Follow UsShaheen Afridi has been Pakistan's frontline pacer across formats for a while now. However, he has not been at his best in the Asia Cup 2025, going wicketless in both matches against India. On September 21 (Sunday) in Dubai, the pacer went wicketless and conceded 40 runs in 3.5 overs, allowing India to seal a comfortable six-wicket win in the Super Four stage.
As a result, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has advised Afridi to take a break from the game and also consider quitting one format.
“Age is one thing, but PCB cannot have him play all three formats. They have to decide which formats he’ll play. I think he should make a decision, saying something like ‘Okay, I’ll play only T20 and ODI.’ He shouldn’t play Test cricket, because he doesn’t do much in that format," Kaneria was quoted as saying by IANS.
“I think he should take a month-long break from cricket. Go on a vacation, relax and come back. He faded out a bit. Neither spin nor pace is working, and it feels like he’s not enjoying his cricket. I think he needs a break, a couple of months probably. If you play a lot of cricket, you tend to become stale. You need a break to come back."
Pakistan posted 172 on the board, but India, riding on an excellent 105-run first wicket stand between Abhishek Sharma (74) and Shubman Gill (47), got home quite comfortably in the end. Pakistan will hope to keep their chances of making the final alive when they take on Sri Lanka on September 23 (Tuesday) in Abu Dhabi.