Pakistan's ace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will be out of action for few months after his knee injury recurred in T20 World Cup 2022. Now, he is expected to sit out the home test series against England and New Zealand. Former Pakistan cricket legend Aqib Javed lambasted the Pakistani management for putting Afridi's career at risk by sending him to bowl. Aqib was one of the many people with a bizarre piece of advice for Afridi when he advised him to pull out of the T20 World Cup until his injury healed. Irate Javed on GEO super said that players like him are gold dust and come once in a blue moon in a team.
“Shaheen aaye, inko bhi unhone shuru me khilaaya when he wasn't fit enough to play World Cup games. Aur uske baad aaj bhi, jahan se hamne shuru kiya, dono unfit the aur World Cup ke baad bhi dono unfit hain. (Shaheen was played when he wasn't fit enough for World Cup. Today, we are exactly where we started; with two injured players),” former Pakistan cricketer said.
“Maine World Cup ke pehle bhi kaha tha ki Shaheen is important -- not for World Cup kyunki vo toh do saal baad firse aa jaayega. Shaheen jaisa bowler, agar kuch nuksaan hua, toh kaise aap paida karoge? I'm very disappointed with Pakistan cricket board's medical panel. (I said this before the World Cup, Shaheen is important but World Cup comes every two years. How will you bring another Shaheen?),” he added.
This saga started when he sustained an injury while playing an ODI series against the Netherlands which further spiraled into ruling him out of the Asia Cup 2022. He was even in doubt to play the T20 World Cup as he hadn't fully convalesced from the debilitating injury, this became apparent as his pace dropped considerably in the recent T20 World Cup and his performances were not quite up to the mark in the first two games.
The injury resurfaced and aggravated in the final against England when he took a fine catch of Harry Brook at long-off. But instead of sprinting away in celebration, the 22-year-old found himself in agony and called for help from dugout. He was soon assisted down the tunnel in a bid to nurse his injury.
He did make a comeback on the field in a last-ditch effort to bowl his third over. However, he had to abort for good after bowling one ball. This led to Iftikhar Ahmed filling in for him and Stokes pounced on the opportunity and mercilessly smashed the part-time bowler for a four and a six which released pressure off England.
