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Shaheen Afridi Batting vs India - (Source : AFP)
After a lot of drama around participating against the UAE, Pakistan finally agreed to play against the Muhammad Waseem-led side, and the match got underway after an hour's delay. The Salman Agha-led side, featuring in the do-or-die match, were asked to bat first.
Similar to the match against India, the Men in Green got off to the worst possible start and lost five wickets for less than 100 runs. Fakhar Zaman was the only positive with a fifty-plus score. Pakistan's middle-order again failed to capitalise and seize the opportunity to score big.
Pakistan's Middle-Order A Big Issue
The likes of Salman Ali Agha, Hasan Nawaz, and Khushdil Shah failed to score big, and the runs failed to flow during the middle-order. Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi, who walked to bat after the fall of the seventh wicket, played a match-winning knock and slammed a quickfire 27 (13), which featured three sixes and two fours.
It is for the second straight time in this series that Shaheen has contributed with the bat, as the southpaw also scored an unbeaten 33 (16) against India.
Despite Shaheen's heroics in both matches, Pakistan have failed to put big runs on the board, and the middle-order is to be blamed. Meanwhile, this article will shed light on how Shaheen can be Pakistan's solution in the middle-order.
How Shaheen Can Be Solution To Pakistan's Key Issue
- For Pakistan to score big, they should promote Shaheen up the order, with the instruction to play aggressive cricket. The problem is that Pakistan's middle-order batters get too reserved and go into their shell as they don't want to lose their wicket, which indeed puts pressure on the team. However, Shaheen can play free-flowing cricket, and if he fails, then there are batters below him, but if he succeeds, then it can solve Pakistan's low-scoring issue during the middle-overs.
- Further, teams like to bring in spinners during the middle-overs and Shaheen, being a southpaw, is a great player of spin. Thus, his ability to bat spin alongside being a great batter against pace and slam big sixes can be of big use to Pakistan.
- The Men in Green can also draw inspiration from India and England, where they sent Axar Patel up the order to tackle off-spinners and also play free-flowing cricket. Further, the Three Lions also experimented by sending spinner Rehan Ahmed up the order during the first T20I vs Ireland, as the spinner is in great form with the bat.
Looking at Shaheen's Stats vs Pace and Spin In Asia Cup 2025
| Criteria | Pace | Spin |
| Innings | 3 | 3 |
| Runs | 47 | 17 |
| Balls Played | 20 | 11 |
| Strik-Rate | 200 | 126.5 |
Are Pakistan Really Not In Need Of Shaheen's Runs?
Recently, Shaheen's father-in-law and former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi had blasted the left-arm seamer after he got whacked by Abhishek Sharma and stated that the Men in Green do not need his runs, but they need wickets from him.
However, his statement stands corrected as Shaheen contributed 25.98% of the team's total vs India and 18.4% of the total vs the UAE.
