Shaheen Afridi eyes Test return with red-ball comeback

Pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has made a return to Test cricket a priority after featuring in the President’s Trophy on Saturday, marking his first competitive red-ball appearance in domestic cricket since 2019. Afridi, who is currently out of Pakistan’s Test squad after being overlooked for the tours of the West Indies and England, has taken 126 wickets in 34 Tests since making his debut in 2018. “Red-ball cricket is always my first priority, ” Afridi said. “I’ve always loved it. I didn’t get enough time to play because of international cricket, but I haven’t been playing much cricket for the last couple of months. So it’s an opportunity to play red-ball cricket. ” Afridi’s return to the longer format comes as Pakistan seek to rebuild their Test campaign after suffering a 3-0 defeat to England in their latest World Test Championship series. A packed international schedule across all three formats has limited Afridi’s opportunities to maintain his red-ball rhythm in recent years. The left-arm pacer remains Pakistan’s ODI captain, with a home tri-series involving England and Sri Lanka next on the calendar, followed later in the year by Test series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Afridi said the experience of his elder brother, former first-class cricketer Riaz Afridi, had helped shape his approach to the longer format. “I learned a lot from my elder brother Riaz Afridi, because he’s played a lot of first-class cricket, ” he said. “In the longer format, the longer you spend time on the ground, the better it is for your confidence, and for your line and length to get fine-tuned. ” Afridi said he intended to replicate his Test approach when bowling in domestic first-class cricket. “I’ll try to bowl the same way in first-class cricket as I’ve bowled in Test cricket, ” he said. The 26-year-old acknowledged that switching between international white-ball cricket and domestic red-ball cricket can be challenging. “I’ve not played red-ball cricket for the last few months. Before that, I’d been playing red-ball cricket continuously, ” he said. “If you play international cricket, then coming back to domestic cricket can be challenging. Because you’ve been playing international cricket constantly in all three formats, it keeps you busy. When you’re free, you should play domestic cricket. ” Afridi has continued to excel in ODI cricket, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded Champions Cup, where he also captained his side to the title. He claimed 7-36 in the final. Pakistan are currently ninth in the World Test Championship standings, having won just two of their nine matches in the current cycle.

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