The doubts regarding Shaheen Shah Afridi’s fitness was over by the pacer himself following his terrific spell in Pakistan’s warm-up game against Afghanistan at The Gabba in Brisbane on Wednesday, October 19.
Notably, Afridi, who had been out of the action for quite some time due to his injury, returned to bowling in Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup warm-up match against England. He then appeared in Wednesday’s fixture versus Afghanistan and picked up a couple of wickets for 29 in 4 overs.
Afridi removed Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai in his first two overs, but his delivery to Gurbaz grabbed maximum eyeballs as it was an inch-perfect yorker that stunned the batter.
It all happened on the fifth delivery of the opening over when Afridi bowled a toe-crushing yorker which struck Gurbaz’s left foot, leaving the batter in immense pain.
Soon, Afridi and other Pakistan players appealed, and the umpire quickly lifted his finger to signal out. However, by then, Gurbaz was already down and writhing in pain.
Here is the video:
Shaheen Afridi is Back 💪🏻🦅 pic.twitter.com/JdBkNjkS45
— Ayesha 🇵🇰 (@Ayeshay56) October 19, 2022
The play was stopped for a few minutes with the physios coming out to treat Gurbaz, who was not looking comfortable. Soon, a substitute fielder carried the Afghan opener off the field as he couldn’t walk properly.
Gurbaz was later taken to a nearby hospital for scans. Afghanistan are scheduled to start their campaign against England on Saturday, and they will be hoping that Gurbaz attains full-fitness before the game.
