Shan Masood reveals reason behind dropping Shaheen Afridi for Sydney Test

Pakistan captain Shan Masood opened up on star pacer Shaheen Afridi getting rested for the third and final Test against host Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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Shaheen Afridi will not participate in the dead-rubber fixture. The star pacer was replaced with spinner Sajid Khan.

For the unversed, the left-arm pacer – who shouldered greater responsibility in the absence of fellow fast bowler Naseem Shah bowled around 100 overs, took eight wickets at an average of 41.62 and an economy of 3.35.

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Cricket experts and fans had called for him to be rested for the games. They had attributed his recent lacklustre performances to his heavy workload.

Shan Masood opened up on Shaheen Africa’s exclusion from the playing XI for the upcoming game in a pre-match press conference. According to him, the team and the management never doubted the pacer’s skills and determination but his workload needs to be managed for physical and mental well-being.

“Personally and as a team, we have never had any doubts when it comes to Shaheen [Afridi],” he said as quoted by the Pakistan Cricket Board in its statement. “If you look at his records, he has bowled the highest number of overs in a while in world cricket. It is up to us to make sure he is looked after, physically and mentally.”

He added, “Fitness and workload impact performance. Our all-format players have been playing continuous cricket for a while now—they have played three World Cups in the past three years while also playing the World Test Championship simultaneously. We have been trying to address this to balance match significance and workload.”

Pakistan’s playing XI for the third Test against Australia: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Aamir Jamal, Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza.