Shaheen Shah is considered the backbone of Pakistan’s bowling attack and his fitness is paramount for the side as he will have to lead the bowling department in three mega-events in the coming 12 months.
Former Test cricketer, Salman Butt, has raised concerns about Shaheen’s participation in the County Championship and believes that his excessive workload can create serious fitness issues for him.
Salman Butt, who represented Pakistan in 33 Test matches, said that he does not know how the management is looking at his workload but county cricket is not as important as the two World Cups, World Test Championship, and Asia Cup.
“I’m not sure whether they considered his workload, but county cricket isn’t a good fit for him. He is not somebody who doesn’t know how to bowl in England. So why risk exhausting such a bowler, especially when he needs rest ahead of two World Cups in the same year. There is also Test Championship and Asia Cup, which are important, but County cricket isn’t ideal as far as Shaheen is concerned.”
Shaheen Afridi has played the T20 World Cup, Pakistan Super League, and Australia series in the last six months and currently, he is playing in County Championship 2022 following which, he will also represent Middlesex in the T20 Blast.
Salman Butt further stated that it is the board’s responsibility to find out if there are any financial issues and compensate players for that as former chairman, Naseem Ashraf, did with Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif.
“If there was any financial loss, PCB should have made up for it like Naseem Ashraf did as he paid Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif to stop them from playing county cricket,” the 37-year-old added.
