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Can Pakistan still rely on Shaheen Shah Afridi as their main frontline bowler?

Can Pakistan still rely on Shaheen Shah Afridi as their main frontline bowler?

  • Yes, he just needs to regain form

    Votes: 1 12.5%

  • No, Pakistan should look for other options

    Votes: 7 87.5%
  • Total voters
    8
FearlessRoar

FearlessRoar

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Shaheen Shah Afridi has been Pakistan’s go-to fast bowler for a while now, but his recent performances have raised serious questions. He’s known for his ability to take early wickets and put pressure on batters, but lately, he hasn’t been as effective.

In the recent home tri-series, Pakistan’s fast bowlers, led by Shaheen, struggled big time—picking up just 10 wickets at an average of 49.10. That’s a worrying sign. Then came the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where he went for 74 runs against India while taking just two wickets. It wasn’t the kind of performance Pakistan needed from their strike bowler.

Former cricketers like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram have also pointed out problems with Pakistan’s bowling. Waqar slammed the lack of discipline, while Akram went as far as saying Pakistan’s attack looks worse than teams like Oman and the USA. Those are some harsh words, but they highlight the serious issues in the bowling unit.

Despite all this, Shaheen’s overall career stats are still solid—127 wickets in 64 ODIs at an average of 24.37. That shows he’s got the talent, but right now, he’s not in his best form. For Pakistan to depend on him as their frontline bowler, he needs to regain his confidence and rhythm. The team management also needs to step in, work on strategies, and maybe even manage his workload better. Otherwise, Pakistan could find themselves in deep trouble in big tournaments.

Also Shaheen Shah Afridi’s struggles in the death overs are getting harder to ignore in ODIs.

The numbers tell the story:

🔹 2023 – 21 wickets at an economy of 6.40 (Avg: 12.1, SR: 11.3)
🔹 2024 – Just 2 matches but a decent economy of 4.00 (Avg: 10.0)
🔹 2025 – A complete disaster! 9 overs, 133 runs, only 2 wickets, economy 14.78, dot % just 20.4

Nine sixes conceded this year already, and teams are targeting him at the death. Is it time to rethink his role in the final overs?
 
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Getting wickets of Rohit and Rahul is the worst thing that happened to him. He keeps trying for that magic ball Yorker in his first spell. Won’t work against any test nations including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe.

He has height; skills,pace all the tricks but keeps looking for that shortcut. Turning into the bowling version of his talented father in law.
 
Local.Dada said:
Getting wickets of Rohit and Rahul is the worst thing that happened to him. He keeps trying for that magic ball Yorker in his first spell. Won’t work against any test nations including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe.

He has height; skills,pace all the tricks but keeps looking for that shortcut. Turning into the bowling version of his talented father in law.
Click to expand...
He bowled 3 yorkers in a row. The whole world knows that he was trying to hit the stumps on every ball, yet our Rohit allowed him to hit the stumps.
 
He is not good upfront either.

First ball is always the inswinging yorker.

Then the usual ball outside off stump.

Then trying to bring the ball in LBW.

IF that all fails, defensive bowling plus slower balls.

Yesterday took wicket of Rohit but went for like 60 in his 7 overs or so.
 
Dr_Bassim said:
He is not good upfront either.

First ball is always the inswinging yorker.

Then the usual ball outside off stump.

Then trying to bring the ball in LBW.

IF that all fails, defensive bowling plus slower balls.

Yesterday took wicket of Rohit but went for like 60 in his 7 overs or so.
Click to expand...

He was going for the glory ball. Over attacking but in yesterday’s context was alright. However needs to use brains more often.
 
Local.Dada said:
Getting wickets of Rohit and Rahul is the worst thing that happened to him. He keeps trying for that magic ball Yorker in his first spell. Won’t work against any test nations including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe.

He has height; skills,pace all the tricks but keeps looking for that shortcut. Turning into the bowling version of his talented father in law.
Click to expand...
Keeping aside his performance from last night, which was an exhibition of arrogance and brainless bowling, there is something about has fundamentally changed since his injury. I don't know enough about the technical aspects of fast-bowling to decipher what it is (and it's not pace because he was bowling 140+ at the start last night). But when he was having that incredible run with the new-ball up till 2022, its not like batsmen didn't know that he would be bowling that fast, swinging yorker. And yet he was still able to get wickets with remarkable propensity. In a white-ball a wicket in the first over was practically guaranteed by Shaheen.

