Gary Kirsten, Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, has claimed that premier pacer Shaheen Afridi is the most overworked fast bowler in the world. Ever since making his debut in 2018, the southpaw is Pakistan’s best bowler across the formats. Such was the reliability on him that despite being injured, he was deciding to continue bowling in the 2022 T20 World Cup Final.
When he finally returned after rehab, Shaheen looked a shadow of himself. For months, his speed wasn’t what it used to be. From consistently hitting 140s, he was now bowling at around 125-130 kms. He was clearly not at his best yet the pacer continued to play. Why, nobody knew.
Kristen, who assumed the role of head coach in April, has claimed that Shaheen has bowled 3 times more than any other pacer in the world. “I saw a scary stat the other day that Shaheen Afridi in the last 18 months has bowled 3 times more overs than any other fast bowler in the world. That’s not good use of your resources. You’re going to wear him down at some point,” Kirsten said while commenting in the Lions vs Panthers match in the Champions One-Day Cup.
Kirsten’s thoughts right but stats wrong
However, the South African coach is wrong. Shaheen has bowled 608.5 overs in the last 18 months; this is certainly the most for any Pakistan fast bowler, but Australian ODI and Test captain, Pat Cummins, has bowled more overs than Shaheen. Naseem Shah, his partner in crime, has bowled just 383 overs, primarily because he was injured for about six months.
Overs bowled since March 1, 2023
| Bowler | Innings | Overs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaheen Afridi | 95 | 608.5 | 150 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 50 | 370 | 98 |
| Naseem Shah | 53 | 383 | 91 |
| Mohammed Siraj | 76 | 501.5 | 97 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 65 | 389.3 | 91 |
| Pat Cummins | 67 | 612.1 | 102 |
| Mitchell Starc | 60 | 573 | 102 |
Kirsten isn’t wrong that Shaheen is overworked and his workload should be managed, but the statistics he’s presenting are false. That also shows that Shaheen wasn’t dropped for the Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2nd Test but rather rested. His comments also suggest that the left-arm pacer won’t play as much as before, with the management doing everything to take care of the pacer.
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