Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is fully fit and raring to go ahead of clash against arch-rivals India on October 14 in Ahmedabad during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
According to local media, Shaheen suffered a finger injury, while fielding in the Asia Cup match against India in Colombo, which caused some swelling. However, there is no pain now and the speedster is eager to do well against India tomorrow.
Earlier, former Pakistan captains Ramiz Raja and Shoaib Malik had revealed that Shaheen is bowling with an injury during the mega event.
While speaking during commentary in the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match on Tuesday, Raja said that “Shaheen has an injured finger and is bowling in pain”.
Meanwhile, Malik, while speaking on a local sports channel, highlighted the lack of pace in Shaheen’s bowling as Pakistan gear up for match against arch-rivals India.
“I think it is 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,” said Malik.
“Shaheen should take the initiative and sit with the physio and trainer and work on why he isn’t able to bowl at his average speed. I know he is 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 generated before injury has reduced considerably.
“There are important matches coming up for Pakistan like Australia, India and South Africa so the think tank must sit with him [Shaheen] and find a solution for this problem.”
The left-armer conceded 66 runs in nine overs while taking one wicket against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. In the first match of the World Cup against the Netherlands, he bagged figures of 1-37 in seven overs.
- Shaheen Afridi
