Pakistan head coach's 'dangerous' statement on Shaheen Afridi: 'He is always under a lot of pressure…'

Pakistan's white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten has expressed concern about the workload of his fast bowlers due to their busy schedule. Pakistan is having a particularly tough time in red-ball cricket after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home against Bangladesh.

They are scheduled to host England and West Indies in Test matches at home before the 2025 Champions Trophy. The schedule also includes a red-ball tour of South Africa and limited-overs tours of Zimbabwe and Australia.

Kirsten was commentating during the Champions Cup, a tournament organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board in which almost all the favourites from the men's team were playing. “There is always a lot of pressure on the fast bowlers to perform well and win matches. When we look at our key resources, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have shouldered the bulk of the workload for Pakistan across all formats,” he said.

“I saw a stat the other day that Shaheen has bowled three times more overs than any other fast bowler in the world in the last 18 months. That's worrying – you'll tire him out eventually,” Kirsten said.

Pakistan's Test nightmare

Pakistan's entire cricket set-up has come under fire from many former players for failing to win their last four Test series at home. The recent 2-0 defeat against Bangladesh marked many unwanted firsts. Bangladesh's 10-wicket win in the first Test was their first time beating Pakistan away from home in a red-ball match. It was also Bangladesh's first 10-wicket win in any Test match. Their series win was their first win against a team other than West Indies or Zimbabwe away from home.

Afridi was not included in Pakistan's squad for the second Test of the series. Test coach Jason Gillespie said that Afridi did not fit into the best combination made for the second match. Gillespie said, “We had a good conversation with him and he completely understands that we are looking for the best combination for this game and the last few weeks have been interesting for him with becoming a father and other things, this break will give him a chance to spend time with his family.”