‘Ever since Mohammad Amir came in, Shaheen has been….’ Danish Kaneria criticises Pakistan for mishandling their star bowler

Danish Kaneria, another former cricket player, expressed his dissatisfaction with the think tank a few hours after former cricketer Ahmed Shehzad’s most recent criticism of the Pakistani side following their lowest-ever result at the T20 World Cup, a competition they had previously won in 2009.

This criticism, though, wasn’t pointless or meant only to occupy space. It was specifically aimed at Pakistan’s two main speed bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Muhammad Amir, as well as the team administration. The former leg-spinner, who was the team’s top pace bowler for the last three years (207 wickets in 115 innings across all formats with eight POTM and two POTS awards since June 2021), told Sports Now that he felt Shaheen had been demoted to a supporting role ever since Amir joined the squad for the prestigious event.

Though Pakistan gave up a few extra runs in the run-chase of their inaugural game against the USA, he believed Shaheen ought to have been given the opportunity to bowl the Super Over rather than Amir. He contended that this choice ought to have been impacted by Shaheen’s remarkable history of performing well under duress at pivotal times, which he had regularly displayed in the recent past.

Shaheen has been considered a secondary bowler ever since Mohammad Amir entered the game. One such player who has been a key bowler for you over the past three years is Shaheen. You’ve had him win matches and take wickets all by himself. However, Kaneria said SportsNow, “they don’t count on Shaheen Afridi in the Super Over vs USA.”

Are they really so afraid?: Danish Kaneria

Looking more closely at another choice made by the management during the Super Over of that match against the co-hosts, Kaneria said that by choosing to send Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman as the opening pair instead of the usual duo of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan, they were perceived as being hesitant.

You are also sending Fakhar and Iftikhar to bat. What prevented them (the team management) from sending Rizwan and Babar to the Super Over? “Are they really that afraid?” Kaneria went on.