'Ever since Mohammad Amir came in, Shaheen has been....' - Danish Kaneria lambasts Pakistan over mismanagement of star pacer
Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 after they come third in their group, with a couple of losses and as many wins to their name.
A few hours after the most recent critique of the Pakistan cricket team by former cricketer, Ahmed Shehzad, following their lowest-ever finish at the T20 World Cup, a tournament they previously won in 2009, another ex-cricketer, Danish Kaneria, has voiced his disappointment with the think tank.
However, this critique was not arbitrary or aimed vaguely at filling space. It was explicitly directed at the team management and the two primary pace-bowling figures of Pakistan, Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Speaking with SportsNow, the former leg-spinner expressed his belief that ever since Amir joined the squad for the prestigious event, Shaheen, who had been the team's foremost pace bowler for the last three years (207 wickets in 115 innings across all formats with eight POTM and 2 POTS awards since June 2021), was relegated to a secondary role.
He opined that despite conceding slightly more runs in Pakistan's opening match against the USA during the run-chase, Shaheen should've been entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the Super Over instead of Amir. This decision, he argued, should have been influenced by Shaheen's impressive track record in delivering under pressure in crucial moments, which he had demonstrated consistently in the recent past.
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Ever since Mohammad Amir came in, Shaheen has been treated as a secondary bowler. Shaheen is one such guy who's been a main bowler for you over the last 3 years. He's taken wickets and won matches for you single-handedly. Yet in the Super Over vs USA, they don't count on Shaheen Afridi," Kaneria told SportsNow.
Are they so scared?: Kaneria
Delving deeper into another decision during the Super Over of the same game against the co-hosts, Kaneria remarked that opting not to send the regular opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan, but instead Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman, portrayed the management as tentative in their approach.
"In batting also, you're sending Fakhar and Iftikhar. Why did they (team management) not send Babar and Rizwan in the Super Over? Are they so scared?," added Kaneria.
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