'County cricket is not ideal for him' - Salman Butt criticizes Shaheen Afridi for participating in ongoing season

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt is not convinced with pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi’s participation in County Championship. The tearaway fast bowler is representing Middlesex in the ongoing season. He has signed up with the London-based club to play at the 2022 County Championship and played his second match this week.

Talking about the tall cricketer’s County season, Salman Butt has said that the former is unnecessarily overburdening himself with Pakistan having a packed international calendar later this year including the Asia Cup and the ICC T20 World Cup. Butt has instead suggested Shaheen give rest to his body after a challenging 12 months.

Shaheen is our only best bowler in all three formats: Salman Butt

“Shaheen is our only best bowler in all three formats,” Butt said on YouTube Channel Cricket Baaz. “I don’t know if they looked at his workload but County cricket is not ideal for him. He is not somebody who doesn’t know how to bowl in England. So why risk burning out such a bowler especially when he needed rest ahead of the two upcoming World Cups in one year. There is also Test Championship and Asia Cup which are important but County cricket isn’t as far as Shaheen is concerned,” added Salman Butt.

Meanwhile, it is to be noted that Shaheen Afridi has made himself available for Middlesex for the entire season. He will only be back to join the international camp in mid-July. The left-arm speedster has also decided to participate in the knockout stages provided his team qualifies in the first place.

The pace sensation had played an instrumental role in Middlesex’s emphatic win over Glamorgan by an innings and 82 runs. His debut turned out to be a memorable one as he successfully made the ball do the talking registering four scalps to his name. With two multi-nation tournaments and some crucial ICC World Test Championship points on the line, Pakistan would be hoping that their bowling hero will make a tremendous impact going forward without being worn out.