PAK vs BAN: Why Jason Gillespie chose to bench Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah?

Pakistan's coach for red-ball cricket, Jason Gillespie, has addressed the decision to leave out key pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from the second Test against Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost by six wickets. This defeat handed Bangladesh a 2-0 series victory, marking Pakistan’s first-ever series loss to the Asian team.

In the second Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Pakistan chose to field three different fast bowlers—Mir Hamza, Khurram Shahzad, and Mohammad Ali—while Afridi and Shaheen were not included in the playing XI.

Gillespie explained the reasoning behind this decision, saying, “We felt that the attack we put on the park would be able to do the job. We could argue they did when we had the opposition 26/6 but they fought themselves back into the game. At that point, not many people were talking about selection."

He further elaborated on the choice, stating,“We looked at the conditions, saw the surface here, and thought this was the best make-up of the bowling attack to take wickets on this surface." 

Despite the strategic decisions, Pakistan struggled to maintain their early advantage and were unable to prevent Bangladesh from securing a historic series win.