- Shaheen Afridi skipped Pakistan's 3rd Test.
- Former greats Wasim & Waqar slammed Afridi.
- Haris Rauf is unavailable due to BBL contract
Wasim asserted that the choice of which format to prioritize "had nothing to do with the management" and was "solely [Shaheen's] decision," cautioning players more generally that they had to make the decision of "if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire."
"Straight after this there are five T20s in New Zealand, and Shaheen's the captain," Wasim said on Fox Cricket. "But T20 cricket, who cares? I understand, it's there for entertainment and it's there for financial gain for cricket boards, for players, but cricketers should know that Test cricket is the ultimate.
"If we talk about what happened 20 years ago in this Test in Sydney, nobody knows what happened last night in T20. That's the difference. These guys have to understand and learn, if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire. You can become both but with a little more sense."
Comparably taken aback, Waqar remarked that Afridi's absence "made me laugh".
"That's a real shocker for me because I was expecting him to be a part of this Test match because he looked good in the previous match. He started feeling like the old Shaheen Afridi and started to swing the ball and the pace was getting better."
🗣️ "I played two games, and a lot of overs to be honest. They're just managing my workload, the medical team and team management decided to take a rest for this (Test)."@copes9 chats with Shaheen Afridi about the decision to not play at the SCG, and plenty more #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/VuNCaIeB1K
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 3, 2024
Pakistan expressed concern over Afridi's workload throughout the first two Tests. With no lead spinner in the first two Test matches, he headed a young, thin fast bowling lineup that bowled four balls shy of 100 overs, about thirty more than Nathan Lyon, the second busiest bowler in the series.
As he took on more responsibilities in white-ball cricket, his workload over a longer time span has also become a problem. He signed a three-year contract with the ILT20 last year and is the captain of the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In addition, he was named captain of the Pakistan Twenty20 International team, which he will lead to a five-match T20I series in New Zealand that begins five days after the third Test is supposed to conclude. Since July 2022, just eight fast bowlers have bowled more balls than Afridi in international cricket, despite the fact that he missed time due to injury.
Prior to the series, Haris Rauf had chosen to sign a BBL contract with the Melbourne Stars, making himself unavailable.
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