Pakistan men’s cricket team director Mohammad Hafeez has backed the decision to rest their speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi from the third Test against Australia in Sydney. He also quashed the belief that he was rested to ensure he was available for the T20I series in New Zealand as well. However, former Pakistan greats Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis slammed the management as well.

At the post-match presser, Hafeez said, “Shaheen did not rest because of T20 cricket at all. It’s not because he wants to play T20 cricket. It’s clear that his body was a bit sore. He wasn’t feeling very comfortable that his body would be able to respond appropriately. As the team director, I have to ensure that no player goes into a zone where he suffers an injury. So before that happens, I wanted to ensure he has enough time to recover.”

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While Shaheen Afridi failed to do well in Perth, he showed good improvement in the second Test in Melbourne. He took six wickets, including four in the second innings. Pakistan, however,  lost the match by 79 runs.

“We took the decision to rest Shaheen and manage his workload because we didn’t want his body to be adversely affected. In the last one year since his return from injury, he has worked hard, and the workload on him has been massive. We wanted to give him a break and manage his workload. I don’t know what’s happened previously, but at this time, I wanted to make sure that no bowler’s career is spoiled due to their workload not being managed,” Mohammad Hafeez concluded.