Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali feels Shaheen Afridi should be rested after he delivered yet another underwhelming performance in the 10-wicket loss against Bangladesh in the opening Test. In the opening Test against Bangladesh, Shaheen picked up two wickets in the first innings while giving away 88 runs.
After failing to make an impact with the new ball, Shaheen’s two scalps came towards the tail end. He opened his account by removing Mehidy Hasan Miraz and sent Hasan Mahmud back for an 18-ball duck.
His dwindling form stretches back to the T20 World Cup earlier this year. The 24-year-old failed to deliver the goods and ended the campaign with five wickets in four matches, averaging 21.00.
“Shaheen Afridi should be rested 100 per cent. He should go and play first-class cricket. He should be rested. Ali S put in a lot of effort. Pakistan failed in bowling, fielding and batting. They beat us in all departments. It is wrong to say that the team had a bad day,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
While Pakistan tried to figure out the various aspects that went wrong for them, Bangladesh celebrated a landmark moment in their history. Bangladesh’s win came after 14 encounters with Pakistan, where the Tigers had suffered 12 defeats and managed just one draw.
India and South Africa are now the only teams that Bangladesh has yet to defeat in Test cricket.
The match had a delayed beginning caused by a wet outfield, but by the fifth day, the entire affair had transformed into an enticing action-packed thriller.
The emphatic 10-wicket triumph provided Bangladesh with a significant boost in the ICC World Test Championship standings. They leapfrogged Pakistan and South Africa to the sixth spot, tied on point percentage with Sri Lanka (40 per cent). As a result of the loss, Pakistan slipped down to eighth place with a 30.56 point percentage.
After trailing 1-0, with an aim to go level in the series, Pakistan will face Bangladesh in the second Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on August 30.