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'Management Decided' - Shaheen Afridi Opens Up On His Omission For 3rd Test vs AUS

image-lqxfoejuShaheen Shah Afridi rested from 3rd Test between AUS and PAK. [PC: X]

In a significant turn of events, Pakistan took everyone by surprise when they announced their playing XI on Tuesday for the ongoing third and the final Test against Australia in Sydney without their star-pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi featuring in it.

The left-arm pacer is currently the leader of the Pakistan pace attack and was left on the sidelines, alongside opener Imam-ul-Haq for the New Year’s Test at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. The Shan Masood-led team has been struggling, having lost the first two Tests of the three-match series.

They are already without the experience and form of Naseem Shah due to injury and Haris Rauf, who refused to be a part of the Test team recently. Even though Shaheen had a tough start to the series, struggling with lack of pace in the first Test, the 23-year-old eventually improved as the series went on, with him taking 4 wickets in the second innings of the second Test in Melbourne.

However, just then, the Pakistan management dropped an absolute shocker as they took a bold decision to rest their bowling spearhead and fielded a brand new bowling combination in Sydney, featuring the likes of Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal and spinner Sajid Khan.

While speaking to Channel 7 during the Lunch break on Day 1 in Sydney, Shaheen opened up on his omission from the playing XI for the third test and said that the decision to not play the big quick was taken in concern of managing his workload.

"I played two games, and a lot of overs to be honest. They're just managing my workload, the medical team and team management decided to give a rest for this (match)," Shaheen said.

On being asked about his bowling performance in the first two Tests, Shaheen believed that he could have got some more wickets but the drop catches from the Pakistani fielders never helped.

"I think that I can take more wickets, but unfortunately catches win matches, and unfortunately we missed those opportunities on the field most of the time. As a bowling unit, and as a team, we gave our best, the result was not in our hands, but we tried," Shaheen added.

Despite Australia already winning the series in Melbourne, the third Test was very important as there are World Test Championship points at stake. The Khyber-born cricketer took 8 wickets in two Tests in the series, with his best of all coming in the second half of the boxing day Test.

Noticeably, Pakistan will be playing five T20Is against New Zealand with the first of them scheduled to take place on January 12. We need to remember that Shaheen Afridi has been appointed as the new captain of Pakistan T20I side, and the five-match series will be his first assignment as captain.