ANI
Rawalpindi
Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie on Thursday confirmed that star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been dropped from the playing eleven against Bangladesh in the second Test match.
Pakistan conceded a massive 10-wicket loss against Bangladesh in the first match of the two-game Test series.
In the first Test match, Afridi picked up two wickets and conceded 96 runs at an average of 48.
Speaking ahead of the match, Gillespie said that the team management had a “good conversation” with the pacer. The head coach added that Afridi “understands and appreciates” the decision.
“Shaheen’s missed out this game. We’ve had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. Shaheen’s been given some feedback.
“He’s working on some things with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He’s working really well with Azhar Mahmood. We want to see Shaheen at his best because we’ve got a lot of cricket in all formats and Shaheen’s going to play a really big role in that,” Gillespie was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.
Gillespie added that the team management is allowing him to “go and spend some time with his family” since he just became a father a few days back.
“Shaheen’s had an interesting last couple of weeks. He’s a new father. We’re seeing an opportunity where we’re able to allow him to go and spend some time with his family as well.”
Pakistan squadcColor:> Shan Masood (C), Saud Shakeel (VC), Abrar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub and Salman
Ali Agha.
