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Shaheen Afridi gives major update on Pakistan return ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

Mayank

Shaheen is currently recovering from a knee injury [Source: CricCrazyJohns/X.com]Shaheen is currently recovering from a knee injury [Source: CricCrazyJohns/X.com]

Pakistan's fast bowling spearhead, Shaheen Afridi's recent knee injury during his stint with the Brisbane Heat in the ongoing BBL season, had a lot of fans concerned regarding his participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup in February-March, as they look to end their wait for their second title.

He also cut short his BBL stint and returned home from Australia ahead of New Year's Eve so the PCB medical team could monitor his rehabilitation and treat him, while keeping the T20 World Cup in mind. Just over a week after sustaining the blow, the left-arm quick has shared an update on his recovery, which comes as good news for Pakistan cricket in its quest for the trophy.

Here's what Shaheen had to say about his latest knee injury.

Shaheen Afridi provides knee injury update

During his recent conversation with the ICC media team, the fast bowler showed optimism for the upcoming T20 competition and revealed details of his injury and spoke about the expected recovery time before he could bowl for the Men in Green again.

"My rehab is ongoing, with the PCB team monitoring it. I'm doing gym work and working on my batting at the moment. I'll start bowling next week. It's not as serious as it was last time. There's a bit of swelling on the bone. The MRI report wasn't that [concerning], this might not take a month. It's more like a week,” Pakistan ace pacer said.

Shaheen's persistent knee issue

As mentioned by the bowler in the aforementioned quote, the 25-year-old has had a dreadful history of knee injuries. Back in 2022, the bowler had suffered a posterior cruciate ligament injury to the same knee that he had injured this time and was sidelined from the action for the better part of the year, including the early matches of that year's T20 World Cup.

Reportedly, his rehabilitation at the time was also rushed to bring him back to fitness for the T20 World Cup in Australia, and the effects of it were evident whenever he took to the field, visibly limping while running and also losing some pace before he gradually got back in rhythm after a considerable number of matches.

Shaheen central to Pakistan's T20 World Cup dream

Having previously represented Pakistan in three T20 and two fifty-over World Cups since making his debut, Shaheen has become the spearhead of Pakistan's bowling, while also captaining them in ODIs and T20Is. As an experienced campaigner and the first bowler from his country to pick over 100 wickets across formats, he will be a crucial cog in their core group if Pakistan wants to win the tournament for the first time since 2009.

So far, in 96 T20Is played, the opening bowler has picked 126 wickets at an economy rate of 7.71 and an average of 21.26, striking in every 16.5 balls. He also adds a bit of firepower lower down the batting order and can be handy at the back-end with the bat in hand.