"He was feeling pain in the shoulder" - Shan Masood clears the air over alleged fight with Shaheen Afridi during PAK vs BAN 2024 1st Test
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has cleared the air over his alleged rift with pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi after a video during the recent home Test series against Bangladesh went viral. The southpaw claimed that he placed his hand on the part of Afridi's shoulder which was paining.
In a video circulated on social media, Afridi was seen removing Masood's hand from his shoulder as the players were on the verge of a team huddle. Witnessing the moment between the two, fans thought there were tensions and division within the dressing room.
Speaking at a presser, the left-handed batter addressed the incident, saying (via Cricket Pakistan):
"There was no fight with Shaheen Afridi. He was feeling pain in the shoulder, and unfortunately, I placed my hand on the same shoulder."
Shaheen was left out of the second Test against Bangladesh after struggling in the first. Coach Jason Gillespie had said the 24-year-old needed to work on a few things and that the team wanted him at full tilt for the upcoming matches.
"Shaheen's missed out this game," Gillespie said (via ESPNCricinfo). "We've had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. Shaheen's been given some feedback. He's working on some things with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He's working really well with Azhar Mahmood. We want to see Shaheen at his best because we've got a lot of cricket in all formats and Shaheen's going to play a really big role in that."
Shan Masood-led Pakistan slip to 8th in latest ICC Test rankings
Pakistan's recent dismal performances, especially in red-ball cricket, have seen them slip to the eighth spot in the latest ICC Test rankings. The sub-continent nation lost the opening Test by 10 wickets and the second by six as Bangladesh registered their first series win over Pakistan. The 10-wicket defeat in Rawalpindi in the opening Test also proved to be their first-ever on home soil.
Masood, who has lost all five Tests as captain so far, lamented how Pakistan have been repeating the same mistakes over and over again since the Australia tour earlier this year. Pakistan will next face England in a three-Test series, beginning on October 7 in Multan.
England, led by Ben Stokes, had registered a clean sweep over Pakistan in their backyard in 2022.