Shaheen Shah Afridi - The Test bowler

[Abdullah719]

Sarfaraz Ahmed at a presser ahead of the third Test against NZ:

"Abbas is unfit so Shaheen Shah Afridi will debut"

"Faheem Ashraf is in the 12, we will decide playing XI tomorrow. After seeing the pitch, we will decide whether Faheem or Bilal should play"

"Fakhar and Shadab have had scans done, we're hopeful that they will be fit in time for the first Test against SA. Hopefully Abbas will be fit as well"

"Shaheen bowled impressively against England Lions, he bowled a few spells and got seven wickets in the match. Abbas got unfit unfortunately so we are playing him, he has pace and can also reverse the ball"

"Shaheen is improving day by day and has talent, he's a good kid and understands cricket. Allah has given him talent and if he keeps himself fit, he is a bowled who can play for Pakistan for 10-12 years going forward"

12-man squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bilal Asif/Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shaheen Shah Afridi will make his Test debut after playing only 3 First-class matches. Wasim Akram also made his Test debut after playing just 3 First-class matches <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1069168654963613696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[shaaik]

The kind of stuff dreams are made of, some have it easy and some are made to toil, that's the essence of Pakistan Cricket. SSA is a special talent, a super star in the making if managed and groomed properly by PCB. As Ian Chappel once said" they (fast bowlers) seem to grow on trees in Pakistan, whenever needed they just go to a tree and pluck out one".

 

[Ahmed216]

Shaheen is in good form but first test can be a test of nerves.

Hafeez's inclusion means he'll open in SA if Fakhar remains unfit

 

[Saj]

Excited but at the same time a bit nervous regarding bowling 30 to 40 overs in a match and the impact on his body that will have.

 

[JattMaula]

Don't break him too soon @pcb.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Excited but at the same time a bit nervous regarding bowling 30 to 40 overs in a match and the impact on his body that will have.

Agree. Since Sarfraz has the option of Hafeez and Haris in bowling. They can play Faheem too that way Hasan and Faheem can lead the fast bowling attack. And I'm pretty sure Hafeez and Haris together can bowl 20-30 overs in the match.

 

[Zeeraq]

UAE is one of the worst place for a fast bowler to make his Test debut.

 

[Abdullah Rabbani]

No debut for saad corruption on top

 

[Ahson8]

Good stuff. Hopefully he tears it up

 

[shaz619]

Hopefully they use him in bursts and not over work him, excited. Not a bad shout because he will be playing in SA, maybe we could have saved him for that tour but I guess they want him to get a little bit of experience first

 

[Rayyman]

No debut for saad corruption on top

Hafeez again. Hopeless.

 

[aloo paratha]

Hope Faheem plays, so that Haris bowls overs. Haris is still a better bowler than Bilal.

 

[TeymurBlake]

Will be looking forward to seeing Shaheen bowl, would like to see him bowl with the new bowl. Faheem coming in for Bilal Asif is also a great move. Seeing Haris giving responsibility as the second spinner will be interesting, hopefully he does well.

 

[CricVet]

Reserve 15-20 overs/day. Select Faheem to share load. Out goes Bilal.

Batting: Can anybody in Pakistan kick Hafeez out FOREVER? I thought that he was king of UAE, but no more - now he is a COMPLETE useless as he was for other surfaces outside ASIA. We can bring ANY of the Pak A performing member for him. PCB will never stop disappointing I guess.

 

[Sherlock]

If Bilal is given another chance...

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Best options

Imam
Azhar
Harris
Asad
Babar
Hafeez
Sarf
Faheem
Hasan
Yasir
Shaheen

 

[Minnowbasher]

Why not play both faheem and bilal and drop Hafeez

 

[PakLFC]

How do so many players suddenly become unfit? It's ridiculous.

 

[Darkrai]

If the management was smart they would have given Saad a chance, seeing as Imam and Hafeez have continuously failed, it would have been the perfect time for him make his debut before the SA series. The selectors, captain, and the coaching staff of this team are very frustrating.

 

[mak36]

Saad should be playing ahead of Hafeez. Shaheen in for Abbas.

 

[ChennaiFan]

Saheen Afridi is an exciting pace bowling talent! Good luck to him! May he have a long and successful career!

 

[Bilal7]

Not the best move, in my opinion. He will probably prove to be ineffective bowling on a dead pitch with next to no experience of bowling in such a situation behind him. However, the English and the South Africans would welcome more footage to study his strengths and weaknesses.

