Chief Selector addresses concerns regarding Shaheen Afridi's fitness

The left-arm fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi, returns to Pakistan's Test squad for the two-match away series against Sri Lanka starting in July. The men's national selection committee has also included Shaheen after he has been out of the Test team for over a year due to his uncalled injury.

Pakistan's chief selector, Haroon Rasheed, while talking to Cricket Pakistan, said that the 23-year-old needs more active cricket which will help him regain his match fitness.

"Before we take any kind of decision regarding workload, we have a whole medical panel for that, and then a player's personal choice is also taken into consideration. Shaheen has been unfit for the last one and a half years, so when a player comes back from injury, he needs more cricket in terms of active cricket, not nets. In nets, you can come and simply bowl. However, match fitness is different," Rasheed said.

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"We have also requested the county to let Shaheen play a three-day match, so that he will get more overs to bowl. After taking all these factors into consideration, we reached a unified decision regarding his inclusion in the squad. We have done everything after thorough research, which doesn't mean we don't consider workload. Induction of players takes place after assessing workload management in detail," he added.

Shaheen is one wicket away from reaching a century of Test wickets and no Pakistan bowler has picked up more wickets than him since the left-armer made his debut on 3 December 2018.

"I am very excited to be returning to the Pakistan Test side after a year. I dearly missed Test cricket and it was tough for me to be away from this format," Shaheen expressed his pleasure to be back in the Test side.

Pakistan will assemble in Karachi on 3 July for a camp ahead of their departure for Sri Lanka on 9 July. The itinerary of the tour will be announced by Sri Lanka Cricket in due course. Pakistan and Sri Lanka last played a Test series in July 2022 that was drawn 1-1.