"Not good for the team"- Inzamam-ul-Haq slams Shaheen Afridi for batting at No.5 in PSL 2024 clash
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq slammed Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Afridi for promoting himself up the batting order ahead of renowned big-hitters like David Wiese and Sikandar Raza in their latest PSL 2024 encounter against the Quetta Gladiators.
The 23-year-old came in at No.5 and scored a brisk 55 off 34 deliveries with four maximums. However, the knock had minimal impact as the Qalandars only mustered 166/4 in their 20 overs.
Speaking on a local Pakistan channel, Inzamam blasted Shaheen for moving up the order ahead of specialists.
"Shaheen coming in to bat at No. 5 but scoring at that pace is not good for the team. When you have specialists such as David Wiese and Sikandar Raza, the score could have been better. Oh bhai… tez khel (Boss, score faster). They need to take care of one big fact. If you start getting into individual efforts, the team's cause will go for a toss," said Inzamam.
He added:
"This partnership between Abdullah Shafique and Shaheen Afridi... if you look at the scorecard, then it looks very impressive, scoring 55 off 34 balls and the other scoring 59 off 39 balls. But the scorecard doesn't do justice to it. They played all the overs - almost 14 - and all you could take the total to was 167, whereas it should have been 200-plus. Did anyone feel that Lahore will be able to win from here? Or will Lahore defend it?"
Unfortunately for Shaheen, his side suffered another defeat in a last-ball thriller to finish their PSL 2024 campaign with a lone win in ten outings.
After winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, Lahore struggled to get going throughout the season to finish at the bottom of the points table.
"Their big two hitters Sikandar Raza and David Wiese didn’t get a chance" - Wasim Akram on Shaheen Afridi batting at No. 5
Former pacer Wasim Akram also criticized Shaheen Afridi for his promotion up the batting order and asked the Pakistan T20I skipper to instead focus on his new-ball and death bowling.
Before the clash against Quetta, the 23-year-old also batted at No.5 in Lahore's previous two outings against the Karachi Kings and Islamabad United. Shaheen registered scores of 1(3) and 30(14), respectively, in those encounters.
"Shaheen got runs. But their big two hitters Sikandar Raza (got five balls) and David Wiese didn’t get a chance. He needs to understand that batsmen now have understood that the first two balls from Shaheen will be yorkers. In the death he will either bowl slower cutter or will on the stumps around the wicket. Batsmen are prepared for it now," said Akram on A Sports.
Despite Lahore's horrendous season, Shaheen finished with reasonable numbers of 14 wickets at an average of 22.14 and an economy of 8.61 in nine games. His batting numbers were also impressive on an individual front, averaging almost 18 at an outstanding strike rate of 164.61.