Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi has dismissed any suggestions that he has been overworked, saying that "such a big deal" has been made of the topic recently.
Shaheen Afridi dismissed issues of workload despite Pakistan’s white-ball coach Gary Kirsten raising concerns about the fast bowler’s large volume of work. Kirsten had claimed that the Pakistani seamer had bowled three times more than any other fast bowler in the world in the last 18 months.
The South African deemed it as “not a good use of resources”. However, Shaheen has now quashed claims of being overworked. He believes that it depends on an individual to be mentally fit and ready while emphasising the importance of enjoying whatever game time is at one’s disposal.
“If we look at our legendary bowlers from the past, Wasim [Akram] bhai and Waqar [Younis] bhai, they did not have workload issues back then,” Shaheen told Samaa TV.
“I don’t know why we have made such a big deal about it for the past year. It all depends on the individual player. You need to be mentally fit and strong to perform; you cannot perform while being lazy. At a time when your body is not reacting the way you want, you need support from the management. There is not much workload but we should enjoy whatever cricket we play.”
