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'Was Pre-Decided…': Shaheen Afridi Blames Speed Guns For Pace Drop In AUS Tests

image-lr966mcmShaheen Afridi (AP)

Pakistan team, under newly-appointed skipper Shan Masood, went down 0-3 to Australia in their recently-concluded three-match Test series ‘Down Under’. While several ‘Men in Green’ batters struggled to put up impactful performances with the bat throughout their three-week tour, bowlers also failed to generate intense speeds on bouncy Australian surfaces.

Pace maverick Shaheen Afridi led the team’s bowling attack, and was accompanied by fellow senior pro Hasan Ali and a number of rising stars like Aamer Jamal and Mir Hamza. With Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf missing out the series owing to varying reasons, 23-year-old Shaheen bowled out nearly 100 overs in the first two matches before he was rested from the third citing workload management.

Surprisingly, Shaheen’s pace witnessed a significant dip in the series, with a number of his deliveries not even hitting the 140kph mark on the speed meter. A day prior to Pakistan’s new white-ball assignment in New Zealand, the cricketer revealed that he was himself surprised to see his dwindling speeds in Australia despite putting in all the hard work.


Shaheen claims speeds were pre-decided on speed meter

While speaking with the reporters a day before leading Pakistan in the first T20I against New Zealand, Shaheen Afridi said: “To be honest, we were ourselves looking at the speed o' meters and wondering, is this really us? Because we were unable to understand that despite putting in all the effort, the speeds were not going up. Seeing 130-132 KPH was disheartening and we thought this was pre-decided that we wouldn't go above 130KPH.”


Shaheen is set to lead the Pakistan team for the first time as regular captain. The cricketer was assigned the top role after teammate Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy owing to the team’s disastrous run at the 2023 World Cup in India.

The 23-year-old fast bowler will be leading an experienced Pakistan team in New Zealand, in lieu of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The first of the five T20Is against New Zealand will be played on January 12 at Auckland’s Eden Park.