Shaheen Afridi may miss Pakistan's Test series against Bangladesh due to birth of his first child
Jul 12, 2024
Karachi [Pakistan], July 12 : Pakistan star pacer Shaheen Afridi could miss their upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh due to the birth of his first child.
Shaheen and his wife Ansha, who got married last year, are expecting the birth of their first child, and he could miss the Test series against Bangladesh next month.
"Shaheen can miss Bangaladesh Test matches due to childbirth. We can give him [some] rest if he wants to stay with his wife till then," said Pakistan's red-ball coach Jason Gillispie as quoted from Geo News.
Their Nikah ceremony was performed last year in February, but the wedding reception was held in September 2023.
Recently, Shaheen has been in the limelight due to the reports that surfaced about his misbehaviour with Pakistan coaches.
During Pakistan's T20I tour of England, before the recently concluded T20 World Cup, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi had heated arguments with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf.
Sources informed Geo News that Shaheen and Yousuf exchanged heated words, but later, the pacer apologised to him.
Multiple sources within Pakistan cricket team management confirmed Geo News that the issue was in the "heat of the moment" and was sorted out quickly.
A source recalled the incident while speaking to Geo News and stated that the heated exchange took place during a training session when Yousuf pointed out Shaheen's no-balls. Shaheen got furious after he was repeatedly called out for his no-balls.
"Shaheen said to Mohammad Yousuf to let him do what he was doing, and he [Yousuf] should mind his own business," a source told Geo News and added that Yousuf responded to Shaheen that he was a coach and doing his job.
"This was nothing more than a routine case of heat-of-the-moment, so the chapter was closed there and then," the source replied when asked why it wasn't reported to the PCB.
Pakistan's next white-ball series will begin in November against Australia. Before that, they will engage in red-ball cricket in a two-match Test series against Bangladesh which will kick off on August 21.
