The former Pakistan captain spoke in detail about the major differences in the handling of Shaheen Afridi and India’s Jasprit Bumrah.
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced the team’s Asia Cup squad last week, and while its leading fast bowler Shaheen Afridi was included, his participation in the continental tournament is now in doubt. Shaheen sustained a knee injury before the second Test against Sri Lanka earlier this month and is still out; however, he is travelling with the Pakistan squad to the Netherlands, as Babar Azam stated that the team’s doctor and physio can take care of the fast bowler there.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has now spoken in detail about Shaheen’s injury, stating that his repeated calls for PCB to rest the fast bowler went in vain.
“Without Shaheen, Pakistan’s attack will not be that impactful. At the same time, it’s an opportunity for youngsters like Naseem Shah, Dahani. It is their chance to prove that they can also take responsibility. We often talked about minimizing the load of Afridi, to not play him everywhere, to save him. But it didn’t happen. Now, he’s injured and if he’s not in the Asia Cup, it’s an opportunity for others to prove their mettle. If the youngsters don’t step up, questions will be raised on why they were not given chances earlier. Why Shaheen was played everywhere. Why he was overloaded,” said Butt on his official YouTube channel.
“However, the good news is that the youngsters have a fantastic opportunity.”
Later in the video, the former Pakistan captain mentioned Bumrah when the host mentioned that India will also be without their leading pacer due to a back injury. However, Butt stated that India continues to experiment with new bowlers in almost every game and will not face the same problems as Pakistan.
“They keep playing new players in every game. Yes, there’s no other bowler like him. He’s their best product and one of the best in the world. So it will have an impact. But India have moved on from that state of mind. They keep changing their team in every match. So I don’t think it would be a major issue. Even if there’s a major issue, there’s a big difference between Bumrah and others. So, others will have to ensure that the difference doesn’t look that big,” said Butt.
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