Since the end of last year, Pakistan’s spearhead quick Shaheen Shah Afridi had endured a rough ride. He lost his pace, sharpness, barely swung the ball both ways and looked rhythmless. The numbers paint a picture of decline—in his last eleven games, he nabbed only eight wickets and bled 9.62 runs an over. He was temporarily dropped from the team too.
But coach Ashley Noffke says he is gradually hitting the pace-level he once used to. “In terms of pace, he is aware it has dropped and he has experienced a dip in form. Recovering pace takes time, but we’re building nicely now. We’ve started seeing more balls in the 140km/h range during the West Indies series. He’s definitely on his way back and his confidence is growing,” he said ahead of the tri-series between Pakistan, hosts UAE and Afghanistan.
A flashpoint of his alarming slip in form can be traced to 2022, when he injured his right knee when trying to take a catch during a Test match against Sri Lanka. It aggravated and he missed the Asia Cup the same year. Even though he returned for the 2022 T20 World Cup, disaster struck again, he injured his knee again when attempting a catch in the final against England. Since then he has lost his spark, the run-up lacks energy and intensity and his wrists could not flick the ball as efficiently as he once could.
Criticism from former cricketers
Some of the former cricketers ruthlessly criticised Afridi. Like Wasim Akram, who observed: “He hasn’t learned how to bowl outswing on a consistent basis. He has only two types of deliveries. Either he will bowl a yorker or keep straight. The world knows about his bowling now, and the batters are prepared to take on him. He doesn’t know how to take the ball away from the batter.”
As did Waqar Younis. “I worked with him, but he hasn’t learned how to stop batters when wickets are not coming. He has taken a lot of wickets but hasn’t improved as a bowler. Shaheen thinks that he will bowl with the new ball and break the back of the rival teams,” he said in an interview.
But Noffke allays fears or Afridi drifting to anonymity and asserts that he would swing the ball. “There’s a bit of technique, mindset and a good release point involved, all of which are crucial for bowlers presenting their best. I think swing can be influenced by the environment and conditions on the day. The ball sometimes swings and sometimes doesn’t,” Noffke said.
“From my perspective, he (Afridi) won’t swing the ball every game, but we want him to work on that ability to swing the ball. Whether it swings in or out is his choice, but we want him to consistently challenge the stumps. We’ve seen how dangerous he is when the ball swings into the right-hander and he’s been working heavily on that lately,” he added.
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With just five months, Pakistan would pray that Afridi reacquaints himself with his pace and swing.
