Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed has asserted that players will have to play four day cricket before returning to the Test side, following questions over Shaheen Afridi’s absence from Pakistan's series against South Africa.
Shaheen’s absence from the longest format for Pakistan has been a point of contention among fans and experts for a while. Recognised as one of the best fast bowlers in the world, Afridi wasn’t included in the series against South Africa where the pitches are conducive to fast bowling.
While the reasoning provided then was to manage his workload going into the ICC Champions Trophy on home soil in February, head coach Javed has now cited the lack of four-day match experience as the defining reason behind the left-armer’s non-selection.
When you return to Test matches, you have to rebuild yourself: Aaqib Javed
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the second Test against West Indies, Javed was asked about Shaheen’s exclusion, especially in the Cape Town test in South Africa. The interim head coach made it clear that Shaheen wasn’t selected because of his lack of participation in four-day matches building up to the series.
“See, you are saying he [Shaheen] did not play in Cape Town. The thing is, there are two formats - one-dayers and Test cricket. What’s happening is that there is too much cricket and if you are playing all three formats, then, in one series, you are bowling in Tests, where you need to bowl 25-30 overs, and then for three months, you are not playing any four-day games, and then you again bowl in Test cricket. This is the very reason why the energy level of the fast bowlers’ lowers when you need to bowl to the tail-enders after sending down 20-25 overs in a day.
“If Shaheen played in Cape Town, Mohammad Abbas wouldn’t have played. Abbas was playing after three years, and because of him, the match reached an interesting end. All bowlers need to target this. If they can play leagues before Test matches, they also need to play four-day cricket to ensure their stamina is of that level.”
Pakistan lost both matches of the Test series against South Africa away from home. They lost the opening Test in Centurion by two wickets and went on to lose the second Test by 10 wickets.
They returned to winning ways with a 127-run win over West Indies in the first of the two-match series at Multan. The second match will begin on January 25 at the same venue.
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