Shaheen Afridi Umar Gul Fight. Image Credits: X
The ongoing second Test of the two-match series between Bangladesh and Pakistan is being played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Pakistan captain Shan Masood won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Pakistan made three changes to their playing XI, with Shaheen Afridi getting benched as Khurram Shehzad came in for him. Babar Azam and Sajid Khan also came into the Pakistan XI as well.
Bangladesh recovers from humiliating position thanks to Litton Das
After losing Mahmudul Hasan Joy for a duck, the remainder of the Bangladesh top order got starts. Tanzid Hasan (26), Mominul Haque (22), and Najmul Hossain Shanto (29) did well to get going but couldn’t score big scores.
It was only Litton Das who came to the rescue of the Bangladesh team. He made 126 runs with 16 fours and 2 sixes. He got some support from Mushfiqur Rahim (23) and took Bangladesh to a respectable 278 runs. For Pakistan, Khurram Shahzad took 4/81, while Mohammad Abbas took 3/45.
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Pakistan team struggles in the first innings
The Pakistan top order also struggled against the disciplined Bangladeshi bowling unit. First Test centurions Azam Awais and Abdullah Fazal couldn’t give a good start to the Pakistan team, adding 22 runs for the first wicket.
Shan Masood made 21, but it was the trusted Babar Azam, who made 68 with 10 fours, to stabilize the innings. However, the sad story continued as the rest of the middle order also faltered, with Salman Agha making 21 and Mohammad Rizwan getting out for 13 runs. Sajid Khan also contributed to their final total despite losing wickets in a bundle.
Shaheen Afridi fights with bowling coach Umar Gul in full public view
A very interesting thing came to notice on social media. During the innings, several videos captured Shaheen Afridi in an argument with bowling coach Umar Gul. Shaheen was seen in an argument with Gul and then diverted his attention towards someone in the dugout.
This was despite Gul trying to pacify Shaheen, while Afridi kept gesturing towards his head and looked angry while saying something to someone else.
Watch the video below:
Shaheen Afridi is missing the second Test for Pakistan v. Bangladesh
Following Pakistan's unexpected 104-run loss to the Tigers in Dhaka, Captain Shan Masood and fast bowler Shaheen Afridi reportedly got into a heated argument. Afrid managed 2/54 in Dhaka after being costly in the first inning with 3/113.
Shan told the bowlers, ‘We failed to create pressure because of lack of speed, and that is alarming. 'To this, Shaheen Afridi hit back by blaming the poor batting that failed to get a first innings lead and told the skipper to mind his own performance with the bat.”
As per a report from Telecom Asia Sport, a PCB source said, "A disgruntled Shan blamed lack of speed from the pace attack, pointing a finger at Shaheen Afridi, whose average speed was 132 kph, much below the pace of Bangladesh's Nahid Rana, who bowled around 145 kph on average.”
This was a huge blow for Shaheen Afridi, who recently reached 400 international wickets for Pakistan, during the first Test in Bangladesh. He reached the landmark on Day 4 when he dismissed Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque. He became the 9th Pakistani to reach the 400-wicket landmark in international cricket.
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