Waqar Younis comments on Shaheen Afridi’s subpar performance so far: “What If He’s Carrying Any Niggle or Anything?”

Shaheen Afridi had two disappointing performances during the 2023 ODI World Cup, and former Pakistan bowler Waqar Younis noted that the squad needed to figure out what was wrong with the pacer while also emphasizing the fact that Shaheen’s success depends on his ability to regularly take early wickets.

Mohammad Rizwan (131), Abdullah Shafique (113), and Pakistan’s other great hundreds help them win their second consecutive match in the ODI World Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka and pull off the largest World Cup chase.

Sri Lanka scored 344 runs in 50 overs thanks to Pakistan’s struggling bowlers. It seems to be a winning score because to the daunting target set by Centuries by Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama.

Afridi was Pakistan’s most costly bowler of the day, giving up 66 runs in 9 overs while only taking one wicket. Shaheen has failed to have the desired effect throughout the ODI World Cup, and this was his second underwhelming effort in as many games.

Shaheen has consistently taken early wickets for Pakistan throughout the years, and although he has the skill and ability to do so, he is now exerting too much effort. After Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka, Waqar Younis said on Star Sports, “He’s just falling all over the place, you know, bowling on the pads, outside the off stump, he’s tried around the wicket over the wicket, nothing really worked for him, and I’m sure he will even sit back with Morne Morkel.

The former bowler made the assumption that Shaheen may have been experiencing a niggle, similar to his condition during the Australia-hosted T20 World Cup in 2022.

“And they’ll likely figure out what’s wrong. I believe there could be, yeah, an issue with the activity. What if he has a niggle or anything else?

We’ll need his services the most against India since he has done it in prior games against India if he can resolve this problem and with that left arm ball coming in early on.

“Since he’s a crucial team player, I’ll simply step in for Shadab since he’s having trouble establishing his rhythm and the spot where he needs to bowl. He would thus sit down and talk about it as well, Younis continued.

On October 14, Pakistan will face India in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.