Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan‘s director of cricket, has insisted that Shaheen Afridi was not rested from the Sydney Test because of the upcoming T20Is against New Zealand.

Pakistan’s XI for the final Test of the three-match series against Australia was conspicuous by the absence of Shaheen, who was rested with the visitors trailing the series 0-2. The decision led to considerable debate from some quarters, with questions whether the shorter format was being prioritised, as Shaheen was expected to play the T20Is against New Zealand that begin on January 12.

After Australia’s eight-wicket win in the SCG Test, Hafeez, speaking to reporters, insisted that the decision to rest wasn’t made because of T20Is.

“Shaheen was not rested because he has to play T20s”, Hafeez said. “It is clear that his body is sore and he was not feeling very comfortable that his body will be able to respond, so as a team director, I need to ensure none of my players slip into that zone where he gets injured. I gave him enough time to recover before he reached that zone.”

The call had led to questions whether T20 cricket was being prioritised; among others, Waqar Younis said that Shaheen’s absence was a “real shocker” and it “made him laugh”.

Pakistan XI for Sydney Test: Shaheen Shah Afridi rested, Saim Ayub to debut#AUSvPAK

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— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 2, 2024

Talking about the white-ball series that starts next week, Hafeez said that it would have been very difficult to detach Shaheen from the T20Is as he is supposed to be the captain.

“The second thing about our connecting series – because he is the captain, it would have been very difficult to completely (switch him) off from that series,” Hafeez said. “He has been announced as captain – he is supposed to play as captain. If this series wasn’t there, I could have pushed him [to play the last Test]…even then, the decision would have been this to be honest”.

“Because if a player understands that his body his sore and god forbid he has so much load that he goes into the injury zone, then I had to make this tough decision so that he doesn’t go into the zone that troubles him. In upcoming series, whenever his body responds to workload management, he shall play”.