Overview
- Pakistan named a 22-player red-ball training group in Lahore this week that did not include Shaheen Afridi, a move treated by multiple outlets as signaling he will miss the upcoming Test tours of the West Indies and England.
- Shaheen remains part of Pakistan’s white-ball pool and is expected to report to that separate camp for ODI and T20 preparation rather than join Test preparations.
- Selectors and PCB sources point to a dip in his bowling speeds during the Bangladesh tour and his limited participation in first-class four-day cricket as the main reasons for the Test omission.
- The decision opens opportunities for domestic and PSL-performing pacers such as Mohammad Ali, Obaid Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Aamir Jamal, and Khurram Shahzad to be trialled in Pakistan’s red-ball attack.
- Reports say Shaheen is unhappy with the decision, and the move could mark a longer-term workload-management strategy by Pakistan that reshapes who bowls in Tests and who is preserved for limited-overs cricket.