However, he's a special talent and hopefully, has a long and successful career ahead of him.

 

[Junaids]

Excited but at the same time a bit nervous regarding bowling 30 to 40 overs in a match and the impact on his body that will have.

Exactly.

Shaheen Shah Afridi is going to be a global superstar.

But the places he will perform best are Australia and South Africa, and I don't see why his body has to be put on the line in Abu Dhabi where the pitch is dead and the run-ups are hard and expose youngsters to the risk of stress fractures in the back and legs.

I'd have put him in cotton wool and sent him and half the team out to South Africa already. Manage his workload!

I've said it before, the Tests against New Zealand should have been BEFORE the T20 and ODI series. And if the PCB didn't want to do that, they should have sent the following two teams out right now:

Third Test team v New Zealand in Abu Dhabi

1. Shan Masood
2. Mohammad Hafeez
3. Usman Salahuddin
4. Umar Akmal
5. Mohammad Rizwan
6. Kamran Akmal
7. Aamer Yamin
8. Zafar Gohar
9. Bilal Asif
10. Yasir Shah
11. Wahab Riaz

And I'd have ALREADY sent to an elite South African school the players who urgently need to adapt to the pace and bounce of South African wickets - and they could have played against one another:

1. Azhar Ali
2. Imam-ul-Haq
3. Asad Shafiq
4. Haris Sohail
5. Babar Azam
6. Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk)
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Mohammad Amir
10. Shaheen Shah Afridi
11. Mohammad Abbas

12. Fakhar Zaman
13. Ehsan Adil
14. Hasan Ali

I think that that is a much better way to go about winning both series.

 

[srh]

Sarfaraz Ahmed at a presser ahead of the third Test against NZ:

"Abbas is unfit so Shaheen Shah Afridi will debut"

"Faheem Ashraf is in the 12, we will decide playing XI tomorrow. After seeing the pitch, we will decide whether Faheem or Bilal should play"

"Fakhar and Shadab have had scans done, we're hopeful that they will be fit in time for the first Test against SA. Hopefully Abbas will be fit as well"

"Shaheen bowled impressively against England Lions, he bowled a few spells and got seven wickets in the match. Abbas got unfit unfortunately so we are playing him, he has pace and can also reverse the ball"

"Shaheen is improving day by day and has talent, he's a good kid and understands cricket. Allah has given him talent and if he keeps himself fit, he is a bowled who can play for Pakistan for 10-12 years going forward"

12-man squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Bilal Asif/Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

what happened to Mir Hamza? Was not he one of the best bowler in domestic?

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pictures of Shaheen Shah Afridi being handed his Pakistan cap before start of play on Day 1 of the 3rd Test in Abu Dhabi <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/UCXmJo5Xal">pic.twitter.com/UCXmJo5Xal</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1069470152624873473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

Excellent work by the young man! picks his first (of many inshallah)

 

[Rinnegan Sasuke]

Is Shaheen genuinely 18? Looks older, or perhaps it's just me.

 

[CricVet]

Is Shaheen genuinely 18? Looks older, or perhaps it's just me.

Does it matter? He is not playing for Under 19 so no use of discussing his age.

he did great on this placid surface for a bowler as young as he is. He bowled 17 overs for 43 and a wicket hurrying a batman. Sarfraz handled him well and hopefully will bag at least one more tomorrow morning.

He can be our BEST bowler in SA. I am sure this guy can get 5 + wickets in this test.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

He did pretty well on a better batting track (compared to the last Abu Dhabi test).

 

[Zeeraq]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most 18 year olds - studying, partying, chilling with friends, playing video games.<br><br>Shaheen Shah Afridi - taking wickets in all 3 formats for Pakistan.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1070300940706766848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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[Badsha]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most 18 year olds - studying, partying, chilling with friends, playing video games.<br><br>Shaheen Shah Afridi - taking wickets in all 3 formats for Pakistan.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1070300940706766848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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To be fair I was stressed out and studying very intensely for my A levels when I was 18 rather than partying and chilling!

 

[Bewal Express]

I like the guys attitude and his attributes are there for all to see but his seam position worries me. I hope I am wrong but I have seen very few left armers take wickets with a seam which makes it very difficult to bring the ball back into right handers

 

[Napa]

Is Shaheen genuinely 18? Looks older, or perhaps it's just me.

Looking at his face, I would say 25.

