Shaheen Shah Afridi starred in the final of the National Champions Cup, weeks after he was dropped from Pakistan’s Test squad.
Shaheen Shah Afridi shines in National Champions Cup final
Playing for Pakistan Gold, the left-arm speedster ran riot in the final against Pakistan Greens with a seven-wicket haul, which included a hat-trick. Shaheen also topped the wicket-taking charts of the tournament with 13 wickets in four innings as a result, five more than second-placed Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Wasim.
After electing to bat first, Pakistan Gold posted a challenging 340 on the back of a composed century from Saad Khan. In response, the Greens started well, with Fakhar Zaman scoring 31, and were 147-2 in the 22nd over after a 90-run stand between Saad Baig and Omair Yousuf for the second wicket. What was in store was rampage from Shaheen, who wreaked havoc in his second and third spells.
He had opened the bowling in the second innings and went for 25 runs without taking a wicket off his first spell of four overs. But a return to the attack in the 25th over for a short, two-over burst gained him three wickets in exchange of just four runs. The spell derailed the Greens' innings, as they went from 147-2 to 167-6.
The Pakistan ODI captain was back in the 34th over for his third spell, which lasted 2.3 overs, where he conceded seven runs in exchange of four wickets, including a hat-trick. He dismissed Mehran Mumtaz, Salman Mirza and Mohammad Hasnain to complete his hat-trick in the 38th over, which also brought down the curtains on the Greens innings as they were bowled out for 239 and Pakistan Gold won the final by 101 runs.
Shaheen took all of the last seven wickets to fall, finishing with figures of 8.3-0-36-7. For his performance, he was also named the player of the match.
Also read: The law that settled a bizarre mid-pitch collision run-out in the CPL
Shaheen Shah Afridi not part of Pakistan's Test plans
Shaheen was not picked in Pakistan’s red-ball preparatory camp ahead in June this year, and was consequently not picked for the Test series against West Indies and England. His pace in the Tests against Bangladesh earlier this year, which Pakistan lost 0-2, also came under heavy scrutiny as he bowled in the high-120s and early 130s.
Former Pakistan quick Mohammad Amir had claimed in an episodes of The Scoop by Wisden that workload management is one of the factors for Shaheen’s downfall. Since his return from a knee injury in 2023, Shaheen has picked up 27 Test wickets in 16 innings at an average of 40.11.
Considering his recent injury concerns coupled with the decline in pace, Pakistan will have to find a way out to keep Shaheen fit for the all-important ODI World Cup, which is just more than a year away.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
