It’s game day for the fifth T20I between Pakistan and New Zealand, and as expected, the toss brought quite a surprise. The home team won the toss and decided to bowl first, which isn’t shocking. But what really caught people’s attention was who wasn’t in the lineup. Agha Salman, the captain, announced the playing XI, and fans were surprised to hear that Shaheen Afridi’s name was missing.
So, why was Shaheen left out?
Well, to put it simply, he just hasn’t been performing like the Shaheen we’re used to seeing. There was a time when he was a strike bowler, but lately, he seems to have lost that edge. During the Champions Trophy, he struggled and only managed to take 2 wickets, which is pretty underwhelming for a bowler of his caliber. He got another shot in the T20Is against New Zealand but didn’t shine there either. In the four matches leading up to this one, he picked up just 2 wickets, giving away almost 11 runs per over.
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While his teammate Haris Rauf was taking wickets left and right, Shaheen was having a tough time. The Kiwi batters seemed to have identified him as the weak link, and they didn’t hesitate to target him. Without the usual pace and skill to keep the batters on their toes, Shaheen was giving them a walk in the park. It seemed like every over he bowled, the pressure just lifted off the New Zealand batters. So, with the team looking to shake things up, it was a big decision to drop Shaheen for this match.
Pakistan made some other changes as well, letting go of Abrar Ahmed and bringing in Sufiyan Muqeem for his chance to shine. The lineup for today’s match looks like this: Mohammad Haris will keep wickets, joined by Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Agha Salman as captain, Usman Khan, Shadab Khan as vice-captain, Muhammad Abdul Samad, Jahandad Khan, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Mohammad Ali.
It’ll be interesting to see how this new mix performs on the field today!
