Shaheen Afridi's injury could be due to workload, he has been playing continuously: Aaqib Javed

Former Pakistan cricketer Aaqib Javed felt that pacer Shaheen Afridi might be ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 due to workload issues and noted the weightage of it. Afridi is among the best pacers going around in the world circuit at the moment, and his pace and swing upfront has troubled a lot of batters. The 22-year-old has a bowling average of less than 25 in all three formats and has been leading Pakistan’s bowling attack for a while now.

Shaheen had a great impact against the Indian top order in the previous India-Pakistan game of the T20 World Cup 2021, and it led to the men in green clinching their first victory in World Cup fixtures against India. However, he is now set to miss the high-intensity Asia Cup fixture between India and Pakistan on August 28, which left a lot of experts by surprise.

Left-arm pacers always gave a tough time to Indian batters: Aaqib Javed

Javed mentioned that workload could be one of the reasons for Shaheen’s absence from Asia Cup 2022 and felt that it is a big loss for the Pakistan side given his skillset. He wanted the team to stay patient on Shaheen’s injury and not hurry him into the lineup as the youngster has been seen as the future. He highlighted India’s struggles against left-arm seamers, including the 2017 Champions Trophy against Mohammad Amir and the 2021 T20 World Cup against Shaheen.

“It could be due to workload. Shaheen has been playing cricket continuously. No doubt, it’s a huge loss for Pakistan before the Asia Cup, and the team will feel his absence,” Javed said while speaking to Geo News.

“Team management should deal with patience. Do not panic in this situation and let Shaheen recover completely. He has a long career ahead.”

“Previously, it was Amir and then Shaheen. The left-arm pacers always gave a tough time to Indian batters. Amir led us to victory in the Champions Trophy 2017 and Shaheen in T20 World Cup 2021,” Javed concluded.