LAHORE- Former Pakistan captains including Waqar Younis, Ramiz Raja and Shoaib Malik have opened up about Shaheen Afridi’s injuries and decrease in bowling speed during must-win match against Sri Lanka.
Waqar Younis said that Pakistan’s success had come when Shaheen really picked up early wickets and over the years, he’s done it many times and.
“He’s got capacity, capability, but at the moment he’s trying too hard,” said Waqar Younis while talking to a local TV.
He said that he was just falling all over the place and doing bowling on the pads.
“Outside the off stump he’s tried around the wicket over the wicket but nothing really worked for him,” he said, adding that he was sure that he would even sit back with Morne Morkel.
Waqar Younis stated that they would probably work out what was going wrong.
“There may be some action problem,” he said while sharing his opinion, pointing out that what if he was carrying any niggle or anything.
Ramiz Raja was of the view that the fast bowler is currently experiencing pain while bowling.
Raja said, “Shaheen has an injured finger and is bowling in pain,”. He expressed these concerns while highlighting the importance of Shaheen’s pace and wicket-taking ability with the new ball.
During a local media sports show, he urged the left-arm pacer to work with the team’s physiotherapist and trainer to address the decline in his average bowling speed. Talking about reduction in the pace of Shaheen, Shoaib Malik noted that he was recovering.
He stated that he thought it was a big concern for Pakistan cricket team since Shaheen’s ability to pick up wickets with the new ball, especially against big teams, is a major plus for Pakistan.
“Shaheen should undergo care as he should sit with the physio and trainer and work on why he isn’t able to bowl at his average speed,” said Malik, adding that he knew he was coming back from an injury but it is concerning to see that he isn’t able to bowl at 140kph bearing in mind the fact that even the first ball of his spell used to be around 145kph.
The pace, he said, he generated before injury had reduced considerably.
“Important matches are just on the corner like Australia, India and South Africa so the think tank must sit with Shaheen and find a solution for this issue,” he added.
Anil Kumble, former Indian cricketer, also expressed concerns about Shaheen’s form ahead of match against India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
“Bowling this way is just vulnerable. They have pace certainly but Shaheen Shah Afridi has still not hit the straps that you would expect from someone of his ability and quality,” he said, adding that if he emerged good for Pakistan, then you better watch out.
