances or you have been struggling with performances doesn’t make you a bad bowler or bad player.”
Wiese has worked closely with Shaheen at Lahore Qalandars and understands his modus operandi better than many overseas players. The duo tasted immense success together, winning PSL in 2022 and 2023 for the Qalandars.
While there’s been no doubt about his quality, Shaheen Afridi has been below par in international cricket for a while. This year, he has eight wickets at a mediocre average of 42.62 and conceded 7.25 runs per over in five ODI innings.
ALSO READ:
Further, he has two wickets at 66.50 runs apiece and an economy rate of 10.23 in four T20I innings in 2025. Shaheen has been mighty expensive and lacked rhythm as a bowler whenever he has played in white-ball cricket, which led to PCB’s bold move.
PCB dropped him from the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, for which they received ample criticism from fans across the globe. Even as a whole, Shaheen and PCB haven’t been on the same page since Shaheen was snubbed as a T20I captain.
Maybe they should have given a longer rope to Shaheen, but the PCB expected instant results, which didn’t happen. As a captain, he played only five matches but won only one, leading to an abrupt end to his captaincy stint in the shortest format.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
