Shaheen Afridi, once the wonderkid in world cricket, is struggling for form and consistency - what's gone wrong?
“I have no fan following, nobody knows me…”
Back in 2018, when Shaheen Shah Afridi made his debut, he wasn’t just another bowler rising the ranks in the Pakistan cricket circuit. Standing tall at 6’5” with searing pace and the ability to make the new ball talk, he soon became a nightmare for batters. If you were facing the first over against him, you needed to watch out. If you were a right-hander, there was, well, no point.
Even before his Test debut in December, which came after just three first-class appearances, Shaheen had equalled a world record of three successive four-fors in ODI cricket. Within his first year, he picked up 79 wickets in 38 innings across formats, becoming one of 35 bowlers with a Test five-for as a teenager. Scalping 100 wickets in just 49 international games, he was also the fourth-fastest to the feat in ODI cricket, in just 51 matches. The left-armer also had a sensational start in T20Is, averaging 23.77 till the end of 2020 at an economy rate of 7.78. Among pacers from full-member countries with at least 20 wickets, Shaheen was the fourth-most economical since his debut in this period.
He furthered his aura breathtakingly during the 2021 T20 World Cup against India, a game that got him greater prominence. Rohit Sharma was sent back for a golden duck with an inswinger so vicious that it looked like it was destined for carnage the moment it left his hand. KL Rahul followed soon after, a good length ball that shaped in and thudded onto the stumps. He also sent back Virat Kohli later in the night, his spell scripting a dramatic Pakistan win.
His Test numbers that year were equally staggering, picking 47 wickets in nine matches at an astonishing average of 17.06. Between 2018 and 2021, Shaheen had plucked out 184 wickets across formats, 86 of which were in Test cricket. The bowlers with more wickets than him in this period were Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Mitchell Starc and Jasprit Bumrah, and it was clear that Shaheen was pacing up the echelons of greatness.
The injury that derailed him
But fast bowling is cruel. The body takes a beating, and for Shaheen, the dream run came to a screeching halt in July 2022. Attempting a catch during a Test match against Sri Lanka, he landed awkwardly on his right knee. What was initially dismissed as a minor setback soon turned into a nightmare - a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury. He was ruled out of the Asia Cup that year, and though he returned for the 2022 T20 World Cup, disaster struck again. In the final against England, he aggravated his knee injury after attempting a catch and had to leave the field. Little did anyone know that it would be the turning point in his career.
What made Shaheen so lethal wasn’t just his pace; it was his ability to move the ball both ways at will. His natural inswinger to right-handers was his deadliest weapon, the ones that started outside off and swerved back in dangerously late. He complemented it with sharp bouncers that hurried batters, and when conditions allowed, his ability to extract reverse swing made him even more dangerous. The injury saw him lose most of those differentiating skills.
Since his comeback, his Test average has shot up from 24.86 to 45.47. He is now picking up a wicket every 76.7 deliveries as against the 49 balls earlier. The average hasn’t seen a massive increase in white-ball cricket. It's still below 25. But his performance with the new ball has been concerning. In 50-over cricket, Shaheen, who would pick up a wicket every 27 deliveries in the first powerplay, is now taking 42 balls for a wicket in this phase. His economy rate has crept up from 4.87 to 5.29 in this phase, while in T20Is, he is giving away 8.30 runs an over in the powerplay since 2023, up from 6.44 before.
It has seen him get omitted from Pakistan’s squad for their last two Test series. While he was released midway through the home series against England, he wasn’t picked for the South Africa tour. Shaheen has also not been picked for the New Zealand ODIs after an indifferent Champions Trophy.
So what has gone wrong?
Primarily, his magic delivery, the inswinger, hasn’t quite landed right. It is such a finely tuned skill that even the slightest miscalibration renders it ineffective. The line has often strayed leg side, the length has been too full, and the pace has dropped. Batters have sensed the inconsistency and have attacked him more. But is he relying too much on what once worked without adapting?
Before his injury in July 2022, nearly a quarter of his deliveries in the first ten overs of ODIs were classified as full by ESPNcricinfo. Three months after his return, that figure increased to nearly a third, with full tosses quadrupling in frequency. His speed has dipped as well. Once bowling consistently above 140 kmph, it now lingers in the early 130s. It's hard to say whether it is residual caution due to his knee injury or an overcorrection in his approach, but surely something has changed.
Recently, Mohammad Amir explained the biomechanics behind Shaheen’s dip in sting on Geo News, saying that as he prepares to bowl, his landing foot goes sideways, which leads to a dissipation of force and impacts the effectiveness of his in-swing deliveries.
Shaheen's action in 2021 Shaheen's action in 2025
Rashid Latif gave more insight: “He needs to work on his landing and postures when delivering, but it is too late now. In Pakistan, there are no coaches who can give insight into the biomechanics of an athlete. He is still effective against left-handers as he is still getting the correct angle. But he needs to work on bowling to the right-handers.”
However, it's not that it's been all doom for him. There have been periods of brilliance, like on the recent tours of Australia and South Africa, and he produced a deadly yorker to send back Rohit in the Champions Trophy, but they have been few and far in between.
Pakistan cricket is in a state of disarray, having won just 36.8 per cent of their games since the start of 2024. The team seems to lack unity as it struggles for rhythm with several backroom staff changes and captaincy shuffles. But this is where leaders rise, and this is where they need Shaheen to steer the turnaround, for himself and for the team.
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