These pieces form 2021 and 2023 do a good job of capturing how good he was, and how much he has fallen off post-injury. First piece was actually written a few days before the 2021 T20 WC encounter between Pakistan and India.

www.espncricinfo.com

Are you a T20 opener facing Shaheen Afridi? Be afraid, be very afraid

If you're Indian, make your own luck on Sunday: be smart and get off strike as quickly as you can
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com

www.espncricinfo.com

Rockstar Afridi needs a new hit

His effectiveness with the new ball has reduced somewhat. Is he striving too hard for that magic ball?
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com
 
He ruined his career the moment he decided to play in the 2022 T20 world cup

That was the last time we saw the best of him and will probably never see him like that again
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Keeping aside his performance from last night, which was an exhibition of arrogance and brainless bowling, there is something about has fundamentally changed since his injury. I don't know enough about the technical aspects of fast-bowling to decipher what it is (and it's not pace because he was bowling 140+ at the start last night). But when he was having that incredible run with the new-ball up till 2022, its not like batsmen didn't know that he would be bowling that fast, swinging yorker. And yet he was still able to get wickets with remarkable propensity. In a white-ball a wicket in the first over was practically guaranteed by Shaheen.

These pieces form 2021 and 2023 do a good job of capturing how good he was, and how much he has fallen off post-injury. First piece was actually written a few days before the 2021 T20 WC encounter between Pakistan and India.

www.espncricinfo.com

Are you a T20 opener facing Shaheen Afridi? Be afraid, be very afraid

If you're Indian, make your own luck on Sunday: be smart and get off strike as quickly as you can
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com

www.espncricinfo.com

Rockstar Afridi needs a new hit

His effectiveness with the new ball has reduced somewhat. Is he striving too hard for that magic ball?
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com
Click to expand...

Batsmen are aware that once they negotiate his first ball and first over, he is likely to be cannon fodder.

Cricket is about growth as a player.

Our players regress because they don't know the concept of personal growth.
 
He is a 4 over bowler and ideally four of those overs should be with the new ball.

Beyond that he isn't too great.
 
Dr_Bassim said:
Batsmen are aware that once they negotiate his first ball and first over, he is likely to be cannon fodder.

Cricket is about growth as a player.

Our players regress because they don't know the concept of personal growth.
Click to expand...
Yes but he was doing this over a period of 2+ years. It's not like the batsmen didn't know what was coming during those two years either. I think there is something deeper here, probably related to his knees. Because its not just this ball, he has completely changed as a bowler post-injury.
 
Local.Dada said:
Getting wickets of Rohit and Rahul is the worst thing that happened to him. He keeps trying for that magic ball Yorker in his first spell. Won’t work against any test nations including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe.

He has height; skills,pace all the tricks but keeps looking for that shortcut. Turning into the bowling version of his talented father in law.
Click to expand...

Dale Steyn was pulling his hair out in the commentary box and saying dude, you have to try something else and stop being so predictable.
 
Shoaib Malik, while speaking on a TV show:

"I feel that he [Shaheen Shah Afridi] needs to improve his game awareness."

"When Rohit Sharma was attacking him, he needed to counterattack—either with slower balls or yorkers, just like the one that got him bowled."

"Against Shubman Gill, he should have pulled his length slightly back. That would have created an opportunity for an edge or a false shot."

"If you bowl four deliveries outside off, you create something. Just like Sikandar mentioned—you have to create chances to take wickets."

"Game awareness, especially in ODI cricket, is crucial because matches go through different phases, and your spells must adapt to those phases."

"You don’t just have to assess the conditions; you also have to assess which batters are operating and how they are playing."
 
Yes, Shaheen is your go to man , only if you want to finish the match early and losing .
 
If you have to play Shaheen in the side, you need to use him as a new ball striker.

He's too erratic and stubborn to bowl when batsmen are slogging.

This also means including a death-over specialist in the XI who will bowl in the second half of the innings including 5-6 overs at the end.
 
Sadly he's lost whatever spark he had and is now just predictable canon fodder for any decent batsman. He's tried to add batting to cover for his loss of bowling ability but he's not particularly good at that either. He needs dropped to go work his game out or fade into obscurity.
 
He needs to move away from Cricket and for 6 - 8 months . Work on his fitness and take a solid mentor like Donald , Bond etc to guide him.

Come back after that , he will be a better bowler.
 
Serious question, do you guys believe his official age is genuine? How can a 24 year old regress so quickly?
 
He’s young and I think he’ll come back stronger. Look, the skills are there- he has an ok pace but he can increase that; he still has the swing, that ball to Rohit was a jaffa! In my opinion it’s too early to give up on him especially, and largely on all Pakistan pace bowlers including Naseem and Rauf. Important thing is to get fitter and come back stronger but only when fully fit.
 
