Pakistan on Thursday dropped left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi from the crucial second Test against Bangladesh, following criticism for their crushing loss in the series opener.
Former players were also quick to criticize Pakistan’s team selection, believing that playing with two spinners was a better choice. Pakistan fielded four pacers.
According to head coach Jason Gillispie, Shaheen is aware of the “situation” and is looking forward to spending time with his family during the vacation.
“We had a good conversation with him and he fully understands we are looking at the best combination for this game and the last few weeks have been interesting for him with fatherhood and other things, this break will allow him to spend time with his family,” Gillispie stated prior to the game.
The former Australian pacer said Shaheen is working with Azhar Mahmood to be more effective and the management certainly wants to see him at his very best as there is a lot of cricket coming up.
“Right now we feel we have all bases covered in our bowling attack,” he said.
Because of a knee injury, Shaheen has only participated in six Test matches since July 2022. In January of this year, he was given a break before the last Test matchup with Australia in Sydney.
Gillispie further stated that Aamer Jamal, an all-round player, was excluded from the game because he was still deemed unfit to represent Pakistan. Additionally, he emphasized that the Pakistani squad needed to make better selections with slow over rates.
“Everything aside including allowances for weather and breaks, we need to be better to get through overs better.”
In the World Test Championship, Pakistan was penalized thirty percent of match fees and forfeited points for their poor over rates in the opening Test, which they lost by ten wickets.
“We can control our energy levels to make sure we are going through our overs quickly.”
Gillispie said he was pleased with the positive intent shown by the team in the first Test with a bold declaration in the first innings.
“Look, Bangladesh played better cricket and won. There is nothing we can do about it now but we have to learn from our mistakes and hopefully apply those learnings in the second test.”
He said that in order to go out there and play well, players would need to accept both individual and group responsibility. This doesn’t mean smashing sixes every ball; rather, it means being engaged in their batting and displaying the appropriate amounts of energy.
In order to challenge the opposition, he believed that bowlers needed to be more ruthless, strike the proper line and length, and continuously hit the good place.
“We have to be consistent and ruthless with our basics.”
According to Gillispie, the players realized how special it was to represent Pakistan, and they were disappointed by the first Test’s defeat.
“We are encouraging them to play with freedom and intent and show authentic skills. They just need to execute skill levels properly.”
Pakistan Squad: Shan Masood (C), Saud Shakeel (VC), Abrar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha.
Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed.
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