Pakistan’s red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has recently expressed concern over the workload of all-format pace bowler Shaheen Afridi.
The former Australian pacer, who recently took over as the head coach of Pakistan’s Test side, shared his opinion while talking with journalists in Karachi.
He emphasised the need to manage the workload of pace bowlers to keep them fit, considering the demands of modern-day cricket, where a player features in multiple leagues along with three formats in international cricket.
“Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are multi-format cricketers and also participate in franchise cricket. They cannot play every match. We will try to give them rest in relatively less important matches,” stated Gillespie.
“Over the past year, Shaheen has bowled three times more than Mitchell Starc. How can he manage such a workload? We need to take care of him.”
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He also opened up about his conversations with Naseem Shah and Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam.
“In Lahore, I had conversations with Babar Azam and Naseem Shah. I told Babar to play his natural game freely,” he said.
The head coach also affirmed that Shan Masood will lead the side in the Test series against Bangladesh, while also sharing his aim to prepare strong bench strength for Pakistan’s Test team.
“We will announce the probables for the [Bangladesh] series by the end of this month. It has not been decided yet who will be given rest. Shan Masood will lead the Test team. He is currently playing county cricket in England. Although we have not met, we stay in touch over the phone,” he said.
Jason Gillespie also shared his plans to watch domestic matches in Pakistan and scout talent personally. He will also be touring to Darwin as the head coach of Pakistan Shaheens’ for the two four-day games against Bangladesh A.
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