Ex-PAK Spinner Feels Shaheen Afridi Seems ‘Faded Out’ In Asia Cup, Advises ‘Month-Long Break’ | Cricket News

Former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has advised Shaheen Afridi to take a month-long break from cricket to rejuvenate, given Afridi’s recent poor performances in the Asia Cup.

The pacer remained wicketless in the team’s recent game against arch-rivals India on Sunday, conceding 40 runs in 3.5 overs as the Men in Blue secured a six-wicket win in the Super Four encounter.

Kaneria believes that Shaheen should not play across all formats and should opt out of one or two to focus on his bowling. He also suggested that the pacer take a vacation and relax to make a strong comeback.

“Age is one thing, but PCB can not have him play all three formats. They have to decide which formats he’ll play. I think he should make a decision, saying something like ‘Okay, I’ll play only T20 and ODI.’ He shouldn’t play Test cricket, because he doesn’t do much in that format,” Kaneria was quoted as saying by IANS on Monday.

“I think he should take a month-long break from cricket. Go on a vacation, relax and come back. He faded out a bit. Neither spin nor pace is working, and it feels like he’s not enjoying his cricket. I think he needs a break, a couple of months probably. If you play a lot of cricket, you tend to become stale. You need a break to come back,” he added.

Pakistan batted well and set India a challenging target of 172 runs. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side comfortably reached the target, thanks to openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma.

Sharma scored 74 off 39 deliveries, including six fours and five sixes, while the vice-captain hit eight fours during his 47 off 28. Their wickets slowed India’s momentum, but Tilak Varma kept his side in the game and finished the chase with a six and a four, securing India’s first win in the Super 4s.

India Beat Pakistan Sooner?

Kaneria further opined that had Abhishek remained unbeaten, India would have finished the chase earlier. “Had Abhishek not gotten out, the match would’ve finished sooner. He played sensibly. Pakistani bowlers are so dumb. Abhishek came forward to hit Shaheen for boundaries. That kid thought so brilliantly. He’s trained from Yuvraj Singh, a legend, and that was visible,” he said.

The former spinner also pointed out that Afridi lacks the ability to read the batters’ mentality.

“Abhishek knew how Shaheen would bowl, but Shaheen failed to judge Abhishek’s tactics. That’s the difference. Shaheen has been playing for quite a long time now, and Abhishek is so new to the setup, but still he knows how bowlers’ mentality works. Shaheen doesn’t have the ability to guess the batters’ mentality,” he concluded.

(With inputs from IANS)