Nope. Shaheen cannot be trusted in eath overs. He has been going above 15 RPO in deathovers. We need to stop overhyping him now. He is not the best bowlers anymore.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Yes but he was doing this over a period of 2+ years. It's not like the batsmen didn't know what was coming during those two years either. I think there is something deeper here, probably related to his knees. Because its not just this ball, he has completely changed as a bowler post-injury.
Click to expand...
Once a bowler starts getting known for certain deliveries, batsmen also start practicing for those. They adjust their techniques.

Which is why you need a lot of variety and need to keep studying batsmen as well and their weaknesses.

Pakistani players don't seem to want to put in the hard work and study batsmen and variety.
 
Aaqib Javed, while addressing the press conference, explained the reason for dropping Shaheen from ODIs while retaining him in the T20I squad for the tour of New Zealand:

"It’s about the effectiveness of a player in ODIs. If a player is not fulfilling the team’s requirements, then decisions are taken accordingly. But I still believe Shaheen is a very good bowler in T20s and can bring results for the team. That doesn’t mean he will only play T20s forever. It’s the selectors’ responsibility to take the right decisions at the right time."
 
Mohammad Hafeez, during a show on a local TV channel:

“First, Shaheen Afridi is dropped from the Test squad, and the reason given is that he is being rested. But Shaheen himself says, ‘I am not resting; I have been dropped.’ Yes, he hasn’t been performing well in ODIs, and failure is a different issue, but this is not the right approach."

"First, he was removed from Tests, then from ODIs—so what exactly is Shaheen Afridi’s role now?”
 
Hitman said:
Serious question, do you guys believe his official age is genuine? How can a 24 year old regress so quickly?
Click to expand...
Said this many times on this forum. He is 30 plus , not 24 and his regression has more to do with age than fitness
 
NishanKonar said:
Said this many times on this forum. He is 30 plus , not 24 and his regression has more to do with age than fitness
Click to expand...
I can vouch for Shaheen age between 2004-2006 I was part of Rashid Latif cricket academy and his brother Riaz afridi regularly practiced there and Shaheen was often accompanying him and he was no more then 5-6 years at that time not every decline is related to age fudging shall we assume Kohli is 40 plus as his run making dropped dramatically post 2019
 
He is an Akhroat bowler. Zero Cricketing IQ and someone who just bowls on instinct. Just because he got Rohit Lbw in 2021 with the inswinger, he thinks the formula will work everytime he bowls it and that Rohit is a bum who will not be ready, prepared for it next time. When the inswinger doesn't work, he has nothing else to fall back on.
 
He needs a long break , and work on his fitness . He needs to add more stamina and move on from being a 4 over bowler.
Right now , if he is playing , he is going no where.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
He is a 4 over bowler and ideally four of those overs should be with the new ball.

Beyond that he isn't too great.
Click to expand...

Even then you are crossing your fingers that he will wake up that morning in good form. He can be crazy dangerous with the new ball when his line is right, but if he gets up on the wrong side of the bed, he can just as easily spray two down the legside and and a half volley just in one over.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Even then you are crossing your fingers that he will wake up that morning in good form. He can be crazy dangerous with the new ball when his line is right, but if he gets up on the wrong side of the bed, he can just as easily spray two down the legside and and a half volley just in one over.
Click to expand...
True that, I am sure even current Imran Khan would bowl better....
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Even then you are crossing your fingers that he will wake up that morning in good form. He can be crazy dangerous with the new ball when his line is right, but if he gets up on the wrong side of the bed, he can just as easily spray two down the legside and and a half volley just in one over.
Click to expand...
He should focus solely on t20s. He doesn't want to play tests or first class and doesn't have the appetite for 10 overs. If he focuses on bowling 4 over spells only he can maximise his potential.
 
Crazy posts. Without Shaheen , Pakistan's ODI bowling is toast.

He's not even the worst bowler in this side. It's easily tepiya Rauf.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
He should focus solely on t20s. He doesn't want to play tests or first class and doesn't have the appetite for 10 overs. If he focuses on bowling 4 over spells only he can maximise his potential.
Click to expand...

Yes, and I agree that he should bowl at least 3 of those 4 overs with the new ball, preferably all of them. That is when he is dangerous, he is not a good death bowler these days. I am not sure he ever was.
 
Xoib said:
I can vouch for Shaheen age between 2004-2006 I was part of Rashid Latif cricket academy and his brother Riaz afridi regularly practiced there and Shaheen was often accompanying him and he was no more then 5-6 years at that time not every decline is related to age fudging shall we assume Kohli is 40 plus as his run making dropped dramatically post 2019
Click to expand...
1741283016927.jpg
Kohli has been the second highest run scorer since 2019. Bad example.
 
Nope.... He is not reliable at all... Bols 1 good over and then goes missing... Even in T20s, this guy is not on merit...
 
