Pakistan’s left-arm pace bowler Shaheen Afridi expressed his desire to spoil Australian opening batter David Warner’s final Test series, starting with the Perth Test on December 14th.
David Warner was in scintillating white ball form at the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2023, scoring 535 runs at a 48.63 average for his side which won their sixth World Cup title.
However, Warner has scored just one Test century since early 2020 and averages only 28 since the 2019-2020 summer.
The 37-year-old batter has indicated he plans to quit the five-day game after the third Test against Pakistan at his home Sydney Cricket Ground.
Shaheen Afridi, while talking to the media before his side’s practice session in Canberra praised Warner for his stellar career but predicted that the southpaw will not have a ‘good end’ to his Test career.
“We would wish him good luck but we are not hoping for a good end for David Warner in his last Test series against us,” said Shaheen Afridi.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
Afridi also stressed the importance of the Australian series for Pakistan to hold on to their top spot in the World Test Championship’s points table.
“This is an important series for Pakistan as we are leading the World Test Championship’s point table at the moment,” he further added.
He further expressed his side’s readiness to take the challenge of facing Australia in their tough home conditions.
“We have played against the recently announced Australia’s 14-member squad, and we are all up for this challenge,” he affirmed.
Pakistan and Australia will square off in the first Test match in Perth from 14-18 December 2023.
The second Test match will be played in Melbourne, from 26 to 30 December, while Sydney will host the last game of the tour from 3 to 7 January 2024.
Pakistan squad
Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Australia squad
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Cameron Green, Lance Morris
READ: Fatima, Shawaal lead Pakistan women to historic win over New Zealand