Ahmed Shehzad is a talented player: Shahid Afridi

The former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi believes that Ahmed Shehzad is a talented player and needs to play his natural game. He was dropped in the middle of the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka recently. Though Afridi has shown his faith in the cricketer and has bagged him in his side for the upcoming T10 League in UAE. Shehzad is desperate for runs and Afridi feel he may regain his confidence after playing in the league and return to the national side.

The 25-year-old batsman has lost his place in the side due to persistent failures. It is also being reported that he might be dropped from the squad in the next limited overs series of Pakistan. He disappointed in the ODI series and returned with the scores of 0 and 8. Also in the couple of T20Is, his scores were not so encouraging and lost his place to the players like Imam-Ul-Haq in ODIs and Umar Amin in T20Is. Both played extremely well in the limited outings which has compounded the problems for the youngster.

He is an aggressive player

Shahid Afridi, the captain and icon player of T10 league’s franchise Pakhtoons, welcomed Shehzad on board after picking him in his team. He also revealed the reason of him not performing well recently. Afridi opined that when Shehzad goes into defensive mode, he can’t perform better and needs to play his natural game in the middle.

“Picking Shehzad in this team is to revive his confidence. Shehzad is a talented player. I don’t know if he is comfortable playing with me. “He is an aggressive player which is good for this format as well. I feel if he plays his natural game, he will perform better. When Shehzad starts defensive cricket, he can’t perform. Overall it is good to have him on board for the league,” he said. Afridi and Shehzad are known to have shared a good relationship when the former was in the team and hopefully playing for his team might help him in the near future.