"Not because he wants to play T20 cricket" - Mohammad Hafeez explains Shaheen Afridi resting from AUS vs PAK 3rd Test
Pakistan men's cricket team director Mohammad Hafeez has defended the decision to rest pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi from the third Test against Australia in Sydney. The former opener quashed the belief that the left-arm speedster was rested to ensure he was available for the T20I series in New Zealand.
Afridi's name missing from the playing XI in the SCG Test sparked a massive backlash as Pakistan looked to sign off with a win despite losing the series. Instead, the fast bowling attack consisted of Aamer Jamal, Mir Hamza, and Hasan Ali. Former Pakistan greats Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis came down hard on the management, with the former opining that people only remember what happened in Test cricket.
At the post-match presser, Hafeez clarified that Afridi was in some discomfort and was therefore rested as a precaution.
"Shaheen did not rest because of T20 cricket at all. It's not because he wants to play T20 cricket," Hafeez said. "It's clear that his body was a bit sore. He wasn't feeling very comfortable that his body would be able to respond appropriately. As the team director, I have to ensure that no player goes into a zone where he suffers an injury. So before that happens, I wanted to ensure he has enough time to recover."
While Afridi couldn't quite make an impact in Perth, he showed marked improvement in the second Test in Melbourne. The 23-year-old took six wickets, including four in the second innings. Pakistan, however, still lost the match by 79 runs.
"The workload on him has been massive" - Mohammad Hafeez
Hafeez also pointed out that Afridi's workload has increased significantly since returning from injury and that he didn't want the fast bowler's career to suffer as a result. The 43-year-old said:
"We took the decision to rest Shaheen and manage his workload because we didn't want his body to be adversely affected. In the last one year since his return from injury, he has worked hard, and the workload on him has been massive. We wanted to give him a break and manage his workload. I don't know what's happened previously, but at this time, I wanted to make sure that no bowler's career is spoiled due to their workload not being managed."
Australia chased down a modest 130-run target at the SCG as David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne made brisk half-centuries to seal a 3-0 series sweep.