PAK vs BAN, 2nd Test: Shaheen Shah Afridi axed from Rawalpindi contest; Abrar Ahmed included
PAK vs BAN, 2nd Test: Shaheen Shah Afridi axed from Rawalpindi contest; Abrar Ahmed included
Pakistan management has axed star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi from the second Test match against Bangladesh as the speedster’s poor run continues. The second Test match set to start on Friday (Aug 30) will see Afridi on the sidelines as visitors Bangladesh search for a historic series win against the hosts. The management has drafted in spinner Abrar Ahmed and Mir Hamza for the second Test as they look to end the two-match series on parity having lost the opening contest by 10 wickets.
Pakistan men's red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie's press conference ahead of the second #PAKvBAN Test 🏏#TestOnHai pic.twitter.com/anpzl5fKpS — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 29, 2024
Pakistan axe Shaheen Shah Afridi
"Shaheen's missed out this game," Test coach Jason Gillespie said. "We've had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. Shaheen's been given some feedback. He's working on some things with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He's working really well with Azhar Mahmood. We want to see Shaheen at his best because we've got a lot of cricket in all formats and Shaheen's going to play a really big role in that."
Having returned to the Test set-up for the first time since the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Shaheen was ineffective overall, having scalped two wickets in both innings combined. He ended with figures of 88/2 in the first innings and was not needed to bowl much in the second innings as Bangladesh needed just 30 runs to win.
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Head coach Jason Gillespie backed the ability of Shaheen but wanted a spinner in the team having struggled tremendously. The management has decided to draft Abrar Ahmed in the side who will act as the specialist spinner for the side.
Pakistan 12-man squad for second Test
Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Kamran Ghulam, Abrar Ahmed