Shaheen Shah Afridi admits to be thinking about 'quitting' during injury layoff

Ace Pakistan seamer Shaheen Afridi revealed shocking thoughts that crossed his mind while he was undergoing rehab for his injured knee lately. The left-arm fast bowler didn’t have the best of 2022 as he remained on the sidelines for most of the time even missing the second half of the home season against England and New Zealand. As his road to recovery wasn’t pleasing or smooth by any means, Afridi reveals he literally thought about letting this go and step aside as his muscle issue wasn’t recovering despite rigorous training and rehabilitation.

Speaking to AP, Afridi who is now deemed fit and will be seen wearing the captain’s hat for Lahore Qalandars in the upcoming season of the PSL 8, admitted that thoughts of giving up on everything kept coming in while he was waiting in the wings for his return.

“There were times when I wanted to give up. I was working on only one muscle and it was not improving. Often during the rehabilitation sessions, I used to say to myself ‘this is enough, I cannot do this anymore,” Afridi told AP.

©️ meet ©️ #SabSitarayHumaray #HBLPSL8 pic.twitter.com/LC7S23bQ91 — Lahore Qalandars (@lahoreqalandars) February 12, 2023

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Afridi started to feel the pain in his knees during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka in July last year. He then got his treatment done, and for precaution sake alsohe was out of cricket for nearly three and a half months before being brought back, rather prematurely, for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October.

During his side’s opening game against India, Afridi looked rusty but with time he gained momentum and even shined with the ball during the later stages of the tournament. As Pakistan qualified for the finals against England, the big blow came during then, when Afridi sustained injury to his already torn knee while fielding. That saw him leaving the field immediately, and considering the match situation then, Afridi’s absence was the final nail in coffin for Pakistan – who lost the final by five wickets.

The curse didn’t end there; for Afridi playing competitive cricket looked like a distant dream as he was ruled out for indefinite time – meaning he missed the all-important Test series against England at home and the following series against New Zealand also.

While he would be seen playing in PSL 8 now, given it is a World Cup year, the PCB must be chalking out plans on how to manage his workload.