'Painkillers should be taken...' - Shahid Afridi on Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Shaheen Afridi

Babar Azam-led Pakistan lost the T20 World Cup 2022 final to England by five wickets. In a low-scoring clash, at the iconic MCG, Melbourne, Pakistan were asked to bat first and only managed 137 for 8 in 20 overs, courtesy of Sam Curran's 3 for 12 and two-fers each from Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan. In reply, Jos Buttler & Co. were made to sweat hard for their runs but Ben Stokes' 49-ball 52 took them past the finish line, with five wickets and an over to spare.

During the run-chase, Shaheen Afridi failed to complete his full quota of overs. Coming on to bowl the 16th over, with Pakistan still in the game, Shaheen injured himself -- as a result of a catch he took the previous over -- due to injury concerns (knee). Many former cricketers described Shaheen's injury as a turning point of the match. As he failed to complete thew 16th over and went to the pavilion with five balls left to bowl, England still had 41 more runs to score off 29 balls. Reflecting on Shaheen's injury, Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar recently told Zee News,"But this is World Cup final. Even if the leg breaks. Whatever happens, happens. Just keep running and do something. But this was not in our fortune. When you numb your feet, the pain is not felt. Yes, you are risking the career of the young man. It is a World Cup final, whether you can risk or not that you have to think as a captain. It is a tough decision."

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Shahid Afridi, Akhtar's former captain, has now slammed the ex-pacer for his suggestion for the young pacer. Talking to Samaa TV, the former Pakistan all-rounder and captain said, "No, no…not at all, it's wrong. Painkillers should be taken in a disciplined manner. I too used to take it. But it has a lot of side effects. It does numb the pain for a while, but after the match day, it tends to pain even more)."

Talking about Shaheen's injury, captain Babar Azam said at the post-match presentation after the T20 WC final, "Unfortunately Shaheen's injury put us off, but that's part of the game."

The 22-year-old Shaheen has been ruled out of action from Pakistan's upcoming home Test series versus England and Haris Rauf is set to replace him. Rauf, who was part of Pakistan's T20 WC campaign in Australia, remains an uncapped player in the purest format of the game.