Shaheen Afridi — Pakistan's left-arm new-ball spearhead

Shaheen Shah Afridi is the player every Pakistani academy now models its left-arm fast bowlers on. He is also the one who, when fit and rhythmic, gives Pakistan the new-ball strike threat that defines great Test attacks. The “when fit” part has been the conversation around him since 2022.

At a glance

The signature

The Shaheen new-ball over to a right-handed top order is the most distinctive opening sequence in modern Pakistan cricket. Three things make it work:

First, the angle from over the wicket. Shaheen is tall (six foot six), and he releases the ball from close to the stumps. The angle into a right-hander pulls him across his stumps if he plays straight, and across his body if he plays for the off-side.

Second, the late in-swing. Pakistani conditions and quality Dukes balls give him movement that comes late, after the batter has committed his shot. The fuller he pitches the ball, the more dangerous the trajectory.

Third, the yorker. Shaheen’s left-arm in-swinging yorker to right-hand batters has been the most-replayed delivery of his career. Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and several others have walked back to the pavilion having lost their off stump to it across formats.

The 2022-2024 injury arc

The story Pakistan fans dread is the right knee. Shaheen suffered a serious ligament injury in mid-2022 and missed key cricket including the early 2022 Test season. He came back too quickly for the 2022 T20 World Cup, broke down again in the final, and spent the next 18 months in and out of the team managing the knee.

The PCB’s medical staff and Shaheen’s personal trainers have, since 2024, settled on a workload-management system that keeps him out of most domestic and bilateral T20 cricket and prioritises Tests and the PSL season. The cost is fewer overs per year. The benefit is that the overs he does bowl are at higher rhythm.

The captaincy stint

Shaheen briefly captained Pakistan in T20Is in late 2023 and early 2024. The experiment did not last. He is a thoughtful cricketer and a respected dressing-room presence, but the captaincy load competed with the workload management his bowling needed. PCB moved him out of the role and reinstated Mohammad Rizwan. The decision was the right one for his bowling. Whether it was right for his long-term career as a leader is a debate Pakistan fans will keep having.

Recent form

Shaheen’s 2025-26 has been a recovery year. His Test workload has been carefully limited. He took 14 wickets in the South Africa series in late 2025 at an average of 22. He played the PSL 2026 season fully fit for the first time since 2021, taking 24 wickets across the campaign for Lahore Qalandars (the franchise’s most by any bowler in PSL 2026).

His T20I numbers have been steadier than spectacular. He bowls his four overs, takes one or two wickets, gives up 24-32 runs. The “destroy the powerplay” Shaheen of 2021 has not fully returned, but the dependable Shaheen of 2025-26 is, on net, more useful to Pakistan T20I plans than the all-or-nothing version.

What to watch

Two things define his next 18 months.

The Test workload. Pakistan have a heavy Test calendar across 2026-27 including home series against India (provisional) and away tours to Australia. Shaheen needs to be available for at least 80 per cent of those Tests. If he is, Pakistan are a tier-one Test bowling attack. If he is not, the attack drops to the second tier and the results will reflect it.

The PSL retention question. Lahore Qalandars have rebuilt around him. Their long-term play is to make him the franchise’s first long-tenure superstar in the way Babar Azam is for Peshawar. If Lahore can keep him healthy and on board through PSL 2028, the franchise’s competitive window stays open. If not, the rebuild has been wasted.

For Pakistan cricket, the simplest sentence is the truest. When Shaheen is fit, Pakistan have a great bowling attack. When he is not, they don’t.

Source: Shaheen Shah Afridi – ESPNcricinfo

Related: Babar Azam profile · Mohammad Rizwan profile