After succumbing to a 0-2 defeat in the T20Is, Pakistan scripted a remarkable turnaround by sweeping the ODIs 3-0, the third instance of Pakistan winning an ODI bilateral series in South Africa. It was also South Africa’s first series whitewash at home.

Having participated in the T20I series, Shaheen played a decisive role in the historic win, picking up seven wickets, the highest in the series.

However, the left-arm pacer will miss the two-match Test series in South Africa starting on Wednesday (December 26) in Centurion.

PCB says "workload management"

Ahead of the tour, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mentioned that Shaheen wasn’t picked for the red-ball matches against South Africa, citing "workload management" to keep him fresh before the Champions Trophy, which will be hosted in a hybrid model with the majority of the match on Pakistani soil.

In recent times Shaheen has been in and out of the Test team. In the preceding home Tests against England, Pakistan rested him controversially midway through the series along with several regulars like Babar Azam and Naseem Shah due to concerns related to fitness and form.

"Shaheen Shah Afridi, who also missed the last two Tests against England, has been picked for the white-ball matches as part of his workload management so that he is in his best fitness and form for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025," read a PCB release during the announcement of the squads for South Africa tour.

Last week, it was announced that Shaheen would be representing the Fortune Barishal in the 11th edition of the BPL, which will kick off on December 30. As per a Cricbuzz report, Shaheen has been granted a no-objection (NOC) certificate from the PCB until January 15.

Notably, the Test series will end on January 7, a week before Shaheen’s possible final match of BPL 2024. While the reason behind him playing the BPL instead of the South Africa Tests isn’t entirely clear, it is perhaps due to PCB wanting to preserve him from the rigours of long bowling spells and give him enough match practice ahead of the global event. Since they do not have a white-ball series planned until February 8, they are potentially looking at giving Shaheen game time in the shorter formats.

However, granting him NOC to play a local T20 league, while also attempting to maintain his workload for the Champions Trophy doesn't quite align at the face of it. Pakistan's next Test series, against the West Indies, begins a day after Shaheen's NOC ends on the 15th. That puts a serious question mark on Shaheen's participation in that series as well.

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