Former Pakistani cricketer, Salman Butt, who is well-known for his fixing scandal in England in 2010, is not convinced by Shaheen Shah Afridi playing in the ongoing County Championship in England. He feels Afridi is the only best bowler Pakistan's bowling line-up currently has and that he should not be compromised amidst a cricket-packed schedule.
It must be noted Pakistan's elite pacer has made himself available for the entire County season for the Middlesex club. He will join the national squad in mid-July for international fixtures. The youngster's journey, so far in the Championship, has been inspiring.
He played a crucial role in the club's an inning and 82-run victory over Glamorgan. On his successful debut, he shone with a four-wicket-haul. Note that the PCB will be expecting him to be injury-free and fully fit before the international schedule, despite shining for the London-based club in the County season.
Talking about Shaheen's role in County, Salman reckoned it is useless. He further elaborated Shaheen does not know how to bowl in English conditions. The former fixer cricketer feels that Afridi is only wasting himself in the Championship and should rest his body to prepare well for international fixtures.
“Shaheen is our only best bowler in all three formats. I don’t know if they (PCB) looked at his workload but County cricket is not ideal for him. He is not somebody who doesn’t know how to bowl in England. So why risk burning out such a bowler especially when he needed rest ahead of the two upcoming World Cups in one year. There is also Test Championship and Asia Cup which are important but County cricket isn’t as far as Shaheen is concerned,”