Does it matter? He is not playing for Under 19 so no use of discussing his age.

he did great on this placid surface for a bowler as young as he is. He bowled 17 overs for 43 and a wicket hurrying a batman. Sarfraz handled him well and hopefully will bag at least one more tomorrow morning.

He can be our BEST bowler in SA. I am sure this guy can get 5 + wickets in this test.

Age does matter as it tells you how much improvement can be expected.

 

[gazza619]

Mighty impressed. Hope we can keep him away from mickey mouse leagues. Need to preserve this lad

 

[moghul]

Is Shaheen genuinely 18? Looks older, or perhaps it's just me.

Why some people have so much obsession with age, he is not playing in age-limit cricket.

 

[gazza619]

Is Shaheen genuinely 18? Looks older, or perhaps it's just me.

If he is not 18, then may be 20. Thats the max these guys hide about.

 

[CricVet]

I DO NOT entertain trolls however, I like to troll the trolls once in a while. His age does not matter.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Shaheen Shah is required to do today in SA what Boult did to SL in NZ.

Magical spell needed.


Needs to pitch it up.


Let's see if he can swing it into RHB will be lethal than.


Pakistani fielders should be on their toes. Great oppurtunity to compensate for 1st innings batting debacle.


Fingers crossed.

 

[iPakistani]

8 wickets so far in this series for the 18 year old which is the highest of any of our bowlers, and the most surprising thing is he looks so raw. Will only get better from here Inshallah.

 

[Fahdi]

Has been the most threatening bowler but his inexperience is showing. Needs to learn to bowl a consistent line and length. He is also far too impatient, gets over eager to bowl the full delivery that will knock over the batsmen.

Seam position needs work as well.

 

[iPakistani]

Whilst I was reading Wasim Akram's autobiography I found something special.

At the age of 19-20 Imran Khan (skipper at the time) arranged for Wasim to join a club in England himself just so that Wasim could get the experience of playing on them pitches before their tour to England.

Why is this relevant? I feel Shaheen should be made to do the same aswell, he is a very very raw bowler himself and he needs guidance by some top coaches in the UK and also should get a domestic stint in the UK which would benefit him alot. Now I don't think Sarfraz is personally going to arrange this for him but maybe Wasim Khan can do this for Shaheen and a few others such as Babar, Faheem or Shadab.

 

[Fahdi]

Will be missed dearly this match. Unless there was a risk of injury this decision is absurd.

 

[shah_1]

Will be missed dearly this match. Unless there was a risk of injury this decision is absurd.

South Africa scored 400+ in the last match on a more threatening pitch so makes you say that he would made a difference.

 

[Fahdi]

South Africa scored 400+ in the last match on a more threatening pitch so makes you say that he would made a difference.

Tha fact that if not for him they might have scored 500?

The fact that he is the highest wicket taker for us

He's the one who picked up the most crucial wickets in the first 2 matches. He is our quickest and tallest bowler who would be most effective on these pitches.

.

 

[shah_1]

Tha fact that if not for him they might have scored 500?

The fact that he is the highest wicket taker for us

He's the one who picked up the most crucial wickets in the first 2 matches. He is our quickest and tallest bowler who would be most effective on these pitches.

.

Hardly any difference. He hasn't that good to be dearly missed

 

[Fahdi]

Hardly any difference. He hasn't that good to be dearly missed

What an absurd notion.

 

[shah_1]

What an absurd notion.

Why.


He took four wickets but conceded 123 run and 4.52 RR in the last test match. The wicket tally is misleading

 

[Khan12]

Why.


He took four wickets but conceded 123 run and 4.52 RR in the last test match. The wicket tally is misleading

Yeah it should have been 0 the wicket tally.

 

[Indiafan]

Hardly any difference. He hasn't that good to be dearly missed

Could say the same for Amir then? Most of Amir's wicket in second test came only after SA piled on runs

 

[Fahdi]

Why.


He took four wickets but conceded 123 run and 4.52 RR in the last test match. The wicket tally is misleading

But who else took the wickets in that period?

Who was key in restricting SA to 223 in the first match?

His lack of experience and discipline cost the runs but the fact is that an 18 year old rookie has outbowled everyone else on this tour and has been consistently the most threatening bowler. Also his height adds a completely new dimension to our attack.

 

[shah_1]

Could say the same for Amir then? Most of Amir's wicket in second test came only after SA piled on runs

He has been poor as well. The point I'm trying to make is that Shaheen or no Shaheen and Amir or no Amir. It won't make no difference.

We just don't have the bowling. Shaheen might become useful in future but he isn't ready for test cricket yet.