His continuous selection in any format is a sit of corruption. He hit the lottery by become Shahid Afridis son in law, had that not been the case he would have been out of favour a long time ago.
 
IMG-20250522-WA0005.jpg

Shaheen Afridi’s T20I bowling performance has seen a notable dip in recent months. From June 2023 to May 2024, the left-arm pacer was in sensational form, picking up 27 wickets in just 14 matches at a brilliant average of 14.74. However, from June 2024 to March 2025, his effectiveness dropped significantly—claiming only 11 wickets in 13 matches at a high average of 36.72. With such a sharp contrast in performance, should Pakistan be concerned about Shaheen’s current form?
 
The one-trick pony has been exposed. All the batsmen have to do is watch out for his in-swinging deliveries in the first couple of overs, and Shaheen becomes completely useless. It is about time this fake eagle is dropped.
 
Shaheen Shah Afridi had a solid outing in PSL 10, showcasing his wicket-taking ability with 16 scalps in just 36.1 overs. He conceded 288 runs at an impressive average of 18.00 and maintained an economy rate of 7.96. His consistent performances proved vital for his team throughout the tournament.
 
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He is the best fast bowler in Pakistan by a mile even if he is nowhere near his best level. He is amazing.
 
Shaheen Shah Afridi in important games

3 wickets for 24 in the final
3 for 3 runs in do-or-die vs IU
2 for 47 in do-or-die vs KK
2 for 19 in do-or-die vs PZ
 
Ball Blazer said:
Shaheen Shah Afridi in important games

3 wickets for 24 in the final
3 for 3 runs in do-or-die vs IU
2 for 47 in do-or-die vs KK
2 for 19 in do-or-die vs PZ
Click to expand...
Meanwhile Naseem shah

>50 runs in every innings, in last 3 crucial match

Removing Afridi as captain and now dropping him from team for Naseem is nothing but dirty politics. It's a ploy to remove any captaincy threats from Rizbar.
 
Sachin fan said:
Meanwhile Naseem shah

>50 runs in every innings, in last 3 crucial match

Removing Afridi as captain and now dropping him from team for Naseem is nothing but dirty politics. It's a ploy to remove any captaincy threats from Rizbar.
Click to expand...
Shaheen is not perfect but he is head and shoulders above every Pakistani pacer alive and he needs to be supported and protected. He is still respected by every batsman in the world in spite of his underwhelming form in the last couple of years.
 
Shaheen has become the most successful captain in PSL history. 3 titles as the captain (2022, 2023, and 2025).

Well done.
 
He hasn't looked as determined in a long time than he looked today. Think the toxic atmosphere in the national team is really holding back a lot of players. On the other hand, it's always sad to see players giving more for the franchises than their national team. The good thing to see was Shaheen swinging it the other way for the first time in his career.
Hope he focuses on ODIs and Tests and regaining his form.
 
20YO Shaheen Shah–17 wickets (PSL 5)
21YO Shaheen Shah–16 wickets (PSL 6)
22YO Shaheen Shah–20 wickets (PSL 7)
23YO Shaheen Shah – 19 wickets (PSL 8)
24YO Shaheen Shah –14 wickets (PSL 9)
25YO Shaheen Shah–19 wickets (PSL 10)

Three trophies Shaheen Shah at 25 - A PSL legend
 
Leading wicket-taker in PSL 2020
Leading wicket-taker in PSL 2022
Leading wicket-taker in PSL 2025

Shaheen Shah Afridi is the only bowler in PSL history to do it 3 times
 
BunnyRabbit said:
He hasn't looked as determined in a long time than he looked today. Think the toxic atmosphere in the national team is really holding back a lot of players. On the other hand, it's always sad to see players giving more for the franchises than their national team. The good thing to see was Shaheen swinging it the other way for the first time in his career.
Hope he focuses on ODIs and Tests and regaining his form.
Click to expand...
You miss a big point here. Please do not compare franchise cricket to International cricket. That is the fault people make. PSL or other T20 leagues you get away and at times can look like a world beater. International cricket is another level.
 
pakistani pride said:
You miss a big point here. Please do not compare franchise cricket to International cricket. That is the fault people make. PSL or other T20 leagues you get away and at times can look like a world beater. International cricket is another level.
Click to expand...
Didn't say he looked like a world beater. Just that he seemed to be putting in more effort in PSL than he's been doing in international cricket of late.
 
pakistani pride said:
You miss a big point here. Please do not compare franchise cricket to International cricket. That is the fault people make. PSL or other T20 leagues you get away and at times can look like a world beater. International cricket is another level.
Click to expand...
But other first team bowlers like Rauf and Naseem aren't able to do it in PSL either?
 
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