Kumble, Waqar and Malik raise alarm over Shaheen Afridi's bowling form

Former Pakistan cricketers, Ramiz Raja, Shoaib Malik, and Waqar Younis, shed light on Shaheen Afridi's injury woes and decrease in bowling speed during Pakistan's crucial World Cup match against Sri Lanka.

During commentary, Raja expressed his worry about Shaheen Afridi's injured finger, revealing that the fast bowler is currently experiencing pain while bowling. 

"Shaheen has an injured finger and is bowling in pain,” Ramiz Raja said.

Malik echoed these concerns, highlighting the importance of Shaheen's pace and wicket-taking ability with the new ball. 

During a local media sports show, he urged the left-arm pacer to proactively work with the team's physiotherapist and trainer to address the decline in his average bowling speed. 

He noted that while Shaheen is recovering from an injury, it's disconcerting to witness a considerable reduction in his pace from what it used to be prior to the injury.

“I think it is a big concern for Pakistan cricket team since Shaheen’s ability to pick up wickets with the new ball, especially against big teams, is a major plus for Pakistan,” he Malik.

“Shaheen should take the initiative and sit with the physio and trainer and work on why he isn’t able to bowl at his average speed. I know he is coming back from an injury but it is concerning to see that he isn’t able to bowl at 140kph bearing in mind the fact that even the first ball of his spell used to be around 145kph. The pace he generated before injury has reduced considerably," he added.

“There are important matches coming up for Pakistan like Australia, India and South Africa so the think tank must sit with Shaheen and find a solution for this problem,” he concluded.

Waqar Younis, while speaking on Star Sports, also echoed similar thoughts regarding Shaheen.

“Pakistan’s success has come when Shaheen really picks up early wickets and over the years, he’s done it many times and, uh, and he’s got capacity, capability, but at the moment he’s trying too hard.

“He’s just falling all over the place, you know, bowling on the pads, outside the off stump he’s tried around the wicket over the wicket, nothing really worked for him, and I’m sure he will even sit back with Morne Morkel,” Waqar said.

“And they’ll probably work out what is going wrong. I think there might be, uh, some action problem. What if he’s carrying any niggle or anything?” he added.

Former Indian cricketer, Anil Kumble, was also concerned about Shaheen’s form ahead of match against India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.

“Bowling on this surface looked vulnerable. They have pace certainly but Shaheen Shah Afridi has still not hit the straps that you would expect from someone of his ability and quality. If he comes good for Pakistan, then you better watch out,” he said.