Highlights
- Shaheen Afridi was nursing an ACL knee injury
- Pakistan are taking on Afghanistan in their second warm-up game
- Pakistan will clash against India on October 23, 2022 in their first World Cup game
T20 World Cup 2022: In the lead-up to the all-important T20 World Cup Super 12 stage, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan team are taking on Afghanistan. Pakistan play their first match against India on October 23, 2022, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Last year, in the 2021 edition of the World Cup, when Pakistan clashed against Virat Kohli's India, they completely dominated them. Shaheen Afridi was the wreaker-in-chief for Pakistan as he dismissed the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul.
Shaheen Afridi has now returned to the Pakistan outfit and is raring to go. Pakistan are taking on arch-rivals Afghanistan in their second warm-up game and Shaheen garnered all the spotlight. The speedster fired in a foot crusher which left Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaaz bamboozled. The intensity of the yorker was such that it left Gurbaaz unable to walk and he had to carried off the field.
ALSO READ | Rohit Sharma and co. brace themselves ahead of Kiwi challenge
This year certainly hasn't been very pleasant for the Pakistan speedster. After Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year, the left arm pacer picked up a knee injury, an ACL knee injury to be precise and he waited on the sidelines as he was nursing it. The speedster was expected to regain full fitness before the Asia Cup that was played in August and September but keeping the all-important World Cup in mind, the Pakistan cricket team management gave Shaheen all the time he needed to recover. Shaheen also missed out on the seven-match T20I series against England and the tri-series that was played against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
ALSO READ | Sri Lanka stay alive and Netherlands solidify their claim for Super 12
A few days back PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chief Ramiz Raja teased Shaheen's return to the international arena and so did skipper Babar Azam. As of now, it feels as if Shaheen is bowling trouble free and if he manages to get his rhythm back then it certainly will be a huge boost for Pakistan.
