Cricket

'Aajkal drop hone ko rest lena hi kehte hai' - Fans react as Shaheen Afridi rested for final Test against Australia

After facing defeats in the initial two Tests of the series, Pakistan has chosen to rest Shaheen Shah Afridi for the New Year's Test in Sydney, commencing on January 3, in an effort to manage his workload.

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Mathew K
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Pakistan team (Source: Twitter)

The Pakistan team have not had the best of the tour so far down under. After suffering humiliating losses in both the Test matches, the Pakistan team face a scare of a whitewash. Hence, after facing defeats in the initial two Tests of the series, Pakistan has chosen to rest Shaheen Shah Afridi for the New Year's Test in Sydney, commencing on January 3, to manage his workload. 

The Pakistan team management had previously indicated that they would not exert Shaheen for the third match in the event of losing the Boxing Day Test, considering the impending T20 World Cup. Sajid Khan took the place of the premier pacer in the playing XI. The 30-year-old stepped in for Abrar Ahmed, who was sidelined from the series after the first Test.

Although he participated in the tour match against Victoria XI, Sajid could not leave a significant impact, managing only one wicket and scoring six runs. Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan has secured his position following an impressive performance in Melbourne. Scoring 42 and 35, he has solidified his spot in the playing XI, with captain Shan Masood maintaining his support for him over veteran Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Babar Azam will be key for the Pakistan team’s success in the third Test

The spotlight will be on Babar Azam in the series' final Test. Despite stepping down as the Pakistan captain, expectations were high for an improved batting performance, but that hasn't materialized. In the four innings of the series, the 29-year-old has only managed to score 77 runs, raising concerns about his batting prowess outside Asia.

Meanwhile, the bowling contingent appears weakened with the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf. Naseem is in the process of recovering from a shoulder injury and is anticipated to return before the Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Rauf opted to participate in the Big Bash League (BBL) rather than Test cricket. In their nonattendance, Hasan Ali is tasked with shouldering more responsibility with the ball.

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Agha, Sajid Khan, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal

 Let us see how Twitter has reacted to this change from Pakistan;

 

Shaheen Shah Afridi